Is 10th Street next?

The Old Market and downtown sit on one end.

Henry Doorly Zoo bookends the other.

And boosters of the neighborhood in between hope the connecting street — 10th Street — can use its location to launch Omaha's next big community revitalization project.

Neighborhood leaders and developers are working on plans to redesign 10th Street and make it a more attractive spot for trendy, “new urbanist”-style housing and quaint shops.

Boosters have high hopes but consider their plan attainable because of the attention already turning to 10th Street. Developers continue moving forward with projects in the area, and city leaders even consider the stretch a possible route for a new streetcar system.

Spurred by the grass-roots movement, the Omaha Planning Department is drafting stricter development rules for the stretch in tune with the neighborhood's revitalization plans. South 10th Street is second only to downtown Dundee in getting consideration for a new neighborhood conservation district, a designation that grew out of Omaha's focus on improved urban design.

“There's a living, vibrant community here that can be re-adapted to the new urbanist feel and lifestyle now,” said Arnie Breslow, an organizer of the plans and president of the Old Market South Neighborhood Association.

The organizers' goal is to create a theme and a look for the street and sidewalks, including a 15-foot-wide promenade on one side of the street. Boosters have toyed with dubbing 10th Street “Parkway 10” and call the broader area “District 108” in reference to the 68108 zip code.

The plan would not be a specific proposal for redeveloping 10th Street properties. Instead, the planned redesign and special zoning district would steer the character of developments as proposals come in.

And those proposals continue to build in the neighborhood.

One of the plan's organizers is Syl Orsi, who is redeveloping the 109-year-old Dunsany building at 10th and Pierce Streets into the Dunsany Flats condos. He is looking at further housing and retail development in the area.

Bluestone Development, one of downtown's leading developers, has plans before the City Council to build 12 row houses at Eighth and Pacific Streets. That would sit next door to Bluestone's townhouse project built on the site of the original Caniglia's restaurant.

“It's a great neighborhood,” Bluestone President Christian Christensen said.

Nearby, there's new movement toward redeveloping the long-vacant Burlington Station. The previous condo and commercial project had stalled, but owner Myriel “My” Boes has entered a partnership with developer Mike Brannan, developer of the jLofts on the Market condo project.

Boes and Brannan said they still are working on their plans, but Brannan said it could involve a mix of commercial and residential uses, along with construction of new buildings next to the renovated station.

Boes said the project will be “a beautiful bridge” between the Old Market and the South 10th Street neighborhood.

Said Brannan: “We think it's a very significant site and will become more so moving forward.”

The city's new downtown master plan also targets the neighborhood for new development, including possibly replacing Omaha's main post office with a housing project that overlooks downtown.

The whole area has the potential to boom if a streetcar system takes hold in Omaha, although that's a long time and a lot of money away from becoming reality. The city and influential Heritage Services fund-raising organization are studying the possibility of a streetcar system in and around downtown.

Jed Moulton, the city's urban design manager, said 10th Street has potential to be a great street.

“The goal is to preserve that and figure out how to resuscitate it with investment,” he said.

Once plans are in place, organizers will solicit funding from local donors and foundations. In all, the area targeted stretches more than a mile, and organizers expect to move property by property and block by block.

“It's been pretty measured how it has moved forward,” Orsi said.

Even as plans advance, some disagreement remains about the neighborhood's future.

The split is represented by the area's two neighborhood associations. The newer Old Market South group is pushing the development plan, while the 37-year-old Dahlman Neighborhood Association — whose president did not respond to requests for comment — is not.

Not everyone is sold on a streetcar, either, so the new plan is neutral about the idea.

With or without a streetcar, organizers hope to find a way to lure people into a side trip as they go to the Old Market, the zoo or Lauritzen Gardens.

Along with the new development, 10th Street has a number of community institutions to build on — Cascio's Steakhouse, the Sons of Italy hall, Grace University and the St. Frances Cabrini and Dietz United Methodist Churches.

Jason Smith, president of the Deer Park Neighborhood Association, which covers the southern end of 10th Street, said developers are “in the wings waiting” and future development has potential to come quickly.

“It's very, very unique for its potential,” Smith said, “and the developers see that.”

Connie Spellman, director of Omaha By Design urban design group, said the neighborhood has a viable plan for 10th Street and is positioning itself to make the most of future development proposals. Earlier this month, Omaha By Design gave its Neighborhood Leaf award to the Old Market South and Deer Park Associations, along with Orsi and another developer, in recognition of their revitalization efforts

“If you don't have the vision and something to begin to work on,” Spellman said, “nothing ever does happen.”

Contact the writer:

444-1128, jeff.robb@owh.com

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