Omaha World-Herald
Todd and Mary Heistand's NuStyle Development has purchased the matching 15-story brick buildings along South 15th Street between Farnam and Douglas Streets , which have overlooked Gene Leahy Mall for decades.
Once an iconic element of downtown Omaha's rebirth, the buildings have struggled to keep major tenants in recent years and are about to overshadowed by the skyscraper that Mutual of Omaha is building across 15th Street to the east.
There was a previous plan for the site in 2021, which also included tax-increment financing, that did not materialize.
Mayor Jean Stothert and the NuStyle owners announced the project Thursday. The apartments, dubbed The Duo, will be the largest residential developments in the urban core, said Heath Mello , president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber.
NuStyle plans to convert the office space, much of which is currently vacant, into 700 apartments. It will be the latest and one of the biggest of the many redevelopments NuStyle has done of passé buildings in Omaha , including the abandoned Omaha Public Power District power plant on the Missouri River and the former Creighton University Medical Center at 30th and Burt Streets .
Omaha's planned streetcar line is driving the development, Stothert said. Todd Heistand , wearing a lapel pin with a streetcar image, said NuStyle would not be doing the development if it weren't for the streetcar. The line has a stop at the feet of the apartments-to-be.
NuStyle also plans to demolish the vacant Park Fair Mall at 16th and Farnam Streets as part of the project. The city will build a parking garage where the mall currently stands. The number of spaces has yet to be determined. The city will pay for the construction with revenue bonds, Stothert said.
The Heistands currently plan to build five stories of apartments above the parking garage.
NuStyle also plans to add two stories atop the two taller buildings for amenities such as gathering spaces and fitness rooms. Plans also call for erecting a connection between the towers.
The project is expected to cost $163 million and be complete in 2027, coinciding with the projected completion of the streetcar. The south tower will come first, and the north tower last. The south tower is currently 18% occupied, and the north tower is about half full, Todd Heistand said.
NuStyle is applying for $26.5 million in tax-increment financing, or TIF. The company also will seek $12 million in state financing for improving energy efficiency. Todd Heistand said NuStyle will replace all the windows in the towers to make it much more energy efficient.
The complex will have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from about $950 to $2,350 .
The presence of the streetcar line nearby will make the apartments more attractive to tenants, Todd Heistand said. The line's proximity also saves the developers money because they don't have to create as much parking.
"If it wasn't for the streetcar, we woudn't be looking at downtown at this point," Todd Heistand said. "It's just not where the base is. And with the streetcar line, your base all of a sudden is all the way along the streetcar line."
During a press conference in the Mayor's Office, Stothert pointed to a drawing from Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture.
"Notice on this rendering, right here, there's a little streetcar right there," she said. "That high-value development along the streetcar route like The Duo is exactly what we expected and it's what we've been talking about all along."
There is much more such development to come, the mayor predicted.
City Council member Juanita Johnson , whose District 2 includes the buildings, said in a phone interview it will be an economic boost for downtown and fits city and business plans to retain and attract young people to the urban core.
"I would also like to see more development in the core of North Omaha ," Johnson said. "Can we spread the love?"
chris.burbach@owh.com , 402-444-1057, twitter.com/CHRISBURBACH