16th Street Master Plan

[ita]

Maybe Cumbia is being resurrected in the same spot. This is up for consideration in the June 4 City Council meeting:

Class “I” Liquor License for Cumbia, LLC, dba “Cumbia”, located at 329 South 16th Street, Suite 1.

[BIGO88]

Cumbia confirmed on their social media that they are opening up back soon in the same location.

[NewDoom]

MoMo's is Cattle Call

Cattle Call is now open on the corner of 16th & Farnam in the old Culprit Cafe. "Wine, cocktails, and late night food." Only serving Kathmandu Momo Station menu for now, but this past weekend they soft opened their Cattle Call menu which consisted of American Japanese fusion. Sounded like they are still figuring out the full menu.

[BIGO88]

Another new bar is opening next to Blackline Comedy that will be called "La Traga Zona" and should be opening soon.

[Dusty]

The mayor mentioned again they have a plan for 16th Street "near Orpheum". I'm going to connect the dots and take a guess here. Children's Museum moves down near Riverfront parks. This opens up the land for the fire/police headquarters to move to 20th and St Mary. Then the whole corner on 16th Jackson opens up for a ton of development, which is one block from the Orpheum.

[Garrett]

The mysterious Tower District perhaps?

[HighWinds]

The mysterious Tower District perhaps?

That's what I was thinking

[nebport5]

The mayor mentioned again they have a plan for 16th Street "near Orpheum". I'm going to connect the dots and take a guess here. Children's Museum moves down near Riverfront parks. This opens up the land for the fire/police headquarters to move to 20th and St Mary. Then the whole corner on 16th Jackson opens up for a ton of development, which is one block from the Orpheum.

Sounds plausible. Closer to the Orpheum is OPPD, which has been also rumored to be converted to residential like First National.

I keep thinking it would be cool if the first few levels of OPPD could be converted to another performance theater.

It would be also be ideal to give 16th St a parking garage diet or at least at street level.

[Dusty]

The mayor mentioned again they have a plan for 16th Street "near Orpheum". I'm going to connect the dots and take a guess here. Children's Museum moves down near Riverfront parks. This opens up the land for the fire/police headquarters to move to 20th and St Mary. Then the whole corner on 16th Jackson opens up for a ton of development, which is one block from the Orpheum.

Sounds plausible. Closer to the Orpheum is OPPD, which has been also rumored to be converted to residential like First National.

I keep thinking it would be cool if the first few levels of OPPD could be converted to another performance theater.

It would be also be ideal to give 16th St a parking garage diet or at least at street level.

I brought this up previously to make 16th Street into a Theater District. Omaha has rich history of theaters down Douglas and 16th Street. I want to bring it back with a modern spin. The bones are all there to make it happen. The proposed garage to be built on back side of Duo will help. It will have ground floor commercial, which will help pull pedestrians through. The eyesore is the garage on 16th and Farnam. I would tear this down and put another anchor theater here. It could be dinner theater or a magic performance act.

[GenX]

The mayor mentioned again they have a plan for 16th Street "near Orpheum". I'm going to connect the dots and take a guess here. Children's Museum moves down near Riverfront parks. This opens up the land for the fire/police headquarters to move to 20th and St Mary. Then the whole corner on 16th Jackson opens up for a ton of development, which is one block from the Orpheum.

Sounds plausible. Closer to the Orpheum is OPPD, which has been also rumored to be converted to residential like First National.

I keep thinking it would be cool if the first few levels of OPPD could be converted to another performance theater.

It would be also be ideal to give 16th St a parking garage diet or at least at street level.

I brought this up previously to make 16th Street into a Theater District. Omaha has rich history of theaters down Douglas and 16th Street. I want to bring it back with a modern spin. The bones are all there to make it happen. The proposed garage to be built on back side of Duo will help. It will have ground floor commercial, which will help pull pedestrians through. The eyesore is the garage on 16th and Farnam. I would tear this down and put another anchor theater here. It could be dinner theater or a magic performance act.

One can’t really convert an office building into a theater. Completely different types of structures.

[skip]

As long as Howl at the Moon or a similar dueling piano bar is a part of this theater district. I feel a bar like this would do well in Omaha.

[NEDodger]

As long as Howl at the Moon or a similar dueling piano bar is a part of this theater district. I feel a bar like this would do well in Omaha.

That’d be fantastic! I miss having a dueling piano bar here.

[nebport5]

The mayor mentioned again they have a plan for 16th Street "near Orpheum". I'm going to connect the dots and take a guess here. Children's Museum moves down near Riverfront parks. This opens up the land for the fire/police headquarters to move to 20th and St Mary. Then the whole corner on 16th Jackson opens up for a ton of development, which is one block from the Orpheum.

Sounds plausible. Closer to the Orpheum is OPPD, which has been also rumored to be converted to residential like First National.

I keep thinking it would be cool if the first few levels of OPPD could be converted to another performance theater.

It would be also be ideal to give 16th St a parking garage diet or at least at street level.

I brought this up previously to make 16th Street into a Theater District. Omaha has rich history of theaters down Douglas and 16th Street. I want to bring it back with a modern spin. The bones are all there to make it happen. The proposed garage to be built on back side of Duo will help. It will have ground floor commercial, which will help pull pedestrians through. The eyesore is the garage on 16th and Farnam. I would tear this down and put another anchor theater here. It could be dinner theater or a magic performance act.

I recall that. I do like the idea in concept. It looks like the Duo will have 1 street level retail space and 1 on the 2nd floor. The other garage you're referring to I believe is owned by the adjacent law firm. It's not a huge space but it is a waste of a prime corner in the CBD. To put a theater here it would have to be on the smaller size. I would keep the performance type general for regular use.

[Doctor Fate]

Finding a better use of space for all of the garages and surface parking on or near 16th street would help activate the area too. The garages are all privately owned though, so not sure what is possible.

- 1612 Farnam owned by Omaha Bldg Investment Co LLC <-- a skinny tower here would be cool
- 1520 Howard owned by Webster Real Estate LLC
- 1656 Howard owned by OPPD
- 1512 Howard (surface lot) owned by OPA

[nebport5]

The mayor mentioned again they have a plan for 16th Street "near Orpheum". I'm going to connect the dots and take a guess here. Children's Museum moves down near Riverfront parks. This opens up the land for the fire/police headquarters to move to 20th and St Mary. Then the whole corner on 16th Jackson opens up for a ton of development, which is one block from the Orpheum.

Sounds plausible. Closer to the Orpheum is OPPD, which has been also rumored to be converted to residential like First National.

I keep thinking it would be cool if the first few levels of OPPD could be converted to another performance theater.

It would be also be ideal to give 16th St a parking garage diet or at least at street level.

I brought this up previously to make 16th Street into a Theater District. Omaha has rich history of theaters down Douglas and 16th Street. I want to bring it back with a modern spin. The bones are all there to make it happen. The proposed garage to be built on back side of Duo will help. It will have ground floor commercial, which will help pull pedestrians through. The eyesore is the garage on 16th and Farnam. I would tear this down and put another anchor theater here. It could be dinner theater or a magic performance act.

One can’t really convert an office building into a theater. Completely different types of structures.

Understood. I was thinking particularly about the rumor(iirc) that the smaller building isn't in great shape and could be torn down and replaced with an exhibition space. The larger main building could be converted to living spaces above and the ground level could be converted for retail. You could still put a marque on the corner of 16th and Harney and only need a lobby/ pass through to get to the new building(somewhat mirroring The Orpheum setup).

I have no idea about the number of touring acts vs demand to justify something like this but I don't think just building more housing is enough to attract the targeted number of people to live downtown. I'm sure grocery will come in time but give people more entertainment as another selling point to live in the area. I'd be happy with a small first run movie theater now that Marcus has left Midtown.

[jjjjhskr]

Understood. I was thinking particularly about the rumor(iirc) that the smaller building isn't in great shape and could be torn down and replaced with an exhibition space. The larger main building could be converted to living spaces above and the ground level could be converted for retail. You could still put a marque on the corner of 16th and Harney and only need a lobby/

[/quote]

Can you clarify what the smaller and larger buildings are? I’m having trouble picturing which is which since 16th St, Harney, Farnam and Jackson streets are all mentioned in the thread. Thanks!

[Doctor Fate]

Understood. I was thinking particularly about the rumor(iirc) that the smaller building isn't in great shape and could be torn down and replaced with an exhibition space. The larger main building could be converted to living spaces above and the ground level could be converted for retail. You could still put a marque on the corner of 16th and Harney and only need a lobby/

Can you clarify what the smaller and larger buildings are? I’m having trouble picturing which is which since 16th St, Harney, Farnam and Jackson streets are all mentioned in the thread. Thanks!
[/quote]

The larger building is Energy Plaza that is on 16th street and the smaller building is the addition that is to the west of that.

[Dusty]

Finding a better use of space for all of the garages and surface parking on or near 16th street would help activate the area too. The garages are all privately owned though, so not sure what is possible.

- 1612 Farnam owned by Omaha Bldg Investment Co LLC <-- a skinny tower here would be cool
- 1520 Howard owned by Webster Real Estate LLC
- 1656 Howard owned by OPPD
- 1512 Howard (surface lot) owned by OPA

I made a visual of the garages down 16th Street. You wonder why there is no pedestrian activity!

#1- 1598 Douglas- Garage (Was formally World Theater)
Side note: Directly East of this is the UP Headquarters (formally Rialto Theater)
#2- 1612 Farnam owned by Omaha Bldg Investment Co LLC
#3- Central Park Plaza Garage (16th and Farnam) -Will be Duo with new garage with ground floor commercial
#4- 1656 Howard owned by OPPD
#5- 1512 Howard (surface lot) owned by OPA / 1520 Howard owned by Webster Real Estate LLC

[Dusty]

If the city decides to relocate the police/fire headquarters, it opens up a TON of potential development.
I said before to tear down the Trailways Bus terminal. This would be a great spot for a residential tower with ground floor commercial.

I added this to show all the parcels that are surface lots that could be developed. Marked in yellow the fire/police buildings.

[GenX]

Surface lot 5, at least the eastern half, is out as that’s where trucks load in/out of the Orpheum.

[arch_RP_planner]

Surface lot 5, at least the eastern half, is out as that’s where trucks load in/out of the Orpheum.

It still could be viable to have something fill the whole south half of that block. It would just be a bit unique as the building would have to cantilever a story or two above said loading dock. Could actually be a fun project if it were attempted.

Another thing to note is that it is not likely that the Magnolia hotel would give up their surface lot on the southern half of the block, unless one of the projects (could be a development on that surface lot) would include replacement parking in the form of a garage on the first few levels.

It will be interesting to see what they do with this masterplan for 16th St, considering many people have voiced concerns about increasing density right next to the DT correctional facility.

[GenX]

Surface lot 5, at least the eastern half, is out as that’s where trucks load in/out of the Orpheum.

It still could be viable to have something fill the whole south half of that block. It would just be a bit unique as the building would have to cantilever a story or two above said loading dock. Could actually be a fun project if it were attempted.

Another thing to note is that it is not likely that the Magnolia hotel would give up their surface lot on the southern half of the block, unless one of the projects (could be a development on that surface lot) would include replacement parking in the form of a garage on the first few levels.

It will be interesting to see what they do with this masterplan for 16th St, considering many people have voiced concerns about increasing density right next to the DT correctional facility.

Some Orpheum shows have as many as 30 trucks, Frozen had 27. I’d imagine OPA and IATSE would be up in arms if development was proposed for the site.

[arch_RP_planner]

Surface lot 5, at least the eastern half, is out as that’s where trucks load in/out of the Orpheum.

It still could be viable to have something fill the whole south half of that block. It would just be a bit unique as the building would have to cantilever a story or two above said loading dock. Could actually be a fun project if it were attempted.

Another thing to note is that it is not likely that the Magnolia hotel would give up their surface lot on the southern half of the block, unless one of the projects (could be a development on that surface lot) would include replacement parking in the form of a garage on the first few levels.

It will be interesting to see what they do with this masterplan for 16th St, considering many people have voiced concerns about increasing density right next to the DT correctional facility.

Some Orpheum shows have as many as 30 trucks, Frozen had 27. I’d imagine OPA and IATSE would be up in arms if development was proposed for the site.

Like I said, that lot "could be viable" given the ground floor loading dock access wasn't interfered with; solution being to cantilever the building over top of said loading docks. The topography of the block drops 30 feet from 16th-15th, so a ground level lobby on the SW corner of the site would already be about 26 feet higher than the loading docks, so IF something were to happen, there are solutions that don't interfere whatsoever with the Orpheum and its needs. Very unlikely that a project would actually take form here, given the myriad lots throughout the core that are surface level parking, just stating that fun developments can still occur.

[GenX]

Surface lot 5, at least the eastern half, is out as that’s where trucks load in/out of the Orpheum.

It still could be viable to have something fill the whole south half of that block. It would just be a bit unique as the building would have to cantilever a story or two above said loading dock. Could actually be a fun project if it were attempted.

Another thing to note is that it is not likely that the Magnolia hotel would give up their surface lot on the southern half of the block, unless one of the projects (could be a development on that surface lot) would include replacement parking in the form of a garage on the first few levels.

It will be interesting to see what they do with this masterplan for 16th St, considering many people have voiced concerns about increasing density right next to the DT correctional facility.

Some Orpheum shows have as many as 30 trucks, Frozen had 27. I’d imagine OPA and IATSE would be up in arms if development was proposed for the site.

Like I said, that lot "could be viable" given the ground floor loading dock access wasn't interfered with; solution being to cantilever the building over top of said loading docks. The topography of the block drops 30 feet from 16th-15th, so a ground level lobby on the SW corner of the site would already be about 26 feet higher than the loading docks, so IF something were to happen, there are solutions that don't interfere whatsoever with the Orpheum and its needs. Very unlikely that a project would actually take form here, given the myriad lots throughout the core that are surface level parking, just stating that fun developments can still occur.

Your final point captures my thinking perfectly. Tons more lots to develop with a lot less engineering.

[Jins123]

SINKHOLE PARTY: Neighbors find creative way to keep issue in the spotlight

https://www.3newsnow.com/central-omaha/ ... -spotlight

It's an issue that's brought this neighborhood together, so much so, that they're planning a beach-themed party for Friday night.

“It is technically a political protest, but we are just keeping it light and fun, and yeah, it is going to be a real good time, and so we hope everybody can come down and enjoy it and talk to us about it and ask questions,” said Lisa Kilker, a resident in the Regis building.

It's not just the residents; neighboring businesses are getting involved too.

I wonder if Jean or Juanita got an invite ?

[HskrFanMike]

My goodness... this sinkhole hasn't been filled YET? It's been FOUR MONTHS since the garbage truck crashed through.

Mayor Stothert's Public Lack-of-Works department said in January this would be taken care of in two weeks...and the people in the neighborhood are having to resort to holding a Sinkhole-de-Mayo event to call attention to yet-another negligent response by the city.

[skinzfan23]

I have no idea what’s going on but I am pretty sure there is some litigation involved, but I do think for safety they should fill it.

[nebport5]

In the dining forum is a post about Panda House being permanently closed referenced from a Reddit post. Also in that Reddit post is a rumor about the Securities Building being sold and converted back into condos as well as the two buildings to the east being rehabbed.