OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The developer of a project to turn the site of the old civic auditorium into a mixed-use development with shopping and housing is taking the city to court.
This comes as the city, for months, has threatened to take back the land and resell it to someone who will build faster.
The White Lotus Group bought the land at 17th and Chicago from the city in 2023. The city and the company agreed to construction milestones that include building the foundations for half of the buildings within two years. The city says that deadline passed in the fall.
Deputy City Attorney Jennifer Taylor said then that White Lotus Group was granted 60 days to meet the contract requirements.
But now, the developers dispute that agreement and are taking the city to court. Part of their complaint alleges, "the City’s conduct destroyed Civic Corner’s reasonable contractual expectations, materially interfered with Civic Corner’s ability to perform, and violated the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing inherent in the Purchase Agreement and its Amendments."
In 2025, the city had threatened to pull the property back and resell it because of the slow progress. Then-Mayor Jean Stothert did it, and so did current Mayor John Ewing, Jr.
When asked if White Lotus would no longer develop on that site, Ewing said: "That is probably not very likely because they have not met the timelines that they were required to meet."
White Lotus Group sent a response to the city's effort to try to take back the property, saying it did everything that was required of them and the city's discussions about finding new developers undermined their business.
The city denies White Lotus' allegations and says benchmarks and deadlines for the developer were clear, but it failed to meet them, even after several warnings.
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