Missouri River Commons (Riverfront Development)

EastCB · Post by **EastCB** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:49 am

Went to Rick's on New Years Eve and was told it would be the last night for them.

bigredmed · Post by **bigredmed** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 9:08 am

About time. Crappy food at the far end of town. Hard to get to even if you live downtown, and there are way to many better places to eat. That place could make money if it was better.

Post by **nebugeater** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 9:15 am

I never liked the place and went their rairly, usually only with an out of town group. I just hope that it doesn't sit empty.

On another note I wounder how many gift cards they sold that were given as gifts for Christmas to end up closing the doors on Dec 31.

Of course this is all assuming that you were told the truth. Anyone go by there today and see if they are open?

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:45 am

No loss. Absolutely no loss.

swgiust · Post by **swgiust** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:44 am

Ricks really was a good spot. I know they have had issues, but you gotta think alot of that had
to do with the flood. They were basically closed all last summer. That and the events that got
canceled on the landing must have killed them.

I hope somebody jumps on the property and opens it up again. We really enjoy going down
there in the summer.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 11:08 am

swgiust wrote:They were basically closed all last summer. That and the events that got
canceled on the landing must have killed them.

They were closed or people assumed they were closed...

Either way people have complained about that place being bad since day one.

Silverspoon · Post by **Silverspoon** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:35 pm

Ive never been there, but I always heard good things about it, other than the price for amount you get.

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:08 pm

as much as its an overpriced chain, and I should hate it, a Joe's Crabshack would go well down there. It would continue with the seafood on the riverfront theme, and potentially be a marquee name drawn down to the riverfront...

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:57 pm

Or is it...?

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130102/N ... rs-for-now

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 6:32 pm

I have heard (but not confirmed) that the restaurant has always had an extreme sweetheart deal with the city of Omaha. They pay like $5,000 a YEAR in rent! Someone serving rat poison as food, who never ever needed repeat customers, could still make a good living with that sort of arrangement. We have eaten there perhaps a half dozen times over the years. It started off okay, and it has a bright, airy atmosphere, but the service and particularly the management were mostly a$$e$. They had no concept of good customer service. They completely ignored two of my friends who took the time to write them complaint letters about terrible service, on two separate occasions. I had really high expectations for this place, but after years of disappointment, I can only say good riddance.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 6:36 pm

nativeomahan wrote:I have heard (but not confirmed) that the restaurant has always had an extreme sweetheart deal with the city of Omaha. They pay like $5,000 a YEAR in rent!

In that article it said that they pay $5,000 per MONTH. Still nothing for that location. However, If that's for the land and they built their own building, they could have much higher costs involved.

Bob from Omaha · Post by **Bob from Omaha** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 7:17 pm

The claim was that they were the only proposal for a restaurant in that location. Personally I would have preferred to see more on the property than this, such as a mixed use or multi tenant arrangement.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 7:20 pm

Bob from Omaha wrote:The claim was that they were the only proposal for a restaurant in that location. Personally I would have preferred to see more on the property than this, such as a mixed use or multi tenant arrangement.

Isn't that building big enough for at least a couple smaller tenants?

Linkin5 · Post by **Linkin5** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 8:37 pm

Ben wrote:as much as its an overpriced chain, and I should hate it, a Joe's Crabshack would go well down there. It would continue with the seafood on the riverfront theme, and potentially be a marquee name drawn down to the riverfront...

That's a good idea, I could see them being successful down there.

omadweller · Post by **omadweller** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:08 pm

Isn't that building big enough for at least a couple smaller tenants?

That could be a good idea. Maybe sort of a food court with different options. Maybe some of your typical fast food chains or maybe food truck style fusion restaurants or something.

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:47 pm

What about Surfside Club? Maybe an Asarco museum

.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:49 pm

Does Surfside have plans to reopen yet? Lets move them down the riverside, they do have a strict dress code :;): .

bigredmed · Post by **bigredmed** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:32 pm

Surfside would be fun. Not a chain fan. It would be fun to have a place where you could go either before or after a hockey game.[quote][/quote]

MadMartin8 · Post by **MadMartin8** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:59 pm

I hope a Super Walmart goes there instead. Also a CVS+Walgreens combo store!

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 11:25 pm

MadMartin8 wrote:I hope a Super Walmart goes there instead. Also a CVS+Walgreens combo store!

No, it would compete with that automated concession stand the City installed by the Pedestrian bridge.

justnick · Post by **justnick** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 11:31 pm

omg macy's

Silverspoon · Post by **Silverspoon** » Thu Jan 03, 2013 3:44 pm

I vote for Surfside. Man I miss that place...

Bob from Omaha · Post by **Bob from Omaha** » Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:17 pm

Read the comments on the owh story. Funny stuff. Also an (alleged) ex employee who blamed the whole thing on the owner. Another person said this is why the city shouldn't be in this business.

In my opinion the building is big enough to at least split in half. Some are calling for Joe's Crab Shack. There are plenty of options. In Columbus, Ohio's Arena District there is a really cool Buca De Bepo. I'm not saying that's what should go in but how about some out of the box thinking?

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Thu Jan 03, 2013 7:24 pm

I would really prefer a local based high quality restaurant go in there. But of course they all had the opportunity to submit a bid to the city back when the Landing was developed, and apparently none of them did. The problem with the location is that there is absolutely nothing going on anywhere near them that would attract foot traffic 200+ days out of the year. So, they need to rely on good word of mouth (something Rick's managed to never have), and/or a good local or national reputation. None of the suggestions mentioned so far on this thread seem even close to what is needed to draw people. Most of the year the tenant will have to survive on the quality of their reputation.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:16 pm

I'd like to see apartments / condos... A whole new development. With the awesome success of Riverfront Place, this could be a great place.

S33 · Post by **S33** » Fri Jan 04, 2013 2:19 pm

Accordng to their sign on their front door, they are remodeling. Maybe remodelling that menu.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Jan 04, 2013 2:28 pm

S33 wrote:Accordng to their sign on their front door, they are remodeling. Maybe remodelling that menu.

Except they are several months behind in rent @ $5000 per month, $35,000 behind in taxes, and also another $3000 in interest.

Makes for some very expensive remodeling.

S33 · Post by **S33** » Fri Jan 04, 2013 2:32 pm

Brad wrote:
S33 wrote:Accordng to their sign on their front door, they are remodeling. Maybe remodelling that menu.
Except they are several months behind in rent @ $5000 per month, $35,000 behind in taxes, and also another $3000 in interest.

Makes for some very expensive remodeling.

lol, I know.

I wonder how their location in Indianapolis is doing.

omadweller · Post by **omadweller** » Fri Jan 04, 2013 3:30 pm

I'd like to see apartments / condos... A whole new development. With the awesome success of Riverfront Place, this could be a great place.

Good idea, especially considering the point someone made before about it being kind of hidden from most people unless they already know it's there or know it's truly great food.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:10 pm

I've always thought the city made huge mistake giving exclusive access to that great riverfront location to only one mediocre restaurant (Rick's)...there should have been sites for at least 4 or 5 smaller restaurants there. Some would succeed, some would fail, but there would always be a mix of places to chose from.

I know the Omaha market is already saturated in that area with the Old Market nearby, but now we're faced with seeing that prime location looking abandoned for who knows how long. There are enough year-round activities down there now to support more than just one restaurant on the riverfront....especially with all of the new residential space now.

HskrFanMike · Post by **HskrFanMike** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 12:41 pm

I think there are limitations to what can be built on that property. It's on top of a capped EPA SuperFund project where the contamination is buried forever.

http://www.hdrinc.com/portfolio/asarco- ... emediation

I would think that any structures would have to be low-rise so as to not affect the cap.

Post by **BRoss** » Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:06 pm

Restaurant owner seeks investors to revive business

KETV wrote:The city of Omaha said the owner of Rick's Café and Boatyard is looking for investors to help revive his business.

Officials said the riverfront business was several months behind on rent and property taxes, and it closed two weeks ago.

City leaders are trying to work out a solution with owner Rick Albrecht.

The city's law department said Albrecht could rebrand the restaurant or the city and Albrecht could agree to turn the lease on the property over to someone else.

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Fri Jan 18, 2013 6:14 pm

HR Paperstacks wrote:Restaurant owner seeks investors to revive business

KETV wrote:The city of Omaha said the owner of Rick's Café and Boatyard is looking for investors to help revive his business.

Officials said the riverfront business was several months behind on rent and property taxes, and it closed two weeks ago.

City leaders are trying to work out a solution with owner Rick Albrecht.

The city's law department said Albrecht could rebrand the restaurant or the city and Albrecht could agree to turn the lease on the property over to someone else.

He doesn't need investors. He needs chefs and managers who give a damn about doing a good job, and about treating customers like something other than ATM machines. Rick's ran on auto-pilot from day 1.

Post by **Brad** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 6:13 pm

nativeomahan wrote:He doesn't need investors. He needs chefs and managers who give a darn about doing a good job, and about treating customers like something other than ATM machines. Rick's ran on auto-pilot from day 1.

I know someone that applied for a Management position there several years ago. He told them that he was really good a turning restaurants around and he could really help them improve. The Ricks people got all offended and said something to the effect of "There is nothing wrong here". It ended up costing him the job, but probably a good thing in the long run.

Post by **nebugeater** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 5:21 pm

KETV is teasing a 6PM story for tonight ( 2/27) about some news of the future of Ricks. Don't think I will be at a TV to watch so will have to check the web later.

Collin · Post by **Collin** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:08 pm

City plans to rebrand riverfront restaurant

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:10 pm

nebugeater wrote:KETV is teasing a 6PM story for tonight ( 2/27) about some news of the future of Ricks. Don't think I will be at a TV to watch so will have to check the web later.

Rebranded. They made a big deal of bringing the summer events that left the area back to the river.

cp jay 07 · Post by **cp jay 07** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:23 pm

What happened to the Chuck E Cheese?

Post by **nebugeater** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 6:26 pm

KETV is reporting that Rick's Boatyard is listed for sale with a local realitor for 2.75 million. Real question seems to be waht they are selling with the city involvement

http://www.ketv.com/news/local-news/ric ... swatch%2B7

The asking price is $2.75 million.

What's not clear is who exactly is selling it. City officials said it's not the city of Omaha. Real estate company officials declined to comment on the listing. Messages left for owner Rick Albrecht at his corporate office in Indianapolis were not immediately returned.

It's also unclear as to exactly how such a sale would be possible, since the city owns the land on which the restaurant sits. Albrecht owned and operated the restaurant under a lease agreement with the city.

Read the rest at the link

Post by **nebugeater** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 6:27 pm

The listing on Loopnet

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/Looplink/Pr ... 3277982153