A City Tries to Recapture What It Tore Down Three Decades Ago
Omaha razed the Jobbers Canyon historic district in the late 1980s to keep Conagra’s headquarters in town. The company left anyway. Perhaps there are lessons here.
Lost canyon.
Photographer: Justin Fox/Bloomberg Opinion
On the shores of Conagra Lake in Omaha, Nebraska, Houston developer Hines is promising to build a “vibrant community for those who want to live, work and play in downtown Omaha.” The first new structure is supposed to be a 680,000-square-foot, five-story building packed with apartments, restaurants, shops, offices and parking. After that, Hines says, it hopes to put up six more buildings that would transform the sleepy, suburban-style Conagra office park into a densely packed urban neighborhood with more than 1,000 residents and what the developer calls a “24/7” feel.
That all sounds great, although at the moment it’s still mostly talk. There is also a darkly comic backstory. Or maybe it’s just plain tragic.