Official: North Downtown Discussion

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 4:26 pm

iamjacobm wrote:"Sporting News Grill" going into the retail bay in the Holiday Inn formerly occupied by Union Pizzeria and Sports Bar.

The is a Sporting News Grill next to DIA in a Holiday Inn. I wonder if it will be the same?

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:18 pm

Looks to be the same.

cdub · Post by **cdub** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:00 am

We were in the Union twice and werent impressed either time. Hopefully they have their act together for the new place.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 3:08 pm

This building on the NW corner of 16th and Burt ceased to exist today.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 3:30 pm

Doesn't look like we lost too much there architecturally.

GRANDPASMUCKER · Post by **GRANDPASMUCKER** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 4:14 pm

skinzfan23 wrote:Doesn't look like we lost too much there architecturally.

To some old drunk bum who just panhandled 10 bucks out in front of the Century Link that place might of looked like the Taj Mahal. I don't know how many dozens of news stories I have read and watched about guys getting hauled out of that place shot or stabbed.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 4:36 pm

I saw a hole there last night, thought about taking a picture of it but forgot to go back after I got my wonderful dinner at a nearby Food Truck.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 5:04 pm

Coyote wrote:I saw a hole there last night, thought about taking a picture of it but forgot to go back after I got my wonderful dinner at a nearby Food Truck.

That Hawaiian food truck?

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 5:16 pm

MTO wrote:
Coyote wrote:I saw a hole there last night, thought about taking a picture of it but forgot to go back after I got my wonderful dinner at a nearby Food Truck.
That Hawaiian food truck?

Yep. In that dangerous North Downtown area

GRANDPASMUCKER · Post by **GRANDPASMUCKER** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:22 pm

Coyote wrote:
MTO wrote:
Coyote wrote:I saw a hole there last night, thought about taking a picture of it but forgot to go back after I got my wonderful dinner at a nearby Food Truck.
That Hawaiian food truck?
Yep. In that dangerous North Downtown area

One time about 15 years ago I stopped at Sols to see what he had for sale and I had to park not to far from that bar. It was 1pm on a Saturday afternoon and two bums come out of that bar fighting. One of the bums stumbles out into the middle of the intersection and keels over. Almost instantly I could hear a rescue Squad and sure enough one comes down the street and they load him up in it and haul him off. I read in the paper that he had been stabbed and he was recovering in the hospital and the other guy was in jail. Last time I saw old Sol was when he was sitting at the table next to us at Granite City next to WestRoads. Sol ordered some kind of Rueben and he couldn't eat it all so he was taking the left overs home in a doggie bag/box. Struck me as crazy that here was a guy richer them I could imagine getting a doggie bag at a place where the food wasn't even that good when it was fresh. I digress.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:34 pm

Should be in a different thread, but...

I will hardly ever eat any food in a food court because I don like edibles being fashioned by a 14 year old. A food truck is usually manned/womanned by an owner/chef, whose very livelihood is tied to their produce.

GRANDPASMUCKER · Post by **GRANDPASMUCKER** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 7:23 pm

Are trying to say that you would rather go sit down there in North O and eat food out of an old school bus rather then go to Raising Canes at the Westroads and sit in that nice spacious food court?

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 7:56 pm

skinzfan23 wrote:Doesn't look like we lost too much there architecturally.

I just look at Blackstone and Benson and see what can be done with some money and a more grassroots effort at redevelopment, there was probably good brick under that plywood just like where Sullivan's is now. With every building like this torn down it just makes it harder for a "little" guy to potentially invest in the area. Pretty soon our only option for development is going to be large scale projects because of the vast swaths of empty space.

SaveOmaha · Post by **SaveOmaha** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:54 am

iamjacobm wrote:
skinzfan23 wrote:Doesn't look like we lost too much there architecturally.
I just look at Blackstone and Benson and see what can be done with some money and a more grassroots effort at redevelopment, there was probably good brick under that plywood just like where Sullivan's is now. With every building like this torn down it just makes it harder for a "little" guy to potentially invest in the area. Pretty soon our only option for development is going to be large scale projects because of the vast swaths of empty space.

Anyone know what happened with the sale of the former fire station on north 16th?

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:34 pm

iamjacobm wrote:"Sporting News Grill" going into the retail bay in the Holiday Inn formerly occupied by Union Pizzeria and Sports Bar.

They are adding 1500 sq ft here and making a $300k remodel...

NEDodger · Post by **NEDodger** » Sun Nov 02, 2014 1:53 am

Was there ever any word on if anything is going onto the site of the old WallStreet offices (surrounded by 12th/13th/Cass/I-480)? I'll probably take some flak for this, but it's a tiny sliver of land that I always thought someone would make a killing on putting in a gas station/convenient store.

1.) It's right off the interstate and there's no easily accessible gas station in downtown
2.) You've got several hotels around there and it would provide basic grocery amenities to guests
3.) The parcel is so small that nothing substantial would ever go there anyways.... . At least it'd be SOMETHING built north of I-480 that is a semblance of a service...

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Sun Nov 02, 2014 6:19 pm

Nothing says 4* hotel like a Bucky's next door...

That is plenty of land for a nice building as well. That plot of land is .77 acres, the lot that 1501 Jackson was built on is .6 acres, the lot with Jones13 is also .6 acres and 22Floors in North Downtown sits on only .25 acres. They could maybe even work out a deal with MECA to use the parking lot under 480 considering I rarely see that lot in use during events.

NEDodger · Post by **NEDodger** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:22 am

iamjacobm wrote:Nothing says 4* hotel like a Bucky's next door...

That is plenty of land for a nice building as well. That plot of land is .77 acres, the lot that 1501 Jackson was built on is .6 acres, the lot with Jones13 is also .6 acres and 22Floors in North Downtown sits on only .25 acres. They could maybe even work out a deal with MECA to use the parking lot under 480 considering I rarely see that lot in use during events.

Nothing says 4* hotel like barren lots around it, either. Beggars can't be choosers.

justnick · Post by **justnick** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:59 am

NEDodger wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:Nothing says 4* hotel like a Bucky's next door...

That is plenty of land for a nice building as well. That plot of land is .77 acres, the lot that 1501 Jackson was built on is .6 acres, the lot with Jones13 is also .6 acres and 22Floors in North Downtown sits on only .25 acres. They could maybe even work out a deal with MECA to use the parking lot under 480 considering I rarely see that lot in use during events.
Nothing says 4* hotel like barren lots around it, either. Beggars can't be choosers.

as someone who works in the area i can say a gas station would be an absolute GODSEND. the closest gas station is on 24th and Cumings and doesn't even have a convenience store attached (it's a subway? lol). To get something as simple as a bottle of pop or a bag of chips you have to go all the way to Cubby's or Patrick's in the old market.

Oh, North Downtown.

cdub · Post by **cdub** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 1:25 pm

Only way any type of C store should appear is if its got a highly unusually small filling area, and is in a building with a lot of other things.
The Wallstreet lot is too good for only that. Stick one north of cuming, if you must.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:40 pm

Might not be a good idea to have a filling station with all of its tanks right under I-480. I don't remember how much of that site is actually under the bridges.

I agree it would be better to keep it on Cuming rather that in such a prime location between Clink and DT.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 6:18 pm

Just thought it was interesting that the two apartment projects u/c right now in North Downtown will roughly double the housing stock in the neighborhood.

Bob from Omaha · Post by **Bob from Omaha** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 7:41 pm

Somebody forgot to implement this.

http://www.sbfriedman.com/project/strategic-plan-and-master-plan-north-downtown-North Downtown

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 10:46 am

That would be great if that could happen. Thanks for posting...this will provide some good lunch-time reading soon. (don't know if this was already posted earlier in this thread)

Here's a link to the whole thing.

http://jolsonurbanist.files.wordpress.c ... tudy-i.pdf

Bob from Omaha · Post by **Bob from Omaha** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 4:22 pm

I have a feeling it was posted before. I just get cranky when I see what some other cities have done with similar urban areas and then think about the failure of North Downtown (so far). Of course no one can know what might happen in the future and certainly someone with vision and cash could come along and fix it. I may not live in Omaha anymore but that doesn't mean I don't care about the city.

thenewguy · Post by **thenewguy** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:05 pm

Yeah that plan has been around for a while. It is one version of 3 or 4 that were possibilities. It'd be great to have but i don't see anything close to that finishing out north downtown.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:55 pm

There are now 4 projects of some weight going on in North Downtown. I think the Nicholas Corridor is going to be key in redeveloping the area, mostly because no MECA.

daveoma · Post by **daveoma** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 9:21 pm

Garrett wrote:There are now 4 projects of some weight going on in North Downtown. I think the Nicholas Corridor is going to be key in redeveloping the area, mostly because no MECA.

I have not heard of MECA interfering with development. What are they doing or not doing to prevent progress? I have no opinion one way or the other, I'm just curious to know what MECA is doing.

SaveOmaha · Post by **SaveOmaha** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:30 pm

I wish Creighton would to sell some of these buildings and let developers buy them.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:36 pm

Well, you may blame MECA or Creighton, but IMHO, I think the main culprit in real North Downtown development is First National and all the land they buy up and use for their purposes in the areas east of 16th St.

SaveOmaha · Post by **SaveOmaha** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:19 pm

Coyote wrote:Well, you may blame MECA or Creighton, but IMHO, I think the main culprit in real North Downtown development is First National and all the land they buy up and use for their purposes in the areas east of 16th St.

First National does have some parking in the area.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:27 am

Garrett wrote:There are now 4 projects of some weight going on in North Downtown. I think the Nicholas Corridor is going to be key in redeveloping the area, mostly because no MECA.

This is North Downtown's largest private investment boom in half a decade. It isn't ideal, but it is a lot of progress.

I also totally agree with your view on MECA/every other "major" player in the area. Omaha's best urban areas have always been vitalized by small businessmen(minus MTC). The area north of Cuming allows for a lot more developmental autonomy right now. Everything closer to the core is controlled by uninterested large parties.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:39 am

Doesn't Garrett need a new diagram project... North Downtown lots by owner assets?

NEDodger · Post by **NEDodger** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:52 am

Coyote wrote:Well, you may blame MECA or Creighton, but IMHO, I think the main culprit in real North Downtown development is First National and all the land they buy up and use for their purposes in the areas east of 16th St.

What lots does FNB own in North Downtown?

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 3:45 am

Coyote wrote:Doesn't Garrett need a new diagram project... North Downtown lots by owner assets?

Gladly. :-)

bigredmed · Post by **bigredmed** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:14 am

Remember the OM in the 1970's? Not much down there either back then. North Downtown needs to figure out what it wants to be. It needs to develop some reason to go there for the people in the rest of the city, or it needs to be a service center for the area.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:42 pm

Coyote wrote:Doesn't Garrett need a new diagram project... North Downtown lots by owner assets?

By owner assets as in...?

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 1:00 pm

Garrett wrote:
Coyote wrote:Doesn't Garrett need a new diagram project... North Downtown lots by owner assets?
By owner assets as in...?

I was just thinking, downtown property owner differentiated by Government, large businesses (FNB/Creighton) medium businesses (NuStyle, Bluestone) and small businesses (LLCs) or a similar asset delineation, eg businesses that can afford to sit on projects vs businesses that can't afford to tie up equity or afford taxes in the long haul. Now, where The Yard sits in all this....

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 1:18 pm

I guess I should differentiate between LLCs like Turner Park North LLC, Village West LLC, Crossroads Village LLC, with corporations behind them (or trusts like Aksarben Futures Trust), and personal LLCs with a family business supporting them.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 3:44 pm

Done! Could probably use a few edits and clarifications in places where I was unsure, but for the most part, it's set.