A $34 million apartment complex that takes its name from a warm spice is set to sprout on the old Village Inn grounds at 78th and Dodge Streets.
The five-story Clove Apartments is to contain 175 dwellings arranged in a U shape atop a ground-level parking garage.
Residents will be able to grill, picnic and play croquet in an expansive open-air courtyard above the garage. An outdoor staircase will wind down to an outdoor swimming pool abutting Farnam Drive.
Ryan Spellman of J Development said the amenities — along with a fitness center, dry sauna and outdoor hot tub — should help lure tenants, including some of the scores of new workers anticipated at two neighboring medical campuses.

The site that’s slated to be the new home of the $34 million apartment complex. The Clove is to be finished in 2023, with construction set to begin yet this year.
Rents at the Clove will range from $900 to $1,700, with "premium" units stretching two stories high and 2,000 square feet in size.
"It will really appeal to the hospital physicians, executives, administrators as well as nurses and all health care workers," Spellman said.
He foresees thousands of jobs created in the next five years at Children's Hospital & Medical Center, Methodist Hospital and the future Crossroads redevelopment at 72nd and Dodge Streets.
Indeed, J. Development is banking on the hope that the area grows and returns to its glory as an economic focal point of the city.
If all goes as planned, construction on the Clove Apartments will begin yet this year, as J. Development wraps up ongoing construction at another of its nearby properties, Swivel apartments. The Swivel's 158 units northeast of 72nd and Dodge Streets are expected to open late this year; the Clove is to be finished in 2023.
Yet another J. Development project, the 162-unit Centerline Apartments at 72nd and Spring Streets, opened two years ago.
Spellman said his team is not worried about market saturation any time soon, and points to the Centerline's nearly full occupancy as evidence of demand.
He said he grew up in the area and is familiar with nearby amenities that attract apartment dwellers: groceries, restaurants, stores. The University of Nebraska at Omaha is not far away, at 60th and Dodge.
"We believe that historically, over the last couple of decades, this area's been underserved for high-quality apartment options," Spellman said.
Make no mistake, his team has competition.
Of the 1.72 million square feet of new building space at the future Crossroads mixed-use campus, the largest share is housing — 374 market-rate apartments and 222 “senior living” units.
Lockwood and Century development companies, which are partnering to redo the Crossroads, expect condos or other homeownership options also at the $554 million redevelopment site.
Across from the Centerline Apartments, a 270-unit apartment complex with a pool and rooftop clubhouse is planned by Omaha-based Meridian Development. That's where the former Shark nightclub and Quality Inn used to be.
No starting time has been set, but a subsidiary of Nebraska Furniture Mart said recently it also plans a 250-unit apartment complex near 77th and Dodge Streets.
So far, J. Development has received an OK from the Omaha Planning Board to rezone the 2.2-acre Clove site to allow for the apartments. (The City Council has yet to vote.)
Spellman said his company plans to ask the City of Omaha for $4.4 million in tax-increment financing.
It recently demolished the site's previous structures, the Village Inn restaurant and Rodeway Inn motel.
The Clove is to be positioned closer to Dodge than was the set back Village Inn.
Holland Basham Architects is designing the 250,000-square-feet complex.
Spellman said the property's name was chosen for the vibe the development team wants to emit. He said health care workers are on their feet long hours in a sterile environment, and they should come home to a warm, relaxing yet uplifting place.
"The clove brings a spicy warmth to food it seasons," Spellman said. "We felt the name fit."
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Correction: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect name for the architects designing the Clove Apartments complex.
Photos: The Blackstone Hotel through the years
November 1927

The Blackstone Hotel building at 36th and Farnam Streets, shown here in 1927, opened in 1916.
August 1929

The Blackstone Hotel hosted guests for 60 years until closing in 1976. At one point, the property was owned by Radisson.
January 1941

Colorist Eve Borcher puts the finishing touches on a photographic transparency, measuring 54 feet long and more than 7 feet high, that would adorn a wall in the Blackstone Hotel's Cottonwood Room restaurant in 1941.
August 1950

Actors Piper Laurie, Leslye Banning and Ronald Reagan dined at the Blackstone Hotel in August 1950. Reagan and Laurie were in Omaha for the premiere of their movie "Louisa."
October 1953

Omaha native Marlon Brando lunched at the Blackstone Hotel with his family in October 1953. From left: Mrs. Herbert Davis, Brando's mother, Brando and his father.
September 1958

Then-Sen. John F. Kennedy celebrated his fifth wedding anniversary with Jackie Kennedy in 1958 at the Blackstone Hotel. The senator was in town to speak at a conference.
December 1961

The Blackstone building's current entrance structure was added in 1961.
April 1965

From left, Gale Sayers, Pat Fischer and Jimmy Brown attend a West Omaha Rotary Club luncheon at the Blackstone Hotel on April 16, 1965.
December 1967

Richard Nixon announces that he will run for president at a press conference at the Blackstone Hotel on Dec. 14, 1967.
December 1982

Liquidation specialist Cindy Brixey prices old furniture at the Blackstone Hotel before a liquidation sale on Dec. 9, 1982. The contents of the building were sold to clear out the eight floors before they're converted into office space.
December 1982

Buyers browse kitchenware at the liquidation sale at the closed Blackstone Hotel in December 1982.
December 1983

Plasterer Lloyd Labs works in the Blackstone Hotel's former ballroom during the Blackstone building's conversion to office space in 1983.
February 1984

Building owners Frank Kulig, left, and Frank Krejci, right, enter the renovated lobby of the former Blackstone Hotel in February 1984. Krejci and Kulig bought the building in 1981 and converted it to office space, while retaining some of the historical touches in the building. "It's a kind of homey atmosphere combined with a certain amount of elegance," Krejci said.
February 1984

An open house was held in the former Blackstone Hotel's ballroom to showcase renovations converting the space for office use. The Blackstone building's new owners hoped to attract potential tenants at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Feb. 17, 1984.
March 1985

Tom Hamme and Upland Industries President Alexis Victors survey construction progress on the eighth floor of the former Blackstone Hotel in March 1985. Upland moved into the building during this time, with Victors' office built in the converted ballroom space.
October 1993

Bozell employees Heidi Weaklend and Mark Hughes take in the view from the roof of the Blackstone Hotel building on Oct. 26, 1993.
October 1993

The eighth floor of the former Blackstone Hotel held Bozell offices in 1993. Receptionist Anita Butera's desk was right outside where the hotel's ballroom used to be.
cindy.gonzalez@owh.com, 402-444-1224