Plans for controversial Omaha housing development scrapped

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Plans for a controversial Omaha housing development will not be moving forward.

Called 46 Dodge, the project was expected to go up southwest of 46th and Dodge streets, announced back in 2019.

Plans included nearly 300 apartment units on five floors, above a three-story parking garage.

David Fanslau, Omaha’s Planning Director, says the city council approved the project unanimously and awarded the project tax-incremental funding.

However, for reasons unknown, the Kansas City-based developer pulled the plug.

“I don’t know. We don’t know. They just requested that the case not move forward on to council,” Fanslau said. “It’s pretty unusual for somebody just to pull the plug.”

Fanfslau said the developer was first drawn to site because the University of Nebraska Medical Center nearby. “It’s an employment hub. Thousands of people working there on a daily basis,” he said.

The site was also along Omaha’s Rapid Bus Transit Route, which was in planning stages.

At the time, the project received pushback from neighbors who said it was too high-end. They called for affordable housing and commercial space instead.

Rent would have ranged from $900 to nearly $1,600 per unit. Plans included a roof-top courtyard with a pool, bocce ball court, even a dog park.

Jacob Bigelow who lives nearby was surprised to hear plans got scrapped. “It seems like Omaha has been pretty gun-ho about all these new developments all around here so to hear one is no longer in the works is kind of surprising,” he said.

Fanslau says nothing new is planned for the site, but likely not for long. “I would imagine something similar. There’s a lot of demand in the area,” he said.

6 News reached out to the developer for comment. They told us no one was available to talk at the time.

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