Work approaching around Saddle Creek Development

This summer will be a busy one for UNMC’s Saddle Creek Development project.

Officials held a visioning workshop with stakeholders last month as the project moves forward.  

“There are four major things people will start to see activate in a real way this summer,” said Brian Spencer, executive director of campus development and real estate for UNMC and Nebraska Medicine.

1. Saddle Creek Public Improvements, a joint venture between UNMC and the City of Omaha. Construction soon will begin on new roadway connections, sidewalks and street lighting. Updated traffic signals will be constructed on Saddle Creek Road at the Emile Street intersection. A new traffic signal will be installed at 46^th and Farnam streets. Information will be announced later about street closures during construction. (Information presented at the Feb. 15 public pre-construction meeting can be viewed online).
2. Parking garage. Construction will begin this summer on the new parking garage, a joint venture between UNMC and the City of Omaha, that will be in the middle of the district within a short walk of each building. Spencer said construction will be complete on the garage by the time the first building is ready to open.
3. Catalyst. Officials have finished asbestos abatement, so Spencer said he expects to break ground on construction in a couple weeks. The project will bring UNMC’s UNeMed and UneTech branches together to facilitate the growth of research and innovation and allow entrepreneurs, investors and innovators to collaborate. UNMC will house its Innovation Hub within the larger Catalyst office development project. Remaining space will be unfinished and leased to a wide spectrum of biotech and technology startups. Spencer said he expects this building to be finished by December 2024.
4. CORE. The new administrative and research building will be constructed at the southwest corner of Saddle Creek Road and Farnam Street and will replace UNMC’s current and inefficient administrative building at the corner of 40^th Street and Dewey Avenue, which was built in 1950 and originally designed as a children’s hospital. The new administrative space will provide a work environment reflective of both hybrid and in-office working models. Growth of UNMC’s research enterprise also has created a demand for additional research space. Officials are finalizing bids and designs now, Spencer said, and construction will begin this summer and continue through early 2026.

Looking further ahead, the summer of 2024 will see work on a new intersection at Saddle Creek Road and Leavenworth Street to improve both traffic flow and traffic and pedestrian safety. This fall should see the formal announcement of a name and identity for this important area of the campus and midtown Omaha.

The Saddle Creek Development site was formerly home to Omaha Steel Castings.