A California-based company is asking a judge to halt the demolition of a former hotel in southwest Omaha, claiming the city broke agreements made after approving $310,000 in keno funds for the project.
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Newport Blue Impact filed a lawsuit to stop the demolition, alleging that the demolition would cause "immediate and irreparable harm" and drop the property's value from $8.8 million to $800,000. The company claims that the city made an agreement to delay demolition on December 9th, following the November vote that approved the funding.
However, city officials dispute that any such agreement exists.
"I don't, I'm not aware of, uh, any agreements that were made after the funding, uh, was put in place," said Council member Don Rowe.
Newport Blue, originally a lender on the former hotel that had plans to become a senior living facility, acquired the property when the previous owner went bankrupt. The company's lawsuit claims the city could demolish the building as early as this week.
Rowe told me the project would actually take months due to asbestos and safety concerns, disputing the lawsuit's timeline entirely.
"It wouldn't come down next week. I'm, I'm, I promise you that," Rowe said.
Rowe believes the property owners only took legal action when they realized the city was serious about demolition.
"I think they didn't believe that we were serious about it because the demo order has been on there for so long... that's when they saw, oh gosh, they are serious, and that's when they reached out," Rowe said.
The council member says this demolition has been a long time coming. A demolition order was approved by the city over the summer, but funding was only approved in November.
"For years I've been hearing, you know, we'll we'll secure the property. We'll, you know, take care of the vegetation on the site, and it just goes months and months and months," Rowe said.
The city is funding this demolition using keno revenue, which Rowe calls a "creative" funding solution. The property owners will need to pay back the cost.
Rowe says he anticipated this lawsuit and expects the courts will now decide the building's fate. I reached out to Newport Blue's attorney for comment about the alleged agreement, but have not received a response.
The two sides are scheduled to meet after the New Year, but for now, it's up to the courts to determine whether this building stays or goes.
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