OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — On Tuesday the City Council approved a new redevelopment agreement for the Crossroads project. The city hopes this new agreement will create more accountability, with the city playing a bigger role.
- The city will acquire property for nearly $39 million in this first phase.
- Phase one includes parking garages, apartments and community spaces, much of the center of the development.
- Phase one is expected to start in the spring and be done in 2027.
- The city can start the design work for the parking garages, those will be the first things we see pop up at Crossroads in the Spring.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"Crossroads will be what it has always intended to be," said Jennifer Taylor, deputy city attorney, city of Omaha.
Taylor has been working on the Crossroads project since she started with the city over 10 years ago.
"I think the city should be very excited about what experience Woodbury brings to this project," Taylor said.
The Woodbury Corporation out of Salt Lake City is a new partner is in the development. With the agreements approved, the project can begin in the spring.
The redevelopment agreement gives the city a bigger role in the project, owning a large portion of the land in the first phase.
"It does provide the city some additional legal and other benefits regarding site maintenance and control, so the city has a larger play in the project," Taylor said.
The city will acquire property for nearly $39 million in this first phase. That will be paid off by the TIF revenue from the first phase.
Mayor Jean Stothert is confident in these plans moving forward.
"They have a really good, beautiful design now, for that, and I think people are really going to be pleased with it," Stothert said.
This time around, the plan incorporates more housing and less commercial space, but the new plan is focused on density in the area and a variety of uses on the property.
"That also makes the entire site ultimately more valuable, you will have higher valuation when it is all said and done because we are having more intense uses of the site as a whole," Taylor said.
The first phase includes parking garages, apartments and other retail and community spaces, much of the core of the project.
Phase one is expected to start in the spring and be done in 2027.
This new agreement sets a longer timeline for to entire project with a deadline of the end of 2032.
With the approval of these agreements the city can start the design work for the parking garages, those will be the first things we see pop up at Crossroads in the Spring.
