46 Dodge Apartments

[ScrattyB]

I do love those. Those will look very nice at 46th & Dodge.

Really? $900 for a new STUDIO in Omaha?! Oh come on. Its a great location & building, but thats pretty steep for the Big O, imo.

Location. Location. Location.

Is 46th and Dodge a good location? Serious question.

I assume this is aimed at younger people working/studying at the hospitals. I also assume the rents are sky high because of the cost of the new building construction and the investors wanting their money back quickly.

[ita]

I do love those. Those will look very nice at 46th & Dodge.

Really? $900 for a new STUDIO in Omaha?! Oh come on. Its a great location & building, but thats pretty steep for the Big O, imo.

Location. Location. Location.

Is 46th and Dodge a good location? Serious question.

I assume this is aimed at younger people working/studying at the hospitals. I also assume the rents are sky high because of the cost of the new building construction and the investors wanting their money back quickly.

I think it is with its proximity to UNMC, Blackstone, and Dundee, in addition to being in near the Saddlecreek Corridor, bus service, and future BRT line. I do not agree with the prices and hope additional residential development along the BRT line and other public transportation projects provides affordable housing options, but it is in a pretty prime spot.

[nativeomahan]

I suspect that in 10 years none of us will recognize this neighborhood. Look how fast the neighboring Blackstone neighborhood has changed.

[Louie]

I suspect that in 10 years none of us will recognize this neighborhood. Look how fast the neighboring Blackstone neighborhood has changed.

Heck it could be almost connected to Blackstone soon.

[Coyote]

TIF proposal before Planning Board

[Coyote]

[youtube][/youtube]

[daveoma]

I agree with the neighbors. Why should the government subsidize a development that goes against the planning guidelines of encouraging mass transit? Also, is there only a high demand for expensive apartments in Dundee? Or are the developers trying to eek out as must profit at the expense of tax payers?

[buildomaha]

Omaha has zero backbone when it comes to actually enforcing zoning regulations on developers

[RockHarbor]

What is really going on here?

[Foundations]

Current parking regulations call for 368 stalls per City Code. They automatically get a 69 stall reduction for being within 300 ft of a bus location/other bonuses per City Code. The developer is actually asking for less then the 299 required by the Code. They are asking for a waiver to get down to 295 with their infill zoning PUR. They are not violating the City Code, they are following it. If you think the Code is wrong, call your City Councilperson and tell them they should change it. Just image a developer in the future putting a building on Dodge with 100 stalls and 200 units, and watch what that does to parking in the surrounding neighborhood. This is the only time I have seen in 15 years of developing of a neighborhood asking for less parking. I doubt the speakers speak for all the surrounding neighbors.

[Louie]

Current parking regulations call for 368 stalls per City Code. They automatically get a 69 stall reduction for being within 300 ft of a bus location/other bonuses per City Code. The developer is actually asking for less then the 299 required by the Code. They are asking for a waiver to get down to 295 with their infill zoning PUR. They are not violating the City Code, they are following it. If you think the Code is wrong, call your City Councilperson and tell them they should change it. Just image a developer in the future putting a building on Dodge with 100 stalls and 200 units, and watch what that does to parking in the surrounding neighborhood. This is the only time I have seen in 15 years of developing of a neighborhood asking for less parking. I doubt the speakers speak for all the surrounding neighbors.

I agree here, only because the parking is within the structure and not a useless lot. I am usually very pro-public transportation, but this seems like the wrong fight for the TOD to be busting balls about.

[buildomaha]

I see. I was confused as to what was actually going on.

[nativeomahan]

You see, many younger people don’t own cars. They don’t want them. They don’t want the $20,000 or $30,000 drag on their credit, and the $500 a month in car payments, $125 a month for insurance, and $50-100 a month for gasoline, plus routine maintenance expenses, etc. if a person or couple can save $700 a month by not owning an internal combustion engine (or 2!) they can afford to buy nice bicycles, and or take lots and lots of Uber rides. Or, to devote hundreds more dollars a month to their rent expense.
The developers know this (heck, the automakers know this. Who do you think are the big investors in lyft and Uber?). And the city planning department knows this as well.

[PWL73316]

Realistically, no one who can afford these apartments will be without a car, unless they are in very rare or unique circumstances. 99% of the people who are working, self-supporting adults in Omaha without cars are folks who can't afford one. No one paying these rents is going to tolerate hours on a bus to get to work or for a trip to a grocery or hardware store, let alone actually doing something for entertainment.

Right now, young people might be cutting back on their trips or their total time in a car, or taking public transit or rideshares when they can, but they aren't doing without a car, that's just nearly impossible in Omaha.

[Dundeemaha]

My wife and I were together for over 10 years with 1 car for both of us before we had a kiddo and decided to get a second car.

In most of Omaha it's hard to not have a car, but it's more and more possible to have 1 for 2 people.

[obvious2677]

You see, many younger people don’t own cars. They don’t want them. They don’t want the $20,000 or $30,000 drag on their credit, and the $500 a month in car payments, $125 a month for insurance, and $50-100 a month for gasoline, plus routine maintenance expenses, etc. if a person or couple can save $700 a month by not owning an internal combustion engine (or 2!) they can afford to buy nice bicycles, and or take lots and lots of Uber rides. Or, to devote hundreds more dollars a month to their rent expense.

This true in every city larger than Omaha - but most younger people here have cars.
1. Biking in Omaha is not as easy because we don't have it as a priority in the infrastructure, the city has miles and miles of hills, and normal drivers are not as familiar with driving around cyclists
2. Exclusively using ride-sharing is great in a city that has sufficient drivers at peak times. Just checked Uber and there is 1 car within 5 miles of Aksarben. Actually, if the map is right, there's about 10 Uber vehicles operating right now - at 7am - a peak time for commuting. When I was in DC (Pentagon City) and Chicago (River North), I could get an Uber any time of the day in about 3 minutes. The cost right now is fairly high ($17 to get to my house - a 4 mile ride) because of the lack of drivers.
3. The investments in public transportation here is kind of laughable.
4. I'd agree with you, a couple could get by with one car over two, but not having a car at all is not as easy in Omaha.

[bones]

You see, many younger people don’t own cars. They don’t want them. They don’t want the $20,000 or $30,000 drag on their credit, and the $500 a month in car payments, $125 a month for insurance, and $50-100 a month for gasoline, plus routine maintenance expenses, etc. if a person or couple can save $700 a month by not owning an internal combustion engine (or 2!) they can afford to buy nice bicycles, and or take lots and lots of Uber rides. Or, to devote hundreds more dollars a month to their rent expense.

This true in every city larger than Omaha - but most younger people here have cars.
1. Biking in Omaha is not as easy because we don't have it as a priority in the infrastructure, the city has miles and miles of hills, and normal drivers are not as familiar with driving around cyclists
2. Exclusively using ride-sharing is great in a city that has sufficient drivers at peak times. Just checked Uber and there is 1 car within 5 miles of Aksarben. Actually, if the map is right, there's about 10 Uber vehicles operating right now - at 7am - a peak time for commuting. When I was in DC (Pentagon City) and Chicago (River North), I could get an Uber any time of the day in about 3 minutes. The cost right now is fairly high ($17 to get to my house - a 4 mile ride) because of the lack of drivers.
3. The investments in public transportation here is kind of laughable.
4. I'd agree with you, a couple could get by with one car over two, but not having a car at all is not as easy in Omaha.

The lack of investment by the city in public transit is far and away the biggest issue, in my opinion. The city spends $37 per capita on transit. The median for mid-sized cities is $78 per capita. Doubling our transit investment wouldn't even put us in the top half. Des Moines spends $57, Grand Rapids spends $78, Milwaukee spends $115. If we want to stay competitive with what the city calls our peer cities, we are going to have to start investing more heavily in transit.

[nebugeater]

You see, many younger people don’t own cars. They don’t want them. They don’t want the $20,000 or $30,000 drag on their credit, and the $500 a month in car payments, $125 a month for insurance, and $50-100 a month for gasoline, plus routine maintenance expenses, etc. if a person or couple can save $700 a month by not owning an internal combustion engine (or 2!) they can afford to buy nice bicycles, and or take lots and lots of Uber rides. Or, to devote hundreds more dollars a month to their rent expense.

This true in every city larger than Omaha - but most younger people here have cars.
1. Biking in Omaha is not as easy because we don't have it as a priority in the infrastructure, the city has miles and miles of hills, and normal drivers are not as familiar with driving around cyclists
2. Exclusively using ride-sharing is great in a city that has sufficient drivers at peak times. Just checked Uber and there is 1 car within 5 miles of Aksarben. Actually, if the map is right, there's about 10 Uber vehicles operating right now - at 7am - a peak time for commuting. When I was in DC (Pentagon City) and Chicago (River North), I could get an Uber any time of the day in about 3 minutes. The cost right now is fairly high ($17 to get to my house - a 4 mile ride) because of the lack of drivers.
3. The investments in public transportation here is kind of laughable.
4. I'd agree with you, a couple could get by with one car over two, but not having a car at all is not as easy in Omaha.

The lack of investment by the city in public transit is far and away the biggest issue, in my opinion. The city spends $37 per capita on transit. The median for mid-sized cities is $78 per capita. Doubling our transit investment wouldn't even put us in the top half. Des Moines spends $57, Grand Rapids spends $78, Milwaukee spends $115. If we want to stay competitive with what the city calls our peer cities, we are going to have to start investing more heavily in transit.

But.... but.... but.... the scooters.....

[buildomaha]

It is absolutely ridiculous the lack of investment the city puts into public transportation. It makes no sense.

[nativeomahan]

Not meaning to get off track here, but we were at J. Gilbert’s Friday evening and we lost count of how many people we saw whizzing down Capitol Avenue and 10th Street on green and orange scooters. Some apparently didn’t understand that they must not be driven on sidewalks.

[iamjacobm]

Here is the TIF package. https://cityclerk.cityofomaha.org/image ... 19-657.pdf

Didn't notice any huge rendering changes, but didn't look too closely.

[buildomaha]

Wow I guess I didn’t remember the scale of this project!

[ita]

Wow I guess I didn’t remember the scale of this project!

Yes, this building is going to look massive off of Dodge. I really like the fact they are going with more glass. I think it will definitely differentiate itself from other big box apartment buildings in the area.

I wonder how other newer developments are filling up in this area with similar prices? A quick survey of rental apartment sites showed that Dundee Flats seems to have low vacancy, while the Duke, a much more massive development, has a good amount of available units of all kinds. The other interesting thing about the Duke is that it has about the same living units as 46 Dodge while having over 100 more parking spaces. I guess ORBT wasn't in play when it was initially planned out.

[aubry19841]

A house on this plot of land is now back up for rent. I'm assuming this deal is off?

[Fromaha]

A house on this plot of land is now back up for rent. I'm assuming this deal is off?

From what I heard a month or so ago, you are correct. A friend from Kewit told me there were financing issues and this was not going to happen.

[daveoma]

That's a shame. I would've loved to see this built.

[Cermak]

Thats to bad, this one looked a little cooler and taller than most of the others built around Omaha recently. But I guess some of the proposals must fail.

[iamjacobm]

Offically dead, request to rescind the TIF on the city council agenda.

https://cityclerk.cityofomaha.org/image ... 0-0427.pdf

[skinzfan23]

Sad to see this one fall through. I was looking forward to more density on that section of Dodge.

[ita]

Sad to see this one fall through. I was looking forward to more density on that section of Dodge.

Although I am also disappointed this project fell through, I think it is just a matter of time we will see more dense projects in this area. Just imagine what the area will be like if the big UNMC project goes through.

[S.O.Boy]

Run down buildings will stay longer.

[jomaha9]

Per the article in today's OWH, it sounds like the developer is still planning a project on this site.

[ita]

Per the article in today's OWH, it sounds like the developer is still planning a project on this site.

Good catch. It was not a financing issue, the developer claims. The owner sold one of the two parcels that the apartment building was going to be built on to another party. Like you said, there is hope for this site, though built on one of the parcels, so smaller scope.

[Louie]

Per the article in today's OWH, it sounds like the developer is still planning a project on this site.

Good catch. It was not a financing issue, the developer claims. The owner sold one of the two parcels that the apartment building was going to be built on to another party. Like you said, there is hope for this site, though built on one of the parcels, so smaller scope.

Could be 2 smaller developments even.

[Taco]

Per the article in today's OWH, it sounds like the developer is still planning a project on this site.

Good catch. It was not a financing issue, the developer claims.

If you believe that then I've got an arena in ralston to sell you

[Louie]

Per the article in today's OWH, it sounds like the developer is still planning a project on this site.

Good catch. It was not a financing issue, the developer claims.

If you believe that then I've got an arena in ralston to sell you

I meant in the long run, not a joint effort right now. Just saying that there are 2 different owners of two parcels and they both are prime for redevelopment. Who knows what their intentions are.

[ita]

Per the article in today's OWH, it sounds like the developer is still planning a project on this site.

Good catch. It was not a financing issue, the developer claims.

If you believe that then I've got an arena in ralston to sell you

I am not discounting that they ran into financing issues. Additionally, it looks like this is one of their first projects into building a new development. Looks like they primarily are a property management company and this is one of their first forays into land development.

Another party did purchase a majority of the parcels that would have encompassed this project in December 2019. Child Saving Institute purchased the three eastern plots right off Dodge and the lots directly south. The three remaining parcels have not been sold. The developer is still interested in following through on a project, per the article, but I don't know if it will be in this location unless they are able to acquire the adjacent commercial building to the west.

Since Child Saving Institute now owns a huge swath of land now right off Dodge, maybe there is potential of a new HQ for that organization. I thought they recently remodeled their current location, but I thought it was interesting that they purchased the adjacent lots to their surface parking lot.

[imadethat]

Howdy all.
I was googling this project to see if any news had popped up on its revival or anything and I found this forum. Really wish I had known about it back when I was working on it last year, you folks would have been a great resource for knowledge of the area and development around the town.

Without revealing too much info I was the primary designer on the project and responsible for the exterior treatments you see in those "renderings" (which are actually just screen shots from sketch-up). I'm no longer an employee of the firm that worked on this project so I feel like I can probably answer any question's y'all might have on it.

As far as funding issues on the developer's side I can 100% tell you the money wasn't there. It was a constant issue with that guy and the projects we designed for him. We'd do all this design work and then a couple months later hear that the project was dead due to funding issues.

As proof here is an image of where the design essentially started as just some big blocks:


And here are some higher quality renderings of where the project ended up a couple months later:





I should stipulate that while these images are my intellectual property, they are also still the intellectual property of the firm I worked for, Clockwork, and can't be used without their permission.

[ita]

Howdy all.
I was googling this project to see if any news had popped up on its revival or anything and I found this forum. Really wish I had known about it back when I was working on it last year, you folks would have been a great resource for knowledge of the area and development around the town.

Without revealing too much info I was the primary designer on the project and responsible for the exterior treatments you see in those "renderings" (which are actually just screen shots from sketch-up). I'm no longer an employee of the firm that worked on this project so I feel like I can probably answer any question's y'all might have on it.

As far as funding issues on the developer's side I can 100% tell you the money wasn't there. It was a constant issue with that guy and the projects we designed for him. We'd do all this design work and then a couple months later hear that the project was dead due to funding issues.

As proof here is an image of where the design essentially started as just some big blocks:


And here are some higher quality renderings of where the project ended up a couple months later:





I should stipulate that while these images are my intellectual property, they are also still the intellectual property of the firm I worked for, Clockwork, and can't be used without their permission.

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for sharing some additional rendering of the project. I was disappointed this project fell through. Too bad the developer is flimsy. It sounds like your firm is not local. Where are you folks based out of and have you done other work here in Omaha?

[almighty_tuna]

Looks like, despite overwhelming Council approval and approved TIF financing, this project has been pulled and will no longer be built.

https://www.wowt.com/2022/11/15/develop ... a-housing/

However, for reasons unknown, the Kansas City-based developer pulled the plug.

“I don’t know. We don’t know. They just requested that the case not move forward on to council,” Fanslau said. “It’s pretty unusual for somebody just to pull the plug.”