Omaha City council to decide on TIF money for Central Park Plaza redevelopment

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - On Tuesday, the Omaha City Council will consider whether to approve more than $26 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for work to renovate Central Park Plaza .

The easily recognizable pair of buildings sits on South 15th Street between Farnam and Douglas streets.

"We'll go floor by floor, and we'll actually demo each floor out, but we keep all the structure," said NuStyle's development director Greg Rothermel.

NuStyle, which bought the property in March , said the twin structures stand mostly vacant—with the exception of Sullivan's Steakhouse in the south tower and some office tenants in the north.

But the developer is converting the 15-story structures of old office space into hundreds of apartment units.

"By turning them into apartments—we actually have a lot more people downtown with the onset of the streetcar—(it) will be bring some vibrancy to this area of downtown," Rothermel said.

Directly to the west, they'll tear down the Park Fair Mall building within the next two months and build a city-owned parking garage in its place, with more apartment units on top of it.

"We'll have one-bedroom apartments under $1,000, which there's a need for that in downtown Omaha."

The project will happen over three phases and will cost more than $160 million.

The city council will have a public hearing and a vote to approve TIF dollars Tuesday.

NuStyle said tenants will be living in the south tower by the spring. They aim to have the north tower finished by 2027.