Old Village/SOMA

omahastylee459 · Post by **omahastylee459** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 4:08 pm

I drove down leavenworth yesterday to check on progress of things, and first i saw the old village square development and nothing has been completed, does that have to do with the butternut fire? then i looked over at SOMA and one building looks to be in the final stages, but why is it taking so long to get the other buildings up? There are several rowhouses in the project and they have been working on them for months, so why is there only one building almost completed?

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 6:52 pm

I'm pretty sure that the first building they started working on contains the model. Just makes sense that they'd have that one up first to sell the third phase of buildings. Not sure why they wouldn't progress on the others in the meantime, though.

-Big E

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:42 pm

I thought I read somewhere that Michael Henery was waiting for the Butternut building to come down first. Safety issues and they didn't know if they were going to sustain damages when it came down.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:34 pm

Where exactly is this Old Village? I don't think I heard about (or forgot since there's so many now) about this project.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:45 pm

9th & Leavenworth - just south of the Butternut remains

http://www.eomaha.com/gallery/develop/129/

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:49 pm

Oh OK. Thanks. That project looks cool. It will be a new spot to visit once it and the Butternut site get going.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 10:13 pm

Here is the article that WOWT ran on Dec 22:

WOWT wrote: Stalled Demolition Raises Safety Concerns
Gutted building in legal quagmire

Work to knock down the burned-out Butternut building started last week but the job is now on hold and that's raising some safety concerns.

The problem is that crews have already taken out part of the southwest corner of the gutted building at 10th and Jackson.

Engineers say that's making the walls more vulnerable to wind pressure and if the Butternut collapses, we're told falling debris could hit 10th Street.

Downtown property owner Michael Henery has had enough of the old Butternut. He says, "It's been a plague to me for five years."

Last January's fire kept him from getting into the building he owns at 9th and Leavenworth until just last week. Now he's worried about the south wall of the Butternut collapsing.

Henery says, "If it hits that parking garage it could shove the parking garage right through my building and then it would destroy the integrity of my building and it would be a $2-million loss."

Anderson Excavating started tearing down the Butternut but was ordered to stop on Friday. A restraining order was requested by D.R. Anderson, the contractor originally hired to turn the Butternut into luxury apartments. It's now the defendant in a lawsuit claiming a construction mistake caused the damaging blaze.

The restraining order gives D.R. Anderson's experts time to inspect the building.

Attorney Jim Sherrets represents Anderson Excavating and he says, "My client was concerned about the safety of the situation."

Anderson Excavating hired Sherrets when demolition stopped.

Company officials say that concrete along the top of the building was broken when crews started their work and removals near the southwest corner have further weakened that wall.

Sherrets filed three affidavits in court this week attempting to lift the restraining order. In one, a licensed structural engineer is quoted as saying the changes cause, "...an increased risk of a sudden and explosive collapse of the Butternut building."

Sherrets says, "If we get snow and ice on top of it, it will make it an even more unsafe condition for the workmen."

The judge in the case did not overrule the restraining order. It's in place until next Tuesday and D.R. Anderson's inspectors plan to be finished by then.

The Omaha Fire Department says that last January's Butternut fire was caused by a spark from a construction tool.

D.R. Anderson's attorney is calling that conclusion, "speculative."

omahastylee459 · Post by **omahastylee459** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 10:18 pm

well now that butternut is all but gone, work can start to happen on building the 3 more stories for old village, it will be a spectacular area when they put that new high-rise to replace butternut