Omaha RiverFront Market (SEC 8th and Farnam St)

[PWL73316]

808 Conagra (Building 5 in old-Conagra parlance) has the Omaha Chamber of Commerce and a bunch of Omahans' philanthropist foundations in it. It has been my loose assumption that there is some longer-term idea under wraps for what to do with the property once the current riverfront revitalization is done.

Both 908 and 808 are still owned by Conagra proper and it's been my assumption they will eventually sell it for development, since they haven't sold it already, and no longer occupy it. But it seems semi-likely there is some handshake understanding that has led to the Chamber and a bunch of Chamber-adjacent organizations holding space in it, likely at a discount? Or with some other arrangement.

Conagra also owns 501 S 10th St which has been the subject of a lot of rumors.
viewtopic.php?t=24868

[iamjacobm]

They released a job posting for an executive director and the job description says a tentative 2028 opening.

[JDirte]

Love it, I am so pumped for this, hopefully it is designed and compares to well to markets I have been to in other cities. Should be a great addition to downtown.

My only fear is that it will be tucked too far away at 8th and Farnam, but maybe the streetcar gets rid of that limitation and makes it more visible. The market could maybe be an unofficial 'train station' of the streetcar.

[thenewguy]

Love it, I am so pumped for this, hopefully it is designed and compares to well to markets I have been to in other cities. Should be a great addition to downtown.

My only fear is that it will be tucked too far away at 8th and Farnam, but maybe the streetcar gets rid of that limitation and makes it more visible. The market could maybe be an unofficial 'train station' of the streetcar.

that's not a bad idea. If they leaned into the rail history, they could put a locomotive or old style street car parked there out front.

[nebport5]

Heavy earth moving equipment has arrived on site at the would be Public Market site.

[nativeomahan]

Fingers crossed.

[thenewguy]

Heavy earth moving equipment has arrived on site at the would be Public Market site.

I misread that at first to say 'publix market' and i thought i missed something

[nebport5]

Heavy earth moving equipment has arrived on site at the would be Public Market site.

I misread that at first to say 'publix market' and i thought i missed something

LOL! Hard pass on a Publix.

[stadsborgare]

Maybe it will be a Buc-ee's. Big tourist draw, and all the accoutrements of a public market.

[OmahaOmaha]

Heavy earth moving equipment has arrived on site at the would be Public Market site.

I misread that at first to say 'publix market' and i thought i missed something

LOL! Hard pass on a Publix.

I’ll second that. Unless you’re purchasing one of their BOGO sale items, you’ve probably paid way too much.

[thenewguy]

Heavy earth moving equipment has arrived on site at the would be Public Market site.

I misread that at first to say 'publix market' and i thought i missed something

LOL! Hard pass on a Publix.

I’ll second that. Unless you’re purchasing one of their BOGO sale items, you’ve probably paid way too much.

we went to a publix one time in florida; it wasn't anything great, but some folks down there absolutely love it. I'll stick with fareway and super-saver

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Publix is no more special than any other full-service grocery store. However, their store brand thin mint/grasshopper cookie equivalent is incredible. Whenever I’m in the south I make it a point to stop at a Publix just to grab a couple packs.

[nebport5]

The Grow Omaha newsletter has a snippet about the public market.

According to a recently filed building permit, a 3-story, 50,588 sq. ft., “Riverfront Market” building is be constructed on the site.

For a loose comparison Omaha's Whole Foods is 50K sq ft.

[Stargazer]

According to a recently filed building permit, a 3-story, 50,588 sq. ft., “Riverfront Market” building is be constructed on the site.

For a loose comparison Omaha's Whole Foods is 50K sq ft.

Spread over 3 floors? Why do that? Or is there a residential component?

Is this the market which was once slated for the old street car barn south of Blue Barn? Or a different group?

[Garrett]

According to a recently filed building permit, a 3-story, 50,588 sq. ft., “Riverfront Market” building is be constructed on the site.

For a loose comparison Omaha's Whole Foods is 50K sq ft.

Spread over 3 floors? Why do that? Or is there a residential component?

Is this the market which was once slated for the old street car barn south of Blue Barn? Or a different group?

I found the permit

https://aca-prod.accela.com/OMAHA/Cap/C ... nspection=

20k sqft on the first floor, 22k sqft on the second floor, 8.5 k sqft on the 3rd floor. Possibly vendors on the first two, offices or a rooftop seating area on the 3rd? It'll also be 69 ft tall, so averaging 23 ft per floor which is pretty hefty. The parcel itself is 130k sqft, so maybe they'll also have outdoor space for a more traditional market during the warmer months. I also imagine they'll need a decent amount of parking, garage based or otherwise, but the permit only notes 74 stalls, including 4 ada and 13 compact.

This project is being developed by Heritage Omaha in collaboration with the Project for Public Spaces, which is a pretty cool placemaking non-profit, and designed by Alley Poyner Macchietto.

https://www.pps.org/

[Linkin5]

I put the building specifications that were in the permit into AI and it spit out this rendering, no idea why it says Lincoln though. If we get something similar to this I would be happy.

[Brad]

Yeah, that would be a nice fit overlooking the park.

[MadJack]

Story just published in Grow Omaha: https://growomaha.com/work-begins-on-pu ... iverfront/

[nebport5]

And still we can't get a rendering? The PR with Heritage is just odd.

[MadJack]

And still we can't get a rendering? The PR with Heritage is just odd.

They tend to be very secretive.

[bldgengineer2015]

And still we can't get a rendering? The PR with Heritage is just odd.

They tend to be very secretive.

I'm sure the Children's Museum deal didn't help the situation.

[nebport5]

And still we can't get a rendering? The PR with Heritage is just odd.

They tend to be very secretive.

Indeed. They should just change their name to Illuminati of Omaha.

[Jins123]

And still we can't get a rendering? The PR with Heritage is just odd.

They really are, just wanted to reiterate this on here.

[thenewguy]

sounds great. Hopefully they give a good look at which vendors they are looking to attract. I'd like to see something polish/German/bohemian for eats in there and not something that's already offered in the nearby old market (American pub fare/sushi/etc). A Reuben shop would be great, too. Just lean into the heritage of Omaha, ya know?

[Hawkeye]

Never fear! Your old pal Hawkeye has "scooped" the first official rendering. You're welcome in advance.



Don't ask about my sources. That's privileged information.

[Brad]

Photos if the site from this morning

1.

20260726881A4256.jpg

2.

20260726881A4262.jpg

.

[Garrett]

Surprised there's no rendering/press release yet

[kb97]

Cleared lots of landscaping around the edges of the public market lot connected to the park and have added construction fence.

[kb97]

Also construction barriers arrived today on the Drury parcel. Not in position yet but looks like it’ll be pretty quick.

[Garrett]

Also construction barriers arrived today on the Drury parcel. Not in position yet but looks like it’ll be pretty quick.

https://aca-prod.accela.com/OMAHA/Cap/C ... nspection=

The only permit for the site was filed in April before the board rejected the TIF application in June, and it covers just the basic site infrastructure like sewer and electrical as well as some general site improvements for a little under $6 million, or about 1/8th of the total project cost.

[Mapguy]

This is a great example of not everything needing TIF to happen. When this project is complete the schools and city will get the tax dollars year 1 instead of year 16.

[nativeomahan]

Honestly, having read the press release, it sounds as if the developers aren’t quite sure what the finished product will be offering up to customers come 2028. Clearly these people must have studied urban markets across the globe to come up with some sort of blueprint for what Omaha’s market will offer to the public upon opening. I personally hope that the overwhelming percentage of vendors will be selling consumable food, whether fresh produce, cheeses, desserts, or foods suitable for on-site consumption, preferably in a food hall sort of atmosphere. Flowers and plants for sale would also be popular. I guess having other products for sale (clothing, candles, artwork and the like) will attract additional customers, but those sorts of vendors don’t typically interest me. Perhaps the reason for building three levels will be to group vendors by category?
My husband and I just returned from Europe, where we attended three such markets, in three different cities. Two were 90% devoted to fresh fruit, produce, cheeses, seafood, meat and sweets. The other one, which was enormous, covered streets along at least 8 blocks, and was mostly everything except food. It was an annual one day only market, which was insanely busy.
Those of you who have spent time (and money) in KC’s River Market know how popular it is.

[Garrett]

Honestly, having read the press release, it sounds as if the developers aren’t quite sure what the finished product will be offering up to customers come 2028. Clearly these people must have studied urban markets across the globe to come up with some sort of blueprint for what Omaha’s market will offer to the public upon opening. I personally hope that the overwhelming percentage of vendors will be selling consumable food, whether fresh produce, cheeses, desserts, or foods suitable for on-site consumption, preferably in a food hall sort of atmosphere. Flowers and plants for sale would also be popular. I guess having other products for sale (clothing, candles, artwork and the like) will attract additional customers, but those sorts of vendors don’t typically interest me. Perhaps the reason for building three levels will be to group vendors by category?
My husband and I just returned from Europe, where we attended three such markets, in three different cities. Two were 90% devoted to fresh fruit, produce, cheeses, seafood, meat and sweets. The other one, which was enormous, covered streets along at least 8 blocks, and was mostly everything except food. It was an annual one day only market, which was insanely busy.
Those of you who have spent time (and money) in KC’s River Market know how popular it is.

I have faith it'll be good. PPS is a world renowned placemaking organization. You should only really be getting the best of the best with them. They have an entire section in their website dedicated to public markets.

https://www.pps.org/marketcities

[JDirte]

I love going to markets in different cities. This is my favorite project in Omaha and will be a really nice add to downtown if they do it right. With it being at the corner of where the street car turns north and the gene leahy mall, I would think it would almost become like train/transit station and heart to downtown.

Along with Gene Leahy Mall this is a magnet to bring people downtown and keep them there and then if successful can lead to more restaurants, retail, bars, etc surrounding Gene Leahy Mall. I hope they do something on the back side where heartland of America Park is. Could be the lower floor and have a lot of outdoor seating, patio, that then spills out into the park.

[BH58]

Please bear in mind,this is backed and financed by Heritage Omaha. Big money doners, so it's obvious this project won't need tif and they know how to develop property.

[kb97]

Earth work has begun on market site.

[stadsborgare]

I thought I'd give you a "Before" shot.

[omahahawk]

Yeah...I am sure it will be awesome but it is sort of peculiar that construction has been announced but no formal renderings or ground breaking ceremony. I keep checking every morning for an article or some renderings. I am assuming they are just ironing out every final detail in the official release of info.. Agree with the other poster that this will most likely become the Times Square hub of the new parks.

[Garrett]

Yeah...I am sure it will be awesome but it is sort of peculiar that construction has been announced but no formal renderings or ground breaking ceremony. I keep checking every morning for an article or some renderings. I am assuming they are just ironing out every final detail in the official release of info.. Agree with the other poster that this will most likely become the Times Square hub of the new parks.

Usually actual start to construction is before a formal ground breaking. Hopefully we'll see something in the next few weeks, as this is quite the significant development to not have much fanfare

[stadsborgare]

Yeah...I am sure it will be awesome but it is sort of peculiar that construction has been announced but no formal renderings or ground breaking ceremony. I keep checking every morning for an article or some renderings. I am assuming they are just ironing out every final detail in the official release of info.. Agree with the other poster that this will most likely become the Times Square hub of the new parks.

Usually actual start to construction is before a formal ground breaking. Hopefully we'll see something in the next few weeks, as this is quite the significant development to not have much fanfare

You never see casino renderings before they're built. Maybe there's going to be slot machines in there.