Housing
$250 million redo of tired regional mall signals further change in Nebraska’s fourth largest city
GRAND ISLAND — A dying 1970s-era shopping mall is about to get a $250 million makeover that local leaders hope will help return a retail sparkle and regional tourism draw to Nebraska’s fourth largest city. In its next iteration, the 50-acre Conestoga Mall site is to feature apartments and a hotel around a modern, downsized […]
Affordable housing advocates gather at State Capitol to learn and lobby for millions
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s billion-dollar onslaught of federal pandemic funds lit a fire of sorts last year under nonprofits that deal with affordable housing. They came to this year’s legislative session more organized as a coalition, said Wayne Mortensen of NeighborhoodWorks Lincoln. And on Tuesday, dozens of housing advocates from various parts of Nebraska converged at […]
$43 million Capriana project adds a twist to Nebraska’s affordable housing crunch
OMAHA — In a rather rare housing twist, a mixed-income neighborhood developing on Omaha’s western edge will offer single-family houses as the more affordable option and apartments as the market-rate component. “Usually it’s flip-flopped, with the lower income renter and higher income homeowner,” said Kassie Inness, founder of developer Apogee Professional Services. “We thought this […]
Housing measures have Legislature hopping
LINCOLN — If the third time’s a charm, State Sen. Tony Vargas might move past the finish line this year with proposed legislation that would make it unlawful to deny an apartment to someone based on source of income. The Omaha senator told a legislative committee Wednesday that nearly 20 other states and 100 cities […]
New home prices continue their ascent in Omaha metro, and a new study offers peek at why
OMAHA — The average sale price of a newly built home in the Omaha area has hit the half-million-dollar mark, and a local nonprofit group is ramping up efforts to stem construction costs that have helped to drive record prices. Formed about a year ago, the Omaha-based Welcome Home coalition of housing and business leaders […]
Spotlight to shine, in Nebraska and nationally, on what critics call ‘home equity theft’
LINCOLN — Their nightmare had been years in the making, but Joyful and Todd Stoves said they had no idea until a man knocked on their door in December with an order to leave the home they’d lived in over 20 years. What the couple quickly learned: They had missed a property tax payment on […]
Protesters arrested at site of housing development near Lincoln’s Wilderness Park
Editor’s note: This has been updated to include developments on Tuesday. LINCOLN — Five protesters were reportedly arrested Tuesday as Lincoln police intervened to allow tree removal to resume at a housing development planned near Wilderness Park. But by nightfall, Native American activists were still occupying a protest camp across the road from the proposed […]
Tekamah entrepreneur restores elegant and historic bank to new glory
TEKAMAH – Cindy Chatt has a thing for old buildings. In her former profession as a marketing consultant for corporations, she chose to live in the city cores of New York City, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Jacksonville, in structures that were part of those cities’ history. When she decided to return to her hometown of […]
Nebraska ‘housing council’ launches with plan for 35,000 new affordable dwellings
LINCOLN — Saying Nebraska’s economic future hinges on solving its “housing crisis,” dozens of statewide experts and policymakers have released a plan that calls for 35,000 new affordable dwellings in the state over the next five years. About a third of those apartments and owner-occupied homes are to be set aside for households making under […]
Habitat for Humanity to muscle up affordable housing efforts in Omaha area
OMAHA — Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, boosted by donations and $4 million in federal pandemic recovery funds, plans to build or rehab about 400 houses for lower income families over the next four years. The nonprofit expects to invest more than $200 million by the end of 2026 in housing programs — almost double […]
Higher fuel costs likely to drive up Nebraska heating bills again this winter
LINCOLN — Local utilities, social service agencies and fuel companies have spent months urging Nebraskans to take some simple steps to slice the edge off winter heating bills. Experts project that this winter’s bills could outpace last year’s tallies by 15% to 50%, as shifting demand, global instability and inflation increase the costs of natural […]
Voters embraced affordable housing initiatives. Advocates say Congress should do the same.
Voters in Colorado approved a statewide affordable housing initiative in November; while voters in nine cities across the country OK’d measures to finance the construction of affordable housing, preserve existing rental properties and support renters. But as housing costs soar, analysts and advocates say more needs to be done and argue that federal action is […]