A $1.2 billion development proposed for 192nd Street and West Dodge Road would create a bustling “gateway to western Omaha” and would include offices, stores, apartments and green space.
Dubbed Avenue One, it would be one of the largest developments of its kind in Omaha, according to the developers.
More than 180 acres straddling 192nd Street south of West Dodge Road would be developed, the equivalent of about 50 square city blocks. It would have a seven-acre central plaza at its heart, 26 acres of green space and more than 6 miles of walking and biking trails. More than 2,000 residential units and 1.3 million square feet of office and commercial space would be built.
Developer Curt Hofer and his Jasper Stone Development of Omaha won unanimous preliminary approval for the plan and rezoning from the Omaha Planning Board on Wednesday. The project, once fully approved, is expected to take 15 years to complete.
The development would be a “unique place in western Omaha,” said Lynn Carlton, an urban planner with HOK, a Kansas City firm working with Jasper Stone.
She said Avenue One would be focused on health and would be a “multi-generational, walkable environment.”
Situated just south of Youngman Lake, the development would be able to capitalize on that lake and park that the City of Omaha has envisaged as the “Memorial Park” of western Douglas County.
Developers have told the state that they expect Avenue One to have an economic impact of $1 billion. The project would generate 8,500 construction jobs and 8,900 permanent jobs, they said in their bid to justify state improvements to the 192nd Street and West Dodge Road interchange.
David Yudelson, representing the Fire Ridge Homeowners Association, said neighbors generally approve of the plan as envisioned and hope it materializes that way.
Planning Board members noted that a similarly large development proposed for the area in 2013 had run into neighborhood opposition. The members praised Hofer and the other developers for working closely with neighbors this time to address their concerns.