DOWNTOWN OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Heritage Omaha has unveiled plans for a new, three-story, 50,000-square-foot year-round indoor public market in downtown Omaha at 8th and Farnam St. that will overlook the riverfront's Heartland of America Park.
The market will feature room for dozens of vendors, flexible programming areas, rentable event spaces, a teaching kitchen, and plenty of seating.
"This is intended to be a place to serve communities, a gathering place, a fun space. We're planning programming that is of course health related but we would love to have a mixture of the arts and nutrition considerations and really nothing like that exists in Omaha," Roger Weitz, Chair of the Omaha Market Trust Board of Directors said.
The market, which is inspired by other locations like the Milwaukee Public Market, will become a destination for a variety of fresh, prepared, and specialty foods as well as locally-made goods.
"There's lots of conversation about how do we get more fresh food in the downtown area, something of a food desert so this goes a long way to answer that," Weitz said.
Jerrica Marshall was also introduced as the market's executive director. Marshall has more than 10 years of experience in community and economic development, public markets, and events.
"This market will absolutely strength en the local community. It'll bring fresh food to the downtown area. It will provide a year round outlet for our local producers and makers. I want to take the best ideas from other successful public markets, adopt what works well and build on those ideas and best practices to make our market uniquely Omaha," Marshall said.
While Heritage Omaha says vendors have not yet been selected, interested vendors are encouraged to sign up to receive updates at publicmarketomaha.org.
"So those plans are going to be developing but again it's going to be thoughtful, it's going to be considerate and it's going to be a real exciting mix," Weitz said.
Heritage Omaha is leading the project, raising the private donations needed to build and support the market, as well as overseeing construction.
The market is expected to open by the summer of 2028.
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