Condominiums, a grocery store, office space.
Developers for years have launched ambitious plans for the former Civic Auditorium site in downtown Omaha. None made it off the ground.
The latest effort by developer White Lotus Group aims to construct a mixed-use housing, business and recreation space meant to beckon young professionals to the city’s urban core. Project leaders call it a vibrant, integrated district that can help solve “brain drain.” City leaders say construction is not moving fast enough.
White Lotus Group is on a tight timeline to show the city substantial progress on the project, or the city will attempt to buy back the property, a move allowed under the developer’s contract with the City of Omaha. What the city would do with the property if it regains ownership is unknown.
Conversations held over the summer between White Lotus and city leaders indicate a local nonprofit may be interested in bringing a youth sports project to the space, a possibility the city has declined to confirm.
A buyback would end what has been the most substantial progress in developing the roughly seven acres of land between 17th and 19th streets along Capitol Avenue in nearly a decade.
A challenging timeline
Under a contract signed in 2022, White Lotus was required to use its best efforts to complete installation of at least 50% of the project’s public infrastructure within 18 months of closing on the property in the fall of 2023.
That level of work has not been accomplished, said Deputy City Attorney Jennifer Taylor.
“The city is continuing to pursue our rights under the purchase agreement,” Taylor said, citing a notice of default sent Sept. 8 that gives White Lotus 60 days to meet a number of requirements.
Notes from a meeting in late July give insight to discussions between White Lotus and the city over the contested timeline of the project. The city’s attorneys reportedly informed White Lotus representatives that development was moving too slow and a buyback of the site was on the table.
White Lotus’ own legal representation said the process for platting and tax increment financing were in line with the city’s typical timelines, and an extension of certain deadlines was anticipated by the developer, according to meeting minutes obtained by The Reader.
The contracted buyback option between the city and White Lotus was negatively impacting the project and “creates significant challenges for the developer in seeking financing and vendor agreements due to the inherent uncertainty and risk of financial losses they represent,” an attorney for White Lotus said at the time.
In the same July meeting, White Lotus CEO Arun Agarwal said that he had met with a representative of a nonprofit that expressed interest to the city “on developing a youth sports project.” Agarwal stated that although he’s not interested in selling the property, he shared with the unnamed nonprofit what he believed to be fair market value of the site.
In an emailed statement to The Reader Wednesday, Agarwal wrote that White Lotus Group was never informed of the identity of the nonprofit that expressed an interest in acquiring the site but had met with a real estate agent representing the nonprofit.
“(White Lotus) worked diligently and in good faith on this project for two years,” Agarwal told The Reader. “If the city chooses to go a different direction and transfer the property to a nonprofit developer, White Lotus Group only wishes to be treated fairly with regard to acknowledging its efforts and being paid fair market price for the site, of which WLG has spent two years enhancing the value.”
Taylor declined to confirm if another group has reached out to the city regarding the Civic Auditorium site.
Plans for the site
White Lotus painted an ambitious picture when the group publicly announced more details of its project in September. Nicknamed The Nest, White Lotus’ redevelopment of the Civic Auditorium site aimed to draw in Creighton University students with housing, health care, retail and a long-awaited downtown grocery store.
“Our goal is to create a dynamic environment that complements Creighton’s beautiful campus and enriches the student experience, encouraging more students to stay in Omaha after graduation,” White Lotus shared in a press release.
Ambitious plans have come before.
Built in 1954, the Civic Auditorium was Omaha’s gathering place. Political rallies, graduation ceremonies, concerts and sporting events were held there until the building was demolished in 2016.
The city had a plan for the site before demolition began, but the property was marred by years of starts and stops. Tetrad Property Group in 2018 pulled out of the site, in part over an incentives dispute with the city.
Next came a developer from Kansas City, which aimed to construct a condominium building. That plan fell through, and with no contractual requirement that would allow the city to buy back the property, the site sat empty for years.
When the city re-purchased the site, it applied lessons learned to the next contract. Rather than sell the property and leave it fully in the hands of the developer, the city added a buyback clause to its redevelopment agreement before White Lotus purchased the site for roughly $1.4 million.
“There have been a number of opportunities and things pursued by the city over the course of time,” Taylor said. “For the last several years, we have been looking to White Lotus to develop the property. To the extent that they have not done that, they have not done that.”
What comes next for the storied downtown property is unknown.
What comes next for White Lotus is clearer. The group will either succeed in developing the former Civic Auditorium site or will join a growing list of developers who could dream it but couldn’t quite build it.