Well over a century old, old factory buildings between 11th and 14th Streets in North Downtown are now becoming the foundation of a new $300 million development in the area called the Millwork Commons.
"I think this is one of the treasures that we have in this city, in this area, with these historic buildings," Paul Smith of Black Dog, the project's developer said.
The sprawling six-block community in the old industrial area of downtown will have office space, housing, retail and entertainment. The neighborhood's anchor tenant, tech company Flywheel, will make the historic Ashton Building its new headquarters.
"Omaha is home," co-founder and CEO of Flywheel Dusty Davidson said. "We grew up here and we started six years ago, three of us, right across the street at Mastercraft and we're excited to plant ourselves here in North Downtown."
The City of Omaha plans to support the project by re-routing industrial truck traffic, adding streets and offering tax increment financing.
