MARKET HIGHLIGHT: OMAHA CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS HELP MEET GROWING INDUSTRIAL DEMAND Michael Anthony Director of Project Management, Opus ics reported that non-farm employ-ers in Omaha added 13,500 jobs, or a 2.6 percent year-over-year gain last fall, which ranks it the fth strongest among the nation’s 60 largest metro areas. Other developments taking place throughout the market are also help-ing fuel growth in the region, includ-ing a new streetcar line connecting midtown Omaha to downtown, new suburban development and a new headquarters for Mutual of Omaha — which will be the tallest building between Chicago and Denver — an ongoing $950 million airport terminal expansion project and a spike in data center development. Local business experts say they ex-pect 2025 to be a strong year, fueling greater need for industrial space to support data warehousing, food pro-duction, manufacturing and storage. Expectations are that the Omaha/ Council Bluffs market should see con-tinued investment activity for high-quality commercial sites across a vari-ety of business sectors. To meet this ongoing need for indus-trial warehousing, city and state lead-ers are proactively partnering with Bucking a national industry trend of rising industrial vacancy rates, the Omaha metro area has historically hovered around a 2.5 to 3.5 percent vacancy rate for prime industrial real estate and has remained a robust economy for manufacturing, agri-culture, tech, business services and food production. In turn, the steady demand is fueling the need for more industrial development. Given its central location, many global companies doing business here require a signi cant amount of square footage for large-scale operations across the supply chain — from ag equipment manufacturing and crop inputs to parts and service, materials processing and storage. Though the ag sector will always be strong in this market for obvious reasons, the Bureau of Labor Stat-The River Road Logistics commercial warehouse project overcame decades of ood-ing and drainage challenges to create a Class A industrial offering at the heart of the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro area. YOUR TRUSTED PARTNER IN NEBRASKA NAI FMA Realty is the region’s leading commercial real estate firm with over 60 years of experience serving Lincoln and Greater Nebraska. Our experienced team of professionals looks forward to connecting with you! BROKERAGE TENANT & BUYER REP ADVISORY SERVICES PROPERTY MANAGEMENT FACILITY MAINTENANCE LEASE ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNTING RESEARCH 402.441.5800 www.naifmarealty.com commercial real estate rms to keep the development pipeline full. Con-sistent and highly engaged leadership in Omaha and its Iowa neighbors in Council Bluffs are credited with a lot of the pro-development activity that is taking place, especially as it relates to activating tracks of land that have historically been overlooked to maxi-mize the market’s potential. Case study: River Road Logistics applies civil engineering know-how to make the improbable, possible One of these overlooked pieces of land that recently converted from an undeveloped parcel to a 40-acre Class A commercial industrial project situ-ated at the heart of the Omaha/Coun-cil Bluffs metro is the two-building River Road Logistics development. This city-owned parcel of land was deemed too challenging to develop due to being on the “wrong side” of a federal levee, the existence of poten-tial wetlands and the amount of ll that would be required to make the site viable. Recognizing the high demand for quality, well-located, modern indus-trial space in the greater Omaha area, the City of Council Bluffs and Opus got creative and leaned on sophisti-cated civil engineering strategies to make the land viable for a two-build-ing, 538,000-square-foot industrial so-lution at the interchange of Interstate 29 and 80. Understanding the site’s potential, and after two years of planning, the city engaged Opus to move forward with design-build plans with an at-tractive price per acre land cost and a tax abatement package to help offset the investment needed to make the land feasible for development. “We knew Opus had the develop-ment expertise to nd a solution that would put this project in motion,” says Chris Gibbons, city planning manager for Council Bluffs. “Finding the right partner who shared our vision and a design-build approach that addresses every aspect of the development pro-cess was key to pulling this off.” The rst step was to conduct a com-prehensive analysis of the topography of the area. A local engineering rm examined the wetlands that made up 13 of the 42 acres. Their ndings, supported by the Army Corps of En-gineers, determined the wetlands surrounding the site were not part of a greater Missouri River watershed, deeming them non-jurisdictional, giv-ing the green light for developing the entire parcel. Permitting was obtained to con-duct construction on the ood side of a federal levee system. This required geotechnical borings, analysis and ap-proval from the Army Corps for any construction within the 300 feet of the critical levee zone. Next, the team devised a complex yet innovative water drainage solu-tion that required utilizing the city sewer easement to place a pumping system that diverts all storm water at the site 2,600 feet to the Missouri River. Adding to the complexity, addi-tional permitting was required given that the drainage pipe crossed under a busy rail line. Without the city’s collaboration, there wouldn’t have been a drainage solution for the property given access limitations with neighboring private properties, so this public-private ap-proach helped resolve the most sig-ni cant hurdle of the project. Thanks to additional government collaboration, the Department of Transportation helped source the ll dirt needed to raise the ground eleva-tion 4 to 7 feet with soil from a nearby road reconstruction project, which was taking place at the same time. This change in elevation helped overcome issues with the existing soils onsite and make the overall project possible. Thanks to a creative and collab-orative partnership between the city and a developer bringing a unique design-build approach and technical background to the table, one of the most underutilized parcels at the core of a growing metro area is now fully leased and serving tenant needs with quality industrial space and prime in-terstate access. 14 • April 2025 • Heartland Real Estate Business www.REBusinessOnline.com
Heartland Real Estate Business April 2025: 14
