OmahaNebraska.com Interview with Mayor Jean Stothert
Thank you very much for the interview.
Sure.
Omaha has seen significant growth under your leadership. What are your top priorities for future infrastructure?
For infrastructure, I think we’re on such a good pace right now and such good momentum that I’m still focusing on the urban core, which has very definite boundary, but then I’m concerned with suburban growth too. We just want to keep making sure that the momentum stays going. An example is 192nd and Dodge. We’re building a brand new intersection out there to make that development more easily accessible. I will say, as far as infrastructure itself, we did pass a $200 million road bond issue in May of 2020. Those bonds have been reissued several times, so already we have spent over 400 million of additional dollars since I have been mayor on our roads in Omaha. And this is not filling potholes. This is rehabilitating those roads. We want to continue with that. Just in November on the ballot, it was reissuing those road bonds again. We will continue with that. Obviously, in our oldest part of the city… is on the eastern part of the city, east of 42nd Street, and those are still always a priority because the streets are older and the infrastructure under the streets is older, so that will be our focus. Our focus will be to keep focusing on that and making sure that we are paying attention not only to the urban core, but all over Omaha.
With the Mutual of Omaha skyscraper and the streetcar project underway, what other major developments can we expect in the next five years? I know you touched upon those at the meeting.
Sure and every time we talk about the streetcar … we do talk about the development that is already occurring along the streetcar route and where the rails are. The reason development occurs along the rails is they’re permanent. Development does not occur along a bus line because you could change that route any day. So, we anticipated, and it was showed to us in the beginning by the company that we had to come and evaluate along the streetcar line that we would have $2 billion worth of development in the first 15 years. The streetcar’s already successful, and we haven’t even started building the streetcar itself. So now we predict $4 billion worth. By the end of 2024, we had $1.5 billion worth of new development along the streetcar line, and the streetcar is not even being built yet. So, it’s already successful. There’s a lot that we listed during our presentation that we know of: Mutual of Omaha; The Duo, which is Central Park Plaza. The two towers, the Old Mutual of Omaha campus at Midtown … that’s completely going to be redeveloped, but there’s a lot that I know of that we haven’t even announced yet. So, there’s a lot more on the way.
Mutual of Omaha- the old campus. Do you know what the building will be repurposed to?
I do know there’s a plan. The developer is Jason Lanoha, and he’s designing it now. Their plan is not to tear down the Old Mutual buildings, but to repurpose it and then build up a lot more around there, including their surface parking lots. So, there is a lot of development that will happen there. That was one thing we were concerned with in the beginning is if Mutual moved downtown, what would happen to their existing campus?
I remember that.
Right. And that is going to be a very big development that the planning and the design is underway. They’re not ready to announce it yet.
My office is right across from the Leahy Mall and it’s been amazing to see… so many things thriving and being so busy down there.
Oh, yeah. And downtown is … like I said, it’s the place to be, right now. But that’s why… we want to get those jobs back downtown and we want to get the residents downtown … What do you do to get young professionals to come downtown? And that’s … you give them what they want, and they want affordable housing. They want walkability. They want public transportation. They want entertainment, open spaces, parks, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. And the trend is really different. It used to be that a business would come into town, they would establish headquarters, and the people would come. It’s totally different now. You’ve got to have the people down there, and then the businesses will come because they want to make sure they have enough employees.
Omaha’s done so well with having such wonderful employment rates that [having enough employees] is a really big concern.
It’s under 2%. Our unemployment rate in Omaha is around 2%. And that’s good, but it’s a double-edged sword because everybody has a job. When you’re looking at attracting a new business, they want to make sure that there’s enough people that will be their employees, too. So, what we’re trying to do is bring the employees downtown and then the businesses will follow.
How do you balance historic preservation with new developments?
You just balance it. I mean, that’s what you do. You look at what you could preserve and what you could make better and preserve what you can, but you also look at new development. I look at new development in places that that the land is not being utilized as good as it could be. Now I look at new development in where surface parking lots are. I look at new development where an old business is almost vacant, like Omaha streetcar. It was 75% vacant, soon to be 100% vacant, and now they’re doing 707 apartments there. I look at the Civic Auditorium side of what is shovel ready … a four-square-block area. All of these are potentials, and then … but you look at other buildings that just aren’t suitable to redevelop, and you look at that for new development too. So, it’s a mix.
Are there any parts of the city that you would like someone to come forward to and develop?
Well, I think we’re really focusing on the urban core right now. But then again, I said suburban development is important, too. So, you look at 144th and Dodge, Heartland Preserve, the old Boys Town property. You look at 192nd and Dodge, where a new, huge intersection is being built – an urban intersection. Right now it’s a suburban intersection, and it won’t carry enough people for that big development out there. So, all of these areas are important. So, you go from east to west. You go from the Missouri River all the way out to the Elkhorn River.
Two questions. What message do you have for people who are considering relocating to Omaha, and what are some things people outside of Omaha don’t know about Omaha but they should?
I think Omaha is just a gem, right in the middle of the country. It’s easy to get here. We’re redoing our airport, which is going to be fabulous, but I think what I hear a lot from people is that they’ve never been here, it’s a pleasant surprise when they get here, and then they don’t want to leave. Omaha has everything a big city has. It has museums and arts and culture and entertainment venues and ball games and great hotels and great restaurants, yet it’s safe. It’s not like what you deal with when you want to travel to the East and the West Coast. It’s a very clean, safe city, and we’ve got a lot to offer. Once people get here, I think they all want to stay here, and it’s only going to keep on going.
Thank you.
