View of the future renovated Goose building, at 13th and William Streets, is a cornerstone of a cluster of new development coming to Little Bohemia south of downtown Omaha. This is a view looking north toward downtown. The developer is hoping it will add the the allure of the city’s urban core, help address “brain drain” problem and job growth lag of the metro area. (Courtesy of 1X2 Architecture)
OMAHA — Under names such as Czech Village, Silver Bull and Old Town Village, Tom McLeay has been buying up properties for more than a decade in the Little Bohemia neighborhood south of Nebraska’s largest downtown business district.
As head of Clarity Development, he helped lead efforts to get that former Czech immigrant enclave designated as both blighted and historically significant — opening the door for public financing sources to boost redevelopment along the commercial spine leading toward Omaha’s world-class zoo.
McLeay also led construction of the 107-unit Little Bo Bungalows and Flats, ushering in one of the first new rental complexes to an aging area that’s seen trendy redevelopment emerge amidst structures dating back to the 1880s.
On deck now for the neighborhood, however, is McLeay’s largest swing yet.
View today from 13th and William Streets, looking north to downtown Omaha. At the forefront is an 1890 structure once occupied by the Golden Goose and later a postal union hall, among other tenants. It would be rehabbed with help of historic tax credits. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
Little Bo Village, a multifaceted Clarity project moving through the steps toward city government approval, would dramatically change the look of one square city block and parts of two others with 10 new or revamped buildings that contain a total of about 160 new residential dwellings, along with retail and recreational venues.
When done, the roughly $40 million investment, buttressed by $8.2 million in often controversial public tax-increment financing, would bring a swimming pool, pickleball courts and “country club” amenities to an area McLeay believes would otherwise attract more storage units and unkempt properties.
Also expected is an estimated 110 full- and part-time jobs, not counting some 100 temporary construction posts. The developer sees the hub as adding allure to a city seeking to recruit talent and improving job growth.
“I think it’s transformational,” McLeay said of the proposed village centered along the South 13th Street corridor south of William Street. “It’s the bridge connecting downtown to the zoo and starts the process of extending downtown Omaha farther south.”
‘Not rocket science’
He envisions the changing artery — home also to several other new retail and residential ventures from developers beyond Clarity, as well as long-established industrial businesses — as a new “front door” for visitors exiting Interstate 80 headed north toward Omaha’s downtown.
However, not all merchants and neighbors are rolling out the welcome mat. Key to their concern is lack of parking to accommodate the influx of people.
The village project comes with a request to change zoning to a “neighborhood business district,” a designation city planners say has no minimum parking space requirements. The anchor apartment complex near 14th and Briggs Streets, for example, is to contain 58 parking stalls for 113 residences and 4,250 square feet of retail space.
An aerial view of the “14th Street boardwalk” that leads pedestrians to a courtyard and is part of the Little Bo vision by Clarity Development. (Courtesy of 1×2 Architecture)
Guests to the area would rely on street and neighborhood area parking, said McLeay, who said many drawn to the area walk, carpool and use Uber service and scooters to get around. He said redevelopment of such urban pockets of housing and retail would not be financially feasible if parking ratios were as stringent as they are for the suburbs.
Dave Hempel, whose family sheet metal business has been on the corridor for some 75 years, is among existing merchants who fear inadequate parking will create safety woes for pedestrians and residents.
Hempel said his business alone has 10 semi trucks delivering goods daily, and he questions how traffic flow would mix with the new projects’ customer-facing retailers.
“It’s not rocket science,” Hempel said. “You’re trying to highly populate an area not cut out for it. The idea of bringing all these multiresidential apartment buildings into an area like this is trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear and it’s really hard to do.”
Hempel said he welcomes progress, but he believes the high-density project was not coordinated well enough with area businesses and could hurt existing commerce. He said a recent restaurant across 13th Street from Hempel Sheet Metal Works already has moved, and another retailer has taken its place.
McLeay said parking gripes have surfaced in other near-downtown projects he’s worked on, including the popular midtown Omaha entertainment-focused Blackstone District. “It works itself out.”
To that, Hempel said: “They’re trying to compare this to a city like Chicago or New York. Well, this is Omaha, Nebraska. People are not taking Ubers and the bus lines and trams and public transportation, they never will. They’re going to want cars to get from point A to point B.”
Zoning change hurdle
While the City Council already has approved the TIF public incentive for two related Little Bo Village proposals, the zoning changes still must be approved to green-light the venture.
Rendering of row of retail and residential buildings along William Street between 13th and 14th Streets. It is a mix of existing structures to be rehabbed and newly constructed buildings. Downtown Omaha is in background. (Courtesy of 1×2 Architecture)
Assistant City Planning Director Eric Englund expects those requests to come before the City Council in November or December. He said Omaha’s master plan supports rezoning the project area to the “neighborhood business district,” a designation that lifts any parking space minimum. Such zoning, he said, aims to encourage urban revitalization and preservation of historic commercial cores often developed along old streetcar routes.
Based on similar past cases, Englund said, it would be unusual for city officials to deny Clarity’s zoning request.
Neighborhood challenges often arise with a large influx of housing and commercial units, Englund said, noting the importance of adding more residential dwellings and strengthening the city’s core.
Shirley McNally, who has lived in the Little Bohemia area for 34 years, said she has not heard opposition from “real residents of our neighborhood” and does not believe the venture should be held up due to “real or imagined concerns” over parking in a neighborhood dotted with underutilized lots.
In a statement to City Council members, McNally said the opposition reminded her of small towns where a few opposed new ideas, “so a project died and so eventually did the town.”
“It is exciting to see Little Bo revitalize and grow into a prosperous, interesting place to live,” she wrote.
It’s personal
For McLeay, who is working on the redevelopment with his wife and business partner, Colleen, the village has been years in the making. COVID-19, rising interest rates and construction costs delayed progress, he said.
West side of 13th Street corridor, north of William Street. On far left is the 1890 building that in 1934 housed the Golden Goose bar and restaurant is to be rehabilitated as part of the Little Bo Village project proposed by Clarity Development. (Courtesy of Clarity)
He said his goal was to maintain the character of the enclave — including a plan to restore the 1890 tin-ceiling corner building once home to a dry goods store and later the Golden Goose bar and restaurant. Two dilapidated wood-framed buildings on the same block would be returned to an original western-style facade. Among other structures headed for rehabilitation is the former neighborhood institution Donut Stop which, according to the National Register of Historic Places, was once occupied by the landmark Bohemian Café that later moved a few doors to the south.
An easier route, McLeay said, would be to scrape and build bigger.
“We think we’ve found a creative way to that middle ground, to stay within the context of the neighborhood,” he said.
Retail tenants have yet to be secured, McLeay said, and they’ll likely bring their own brand names. He said he has had discussions with national and local restaurateurs.
Current view of William Street between 13th and 14th Street. Existing buildings would be renovated and others would be added. Waite White studio would remain. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
Several storefronts not owned by Clarity would remain in the village mix, including stalwart O’Dowd’s vacuum shop along 13th Street, and Watie White’s art studio along William Street. White was among the earliest creatives in the area, turning an old 1890 storefront into his workspace.
McLeay said redevelopment efforts in the Little Bohemia area are personal, as his family roots in South Omaha harken to 1854 when his great-great-grandparents settled there from Europe.
He said he’s sad to see disinvestment in South Omaha’s historic ethnic pockets, is worried about opposition to Little Bo Village but is hopeful his venture will be approved and completed as planned by summer 2027.
“That family history, knowing we’ve been here all this time — it’s meaningful,” he said.
A Village
Clarity Development presented its Little Bohemia vision to Omaha officials as two components: the Little Bo historic project and the Little Bo Village mixed-use project.
Among proposed elements:
Former Golden Goose building, 1270 S 13th St., would be rehabbed with help of historic tax credits; 1,300 square feet of commercial space, an outdoor patio space and two second-floor market-rate apartments would be added.
The Donut Shop, 1256 S. 13th St., would be rehabbed also and used as a restaurant with outdoor dining.
Two historic buildings, 1316 and 1318 William St., to be rehabbed for a total of 4,100 square feet of main floor commercial space and two second-floor market-rate apartments.
New U-shaped apartment structure, 14th and Briggs Streets, would bring 113 market-rate dwellings and 4,250 square feet of first-floor commercial space. Five stories at its tallest point, it will include a 58-stall parking garage.
New rowhouse structure, at the southern end of the “U” shape fronting 14th Street, would bring eight market-rate, stacked rental dwellings.
New two-story commercial structure, corner northeast of 14th and William Streets, to bring 2,400 square feet of bar and dining space on first floor, two market-rate apartment units on second level.
New three-story “slip-in” apartment structure, north side of William Street between 14th and 13th, to bring 20 market-rate apartments.
New three-story, 10-unit “missing middle” apartment building, 1323 S. 12 St., would rise a bit farther from the village hub and nearer the previously-built Little Bo apartments east of 13th and north of William Streets.
Little Bo Village “Country Club,” west of 14th Street and south of Briggs Street, would bring pickleball, a pool and bar with rooftop seating to a half-acre site.
Shown here is 14th Street looking north toward downtown Omaha. A rowhouse structure with eight units would rise as part of the Little Bo Village. (Courtesy of 1×2 Architecture)
