OMAHA — Signage went up last week, heralding progress on a signature project of the Omaha Inland Port Authority.
The first phase of the port authority’s “innovation district” — an initiative seeded with a $30 million state grant — now has a home. It’s poised to sprout within a roughly 12-block area southeast of 30th Street and Ames Avenue, near one of the busiest intersections of one of Nebraska’s most disinvested communities.
“This time it’s different,” reads a two-sided sign about 10 feet tall along Ames Avenue just west of North Freeway on and off ramps. “OIPA Innovation District, Building Economic Liberation Together.”
The goal is to develop a job-producing, economy-revving hub that supports entrepreneurship and innovative industries, all in an environment that reflects community culture and art.
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‘Creative construction’ component
As envisioned, a focal point will be a “creative construction campus” that houses businesses, researchers and training programs specializing in 3-D print, modular and other cutting-edge homebuilding and construction techniques.
Up to 150 apartments are to rise on or around the tract, many likely produced with the help of local emerging housing developers and those working at the construction campus.
The port authority plans to establish its headquarters on the grounds, too, perhaps in a 100,000-square-foot multi-purpose facility that a consultant’s report recommended for the district. Staff plans to recruit commercial and nonprofit tenants that fit an emphasis on manufacturing, housing, media and entertainment, financial and ag technology.
To date, the port authority has spent nearly $5 million amassing roughly six acres of mostly vacant land in that pocket from willing sellers, and more is anticipated, executive director Garry Clark told the Examiner during a recent site tour.
The hope, he said, is that private business and development also are drawn to be part of the activity and will fill in open spaces. He said much of the first phase area, generally bounded by 28th, 30th, Sprague Street and Ames Avenue, has been rather dormant for years.
“We want to be a catalyst,” Clark said. “This area can be a transformative hub and a place people come to enjoy themselves. You’re going to see housing. R&D for creative construction. Education partners. Anchor tenants that will make it financially viable for us to develop this space.”
He pointed to what could be the main entrance, and imagined a mini version of downtown Omaha’s Gene Leahy Mall, a green space where people congregate and art is displayed.
As Clark hits his one-year anniversary as head of the port authority, he counts progress of the innovation district as a milestone. The Omaha port authority board was established in 2024; he was hired in July 2025.
Since his start, Clark has worked alongside HR&A Advisors, a consultant the port authority hired to create a business plan and road map for the innovation district initiative. Legislative Bill 164, approved in 2024, transferred $30 million in pandemic recovery funds to the port authority to create and operate the innovation district.
HR&A’s initial $546,000 consulting contract is now followed up by a recently-approved $475,000 agreement to help implement the strategy.
A mayor, a lawmaker, community meetup
On Tuesday, Clark plans to provide an update of progress on the new district as well as overall port authority operations. Expected to speak also at the 9:30 a.m. community meeting at 28th and Ames Avenues are Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr. and state Sen. Terrell McKinney, who helped push enabling legislation and also chairs the port authority board.
Clark cited other port authority highlights of the past year:
- “Rounding out” the port authority’s management team to six. Two most recent hires are Manne Cook as senior director of planning and innovation and Yolanda Williams as business operations manager. Both are North Omaha natives.
- Launching an “impact fund,” which provides grants, loans and financing to businesses operating within port authority boundaries. Grants ranging from $2,500-$50,000 are available, depending on the enterprise and purpose.
- Firming up statutory language related to the port authority’s power to sell “conduit” bonds. The financing mechanism is expected to open the door for more development.
- Working with the Omaha Economic Development Corp.-led development team on an airport area business park project (separate from the innovation district) that received a $90 million state grant. Nebraska lawmakers assigned oversight of that grant to the port authority. Earlier this week, the OEDC team announced its first anchor tenant in what is to be a multiple-site industrial-focused business park project in northeast Omaha.
Because the business park venture ran into fierce opposition early on when some area residents learned their homes were in the way of development, the port authority has been careful with the innovation district to prioritize community input and avoid appearance of forced acquisition.
While the innovation district is still in its infancy, Clark said the effort “picked up steam” since the port authority gained control over the past few months of roughly two dozen parcels. That allows staff to secure agreements with key tenants.
Included in the property purchases was an older church and empty lots where houses once stood. The port authority also bought a sizable spot where a trucking and transportation business operates, and will continue to lease to the occupants as a district revenue producer.
Some established businesses remain in the 12-block area. Clark said the port authority has not attempted to buy every property, noting an “anti-displacement” priority.
While overall investment is yet to be determined, he said the port authority estimates its contribution for the first phase at about $30 million. Clark anticipates site activity within a year and newly constructed buildings opening by 2029.
To financially pull off the effort, the consultant analysis notes a need for public incentives such as tax-increment financing and low-income housing tax credits.
“Bringing the vision of the innovation district to life will require partnerships between OIPA and the city, state, developers, funders/philanthropy, nonprofits and other actors,” HR&A reported in a 104-page “vision and business plan” fueled by several public input sessions.
Bud Crawford builds nearby
A future phase, Clark said, will play out near North 16th and Locust Streets and focus on additional housing.
Required under the innovation district law are 170 housing units, at least 20 of them single family houses. Port authority board members have said they’d like to see even more.
To Cook, the words on the new innovation district sign — “this time it’s different” — foretell a positive outcome, different from other past plans for North Omaha that fizzled.
“We have the ability to enact the plans we put forth,” he said. “It means something different when you have the resources.”
The port authority, as a quasi-governmental development entity, has power to issue and sell revenue bonds to help fund construction. Representatives have said they will pursue federal and other operating income as well. Their goal is to be self-sustaining through property management, leases and partnerships.
Of the innovation district, Cook said the creative construction campus has potential as a revenue producer, not only by honing production techniques but by exporting products.
He believes a key to community participation is providing green spaces, perhaps a trail and people-drawing retailers such as record, coffee and art shops.
“We want to build this alongside the community,” said Cook. “Everyone is invited to play a part in some form or fashion.”
He and Clark said the venture should be enhanced by a nearly 90,000-square-foot athletic facility planned nearby, west of 30th Street between Sprague and Taylor Streets. That new B&B Sports Academy, to include multiple sports courts, is a project of Omaha-born boxing legend Terence “Bud” Crawford.
Thomas Warren, chief of staff to Mayor Ewing and also a port authority board member, said the team has been “very deliberate” in investing state funds.
As a native North Omahan, Warren expects the innovation district and other projects within the broader 3,000-acre port authority boundaries to lift neighborhoods investors have abandoned.
Warren said the port authority has established a foundation, and has taken “key first steps.”
“These things take time and we want to make sure we got it right,” he said. “With this opportunity, hopefully you will see things change for the better.”
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
