Omaha leaders on Monday announced four projects to expand and renovate affordable housing options in the city, including fixing up the vacant City View apartment building that was closed last summer following several health and safety concerns.
The 225-unit property is the largest of the four projects to receive funding from the city through the Urban Core Housing Fund, a $40 million initiative created through bonds that the city committed to improving housing. The goal is to create nearly 1,900 affordable and workforce housing units. Last year, the city chose nonprofit Front Porch Investments to disperse the funds.
Jody Holston, executive director of Front Porch Investments, said affordable housing is an issue that impacts the entire city, not just a small group of people.
“These are the people who teach our children, care for our families, serve our customers, keep Omaha running,” Holston said. “When people have a safe, stable place to call home, they have a foundation from which to work for, learn, care for their children.”
The first four projects will use a total of $5,939,084 in loans from the fund and will result in the creation and updates of 466 homes. Holston said the money won’t pay for the entire project but “provides the critical piece that the developer needs to bring the financing together.”
Drew Krinsky, affordable housing developer with Smith & Henzy Affordable Group that will renovate the former City View apartments, said affordable housing can be a tool for broader community investment, including preserving housing for other residents, bringing more investments to communities and creating jobs.
“For us, investing in affordable housing is about much more than the buildings themselves,” Krinsky said. “A safe, stable, quality place to live has an enormous impact on families’ quality of life and provides a foundation for everything from employment and education to health and financial stability.”
24th and Dodge streets
GreenSlate Development Partners will create 186 workforce housing units where Lutheran Family Services was previously located on 24th and Dodge streets.
Most of the units, 178 of them, are projected to be affordable to households earning at or below 100% of the area median income, which for a family of four in Omaha is $114,000, and 10 units will be subject to a land use restriction agreement to remain affordable to households earning less than 100% AMI for two decades. Also, 159 units will target families at or below 80% of the area median income.
Scott Dobbe, partner and president at GreenSlate Development Partners, said projects like these can be hard to get off the ground. He credited the Front Porch Investments, the city and Lozier Foundation that purchased the bonds as an essential part of these workforce housing units.
“Because the simple truth is this: a city works when the people who make it run can afford to live in it,” Dobbe said. “Teachers and firefighters, healthcare workers and tradespeople, students and young professionals, when they can choose to live in the heart of the city, close to not only their work but to all that Omaha offers – that’s how you build the fabric of a great city.”
Developers are receiving a $964,084 loan, and the project is expected to start construction in spring 2027.
1053 Park Ave.
A new 50-unit senior housing development will go up at 1053 Park Ave. with construction expected to start this fall. Foundations Development received a $1.5 million loan for the project, which will include five units for households earning less than 40% of the area median income, 22 units at 50% AMI and 23 units for those making less than 60% AMI.
Rob Woodling, who started Foundations Development in 2006, said the company has helped develop about 1,200 affordable units across Nebraska over the years and plans to continue developing more.
“It’s 100% of our focus, day in and day out,” Woodling said. “It’s what we eat, sleep and breathe, and we’re going to hope to continue doing it for a very long time.”
111 N. 38th St.
The fourth project near Blackstone will renovate five housing units in a historic building constructed in 1941. Updates include a new roof, new heating and cooling, electrical and plumbing updates and improved landscaping. Gold Coast Partners, LLC received $475,000 for the purchase and construction of the project, which is expected to be completed in winter 2027.
“Not every housing solution requires a large development or a large developer,” Holston said. “Smaller developers are an important part of Omaha’s housing ecosystem. They can take on properties that larger developers may overlook and often have fewer financing options available to them.”
Michael Buckley, who called himself an aspiring real estate developer, said Gold Coast Partners hopes to help make the neighborhood look a little better by fixing up this property.
“It’s an abandoned building,” Buckley said. “It’s really an eyesore for the neighborhood. Then we came across Front Porch, and we’re able to make something happen.”
The $40 million in bonds for the Urban Core Housing Fund come from Omaha’s streetcar project. Lozier Foundation purchased the bonds to be paid back once the streetcar is up and running.