More condos

[Finn]

Condo fever hits Omaha

BY DEBORAH SHANAHAN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A nine-story apartment building east of the Mutual of Omaha campus will be remodeled and converted to condominiums costing $55,000 to $210,000.

The first-floor medical offices and retail spaces at 101 N. 31st Ave. will remain.

The owners, represented by Arun Agarwal, will sell 59 units - 12 now and the others as leases expire through the end of the year, said Vince Leisey, who is handling the sales with Doug Dohse for Prudential Ambassador Real Estate.

He said the goal is to have two or three of the models - with new oak floors, maple cabinets and granite-tile counters - ready to view the first week of March.

Marketing materials are still being prepared, Leisey said, but Prudential already has a list of 15 agents with clients who are interested.

"They're hearing about it because of the price point," he said. "And the parking is a huge thing. . . . In this case, an underground space is included in the price."

Leisey said the building owners heard the buzz about all the downtown condominiums planned and wondered about the potential for their building to go condo. Prudential officials advised them to "appeal to the under-30 crowd," including Creighton University and University of Nebraska Medical Center students.

"We're trying to fill that under $200,000 niche and market to a younger crowd," Leisey said.

The $55,000 unit will be about 550 square feet, he said, while the upper-floor, higher-priced units will be up to 1,600 square feet.

The price includes an underground parking space for each unit. The building has 90 spaces covered or underground.

Plans also call for a workout room on the second floor and a rooftop common area, Leisey said.

The remodeling includes taking out some walls and drywall ceilings to get more of an open loft feel, he said. The exterior of the 1969 building will remain about the same but with spruced-up grounds and new doors, Leisey said.

He said that he didn't know the total cost of the remodeling but that the value of all the units, if sold as priced, would be $6 million.

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[DMRyan]

Any improvements on this monster will be welcomed.

[Brad]

I have always thought this building should be blown up.

[OhioStreetKid]

I second that Brad and would add the abandoned Travel Inn to your demolition docket.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Well, at least the article had a good headline.

[Brad]

I second that Brad and would add the abandoned Travel Inn to your demolition docket.

Ohiostreetkid my demolition docket is much bigger than just one property, its freekin huge!!!!!

[OmahaDevelopmentMan]

Well, at least the article had a good headline.

When I read the headline I thought they were talking about the Central Park Plaza in downtown and I got to thinking of how the vacancy rate would have to then be lowered a ton. Sadly, I was wrong. Hopefully though this project will include a facelift for the exterrior.

[DTO Luv]

Midtown is getting in the game for condos too? Cool! This area might be more livable to some people since it won't be as expensive. I know a guy who used to live in the top apartment facing east and he said you could see all the way into CB from there. Another guy I used to work with was thinking about moving into those when they were apartments. Even if the outside isnt' that great, since it's appealing to a demographic with less money, it will still be a nice place to live and make the area around it more appealing.

[projectman]

I do hope that they can do something to the exterior but this is good news.

[StreetsOfOmaha]

Yay, let's all complain about the condo boom spreading to Midtown!!!

This is of course great news. The article seemed to say that the outside would pretty much stay the same. It's really not that bad. Here's to more population density in Omaha's core.

[eomaha]

Aaron... you're starting to sound like me.

It doesn't look THAT bad in person (what happened to the sign on the west side... pellet gun or something?). Although I'm starting to wonder myself if there aren't going to be a few developers trying to capitalize on the condo hype... spending more on marketing/publicity and less on actually developing a property. Would be nice to see the 'Twin Towers' building exterior worked over. I'm always intrigued by the listings I see in the MLS for some of these units. Anyone familiar with the inside of any of these? Is it a pit?

[StreetsOfOmaha]

I love Park Avenue. It's one of my favorite Streets in Omaha. Turner Boulevard is another one, and they're both right in that area.

I would also love to see a developer buy and remodel the twin towers. They're great buildings, they could just use a little work.

[Raraavis]

Everyday we seem to get one step closer to that new high-rise residential tower being built. There are a few more old buildings to remodel but soon someone will take the chance on new construction.