Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Jeff Beals from Grow Omaha

Transcript

Jeff Beals from Grow Omaha · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

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Speaker 1: I am your host, Gene Stothard. Peyton Hilock, the producer,
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Speaker 1: is also here today. Good morning, Good morning to you, Gene,
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Speaker 1: and we are guaranteed human one. If you are listening
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Speaker 1: to Scott Vorhees, they had a big discussion about AI
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Speaker 1: and I got to talk to you a little bit
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Speaker 1: later on about an AI.
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Speaker 2: Video that was sent to me this weekend. Oh yeah,
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Speaker 2: I'm gonna talk about it later. I thought it was hilarious.
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Speaker 2: They tried to make me mad, but it was funny.
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Speaker 1: But anyway, we are here and we want to hear
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Speaker 1: from you and we want to get your feedback. We
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Speaker 1: want to hear your comments, concerns, questions, complaint, anything goes
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Speaker 1: with us. We can even talk about the streetcar if
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Speaker 1: you want, whether it be city, state, national, the world.
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Speaker 1: And we will have great guests who we have won
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Speaker 1: this morning, and of course you will hear plenty of
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Speaker 1: opinions from me too. But is your chance to speak
0:48
Speaker 1: up and sound off. Send your emails to comment at
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Speaker 1: cafab dot com or you can call us at four two, five, five,
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Speaker 1: eight eleven ten. Our guest this morning is a familiar
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Speaker 1: face around the studio, Jeff Feels.
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Speaker 2: Good morning, well.
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Speaker 3: Good morning, Gene. This is kind of like a role reversal.
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Speaker 1: It is because I have been on your show Grow
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Speaker 1: Omaha many many times, and we kind of had we
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Speaker 1: switched the seating there, and but it's always fun. Always
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Speaker 1: love to listen to grow Omaha. I used to kid
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Speaker 1: Jeff and Trenton about it, saying I learn more from
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Speaker 1: your show than I did from the Planning Department because
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Speaker 1: you had so much information. Of course I was kidding,
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Speaker 1: because we have a great planning department City of Omaha.
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Speaker 1: But Jeff Bils is the co founder of grow Omaha.
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Speaker 1: I think you started in two thousand and four.
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Speaker 4: Didn't you. Yeah, at the very beginning of O four,
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Speaker 4: So we're twenty two and a half years old.
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Speaker 2: Holy cow, you must have started when you were eight years.
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Speaker 3: Old, right, Well, the show's old enough to drink.
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Speaker 2: That's there.
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Speaker 3: You go.
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Speaker 1: But on grow Omaha, and I know a lot of
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Speaker 1: you listen to it at nine am every Saturday morning.
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Speaker 1: It focuses exclusively on an eight county metro area, and
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Speaker 1: I know those counties, So I'm going to say it Potawatam, Douglas, Starpy, Dodge, Washington,
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Speaker 1: Cass Wait, a minut let me stop and think Mills Odo.
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Speaker 3: Harrison in Iowa.
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Speaker 1: Did you say Hey, I didn't. I said Patawatamy, I
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Speaker 1: didn't say Harrison. Okay, it's pretty close. Okay, especially off
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Speaker 1: the top of your head. And we're going to talk
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Speaker 1: about Odo today, No, I'm hitting you. We're going to
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Speaker 1: talk a lot about Omaha today. But you talk about
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Speaker 1: real estate development, you talk about business, you talk about
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Speaker 1: new restaurants, you talk about new retail. A lot lot
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Speaker 1: more people can keep up with you too, because you
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Speaker 1: have a you have a weekly news letter which I take,
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Speaker 1: and so there's a lot on there too that I think.
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Speaker 1: What you say, I love and you say grow Omaha's
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Speaker 1: committed to making Omaha more vibrant, prosperous place to live
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Speaker 1: and work and visit. You are a vice president at
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Speaker 1: MP Dodge.
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Speaker 3: Correct, that's right.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, So both both my business partner, Trenton and I
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Speaker 4: are affiliated with an AI in P Dodge, a commercial
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Speaker 4: real estate company. And that's frankly, where a lot of
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Speaker 4: our intel comes from. When you work in commercial real estate,
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Speaker 4: you hear about a lot of the things we report
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Speaker 4: on at GROMHA, and.
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Speaker 1: You just are so full of information all the time.
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Speaker 1: So I had a lot of things I wanted to
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Speaker 1: talk to you about today, but just recently you announced
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Speaker 1: that there and we're going to talk about that. There
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Speaker 1: was a new restaurant that opened up out in the
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Speaker 1: parking lot at Regency. I want you to talk about
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Speaker 1: that because it's called Flower Child.
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Speaker 2: They haven't been there. That sounds organic.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's pretty cool.
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Speaker 4: And in fact, I actually uh popped into one in Austin,
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Speaker 4: Texas earlier this year simply because I knew it was
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Speaker 4: coming to Omaha and I was down there. I'm like,
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Speaker 4: I'm going to give this place a try and a
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Speaker 4: very good I would describe it as this is going
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Speaker 4: to be pretty niche here, but upscale quick serve health food. Okay,
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Speaker 4: so think like the Chipotle of health food, maybe a
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Speaker 4: little more upscale. And the one in Regency opened just yesterday.
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Speaker 1: Actually June thirtieth, that I heard it was opening. And
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Speaker 1: is there a place can you sit in there and eat?
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Speaker 2: Is there seating?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, plenty of seating. I'm outdoor seating as well.
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Speaker 4: In fact, I even just out of curiosity, I stopped
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Speaker 4: by yesterday just when I was out running Errans.
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Speaker 3: I didn't have lunch because I didn't have time, but
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Speaker 3: I'll go back. It looks good. Yeah, and it was
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Speaker 3: good when I had it in Texas.
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Speaker 1: I pulled up the menu and the menu looked really
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Speaker 1: good too. I was picking out everything I wanted.
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Speaker 2: To eat there.
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Speaker 1: Now let's talk about Regency though, if we could jump
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Speaker 1: into that, because we're going to talk about Avenue one two,
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Speaker 1: which is one hundred and ninety second in Dodge.
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Speaker 2: On the south side of Dodge.
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Speaker 1: There are a lot of businesses in Omaha and retail
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Speaker 1: that are moving out there too, are Williams Sonoma and
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Speaker 1: Pottery Barn and so they are leaving Regency.
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Speaker 3: Now.
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Speaker 1: I am aware that that Borsheims has recently signed another
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Speaker 1: ten year lease, but talk about what you think about
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Speaker 1: is going to happen with Regency.
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Speaker 4: It'll be interesting to see how that all plays out.
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Speaker 4: And yeah, Jenior Wright, Borsheim's not only signed the lease,
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Speaker 4: but they've actually started construction both inside and out.
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Speaker 3: They're going to have this amazing golden.
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Speaker 1: In I wondered what it was going to look like
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Speaker 1: because I know it's blocked off now, but holy cal really,
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Speaker 1: I didn't know that.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, it'll be nice, and I think the fact that
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Speaker 4: that Borsheim's is staying as the anchor will allow regency
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Speaker 4: to be okay long term. But yeah, in the short term,
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Speaker 4: you would think it's going to be a hit, losing
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Speaker 4: both Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma. But the demographics in
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Speaker 4: the area are great, the traffic in the area is great.
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Speaker 4: It's just, you know, you know how retail is. It's
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Speaker 4: a very fickle business, and people's change, people's taste change,
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Speaker 4: and traffic patterns change. So some of these brands will
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Speaker 4: go out to Avenue One where they're going to be
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Speaker 4: joined by other amazing brands. We'll see others come in there, though,
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Speaker 4: because it's still a very desirable property and a very
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Speaker 4: desirable part of town.
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Speaker 2: It seems to be I mean I go out there
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Speaker 2: a lot.
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Speaker 3: Now.
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Speaker 1: Trader Joe's, I know, is going to build a store
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Speaker 1: out at Avenue one, but their Trader Joe's is going
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Speaker 1: to stay the current one is going to stay at
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Speaker 1: one Pacific Place.
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Speaker 3: That's what we understand.
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Speaker 2: Ok. Two of them, Okay.
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Speaker 1: And you know you talked about tail being pretty fickle,
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Speaker 1: and so are restaurants. I mean, in Omaha, we have
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Speaker 1: so many good restaurants. You can't have a bad restaurant.
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Speaker 1: They're not going to last. But you know, out at
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Speaker 1: One Pacific Place, for example, what I'm talking about is
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Speaker 1: on that one corner, which would just be I'm trying
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Speaker 1: to think it be north of where Wheat Feels is.
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Speaker 1: W Weat Feels is very popular. But there was another restaurant.
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Speaker 1: It started out with so many different things. It was
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Speaker 1: a California pizza kitchen. It was andres. Now they're doing
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Speaker 1: some work in that corner again. Do you know what's
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Speaker 1: going there?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, that'll be a second location of Meddi's, Okay, which
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Speaker 4: is that quick serve Mediterranean food.
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Speaker 3: Have you had Meddis in the Yes.
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Speaker 1: There's one now out of Village Point. It's really big.
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Speaker 1: My understanding is the one that is going to be
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Speaker 1: at One Pacific Place much smaller because that area is smaller.
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Speaker 1: But I'll toot my horn for Meddis that my grandsons
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Speaker 1: love going there because they have a good kids kids menu.
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Speaker 2: But that is good.
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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean their food is absolutely great. I
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Speaker 1: love salmon, and there's salmon there is delicious.
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Speaker 4: It's out of Wichita, Kansas and Omaha was one of
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Speaker 4: the first expansion cities, and I think it's going to
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Speaker 4: go nationwide.
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Speaker 3: I mean, I think they're going to grow like crazy.
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Speaker 1: Oh it's really good food. But the same thing happened
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Speaker 1: with one Pacific place. I mean, for a while there
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Speaker 1: was all of these stores and a lot of them
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Speaker 1: moved out, moved to other shopping center or shopping centers.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, and then it moved back up again.
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Speaker 3: Yeah. And I think you're going to see that.
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Speaker 4: You'll see that with Regency, and you'll continue to see
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Speaker 4: that with all retail properties from now till the end
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Speaker 4: of time in Omaha, assuming that our economy stays good
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Speaker 4: and we keep growing.
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Speaker 3: But Gene, if you.
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Speaker 4: Think about it, of the commercial real estate sectors, retail
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Speaker 4: might be the single most adaptable one.
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Speaker 3: You know, it wasn't too many years ago.
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Speaker 4: I think it was twenty seventeen when the e commerce
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Speaker 4: stuff took off, and at the time we were saying,
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Speaker 4: oh my god, we feel terrible for anyone who owns
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Speaker 4: retail property. These people are going to go bankrupt. If
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Speaker 4: you look at the vacancy rates, now, what is that
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Speaker 4: nine years later from that twenty seventeen, it's in the
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Speaker 4: single digits. Because retail is so adaptable, it became more
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Speaker 4: experiential and more entertainment and recreation based and then uses
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Speaker 4: that we never would have imagined now are taking up
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Speaker 4: a whole bunch of retail space. So yeah, it'll always
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Speaker 4: do well. Anytime you have space that's accessible to the
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Speaker 4: public and looks nice like retail does, someone's going to
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Speaker 4: want it.
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Speaker 1: And the trend is not the shopping malls anymore. Correct,
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Speaker 1: I mean, is this what you're seeing countrywide? Because what
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Speaker 1: we I mean, look at Crossroads and let's get to
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Speaker 1: Crossroads in a minute, but look at Crossroads that was
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Speaker 1: one of the first or the first, wasn't it mall.
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Speaker 2: That was built in Omaha. It's more of the village point.
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Speaker 1: Look the one that is spread out, that has features
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Speaker 1: that people can walk, people can eat, people can do, it,
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Speaker 1: have entertainment. That's more the trend of what we're seeing.
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Speaker 1: But you know what always worried me is is when
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Speaker 1: a new shopping area, retail, mixed use development was happening,
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Speaker 1: if it was going to cannibalize something that was already here,
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Speaker 1: and then what would happen to that? So a good
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Speaker 1: example is west Roads and they seem to be doing well,
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Speaker 1: and I think did you announce what was happening at
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Speaker 1: the old Yonkers.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, we were the first ones to announce that as
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Speaker 4: far as I know, you know, that'll be a Dillards
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Speaker 4: which is relocating from Oakview. Construction is already underway on that,
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Speaker 4: going to be a two story, thirty two thousand square
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Speaker 4: foot edition, completely gut and change the interior. It'll be
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Speaker 4: a very nice dillard store. But you're right, you know,
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Speaker 4: West Roads is like that indestructible beast that keeps.
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Speaker 3: Going no matter what you throw at it. And I
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Speaker 3: think that's good.
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Speaker 4: And that's because there's always going to be a room
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Speaker 4: for some malls in a market like Omaha, at least
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Speaker 4: one mall. We'll always need it because people like to
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Speaker 4: have a place when it's really hot or really cold
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Speaker 4: where you can go and enjoy yourself and shop in
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Speaker 4: West Roads to be.
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Speaker 2: That sure, and it seems like it has survived.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's got a very right future, I believe.
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Speaker 1: And then let's talk about though Oakview. So Dillard's leaving Oakview.
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Speaker 1: There's not a lot left at Oakview.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: And my guess is, and I'm not reporting this, I
10:14
Speaker 4: don't know anything, but if I had to guess, I
10:17
Speaker 4: would be I would.
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Speaker 3: Be surprised if J. C.
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Speaker 4: Penny stays there much longer after Dillard's closes, and so
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Speaker 4: people say, what are you gonna do with it? Well,
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Speaker 4: there's a lot of potential, or a lot of possibilities,
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Speaker 4: if you will. One of them is that there could
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Speaker 4: be a resurgence of indoor malls in the next ten
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Speaker 4: to twenty years, and if it manages to not be
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Speaker 4: torn down to survive that right, yeah, it could go gangbusters.
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Speaker 4: The other possibility is that, you know, maybe some day
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Speaker 4: it's torn down and some other uses is built there.
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Speaker 4: I always joke like, maybe there'll be an NFL stadium
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Speaker 4: there someday.
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Speaker 1: I kind of doubt that, but you know what, there
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Speaker 1: had been several interested buyers in oak View, I know,
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Speaker 1: the twelve years that I was serving as mayor, there
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Speaker 1: has been we talked to several people about what they
11:02
Speaker 1: their thoughts were to do in that area there, and
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Speaker 1: so hopefully that'll happen, because you hate, you know, when
11:08
Speaker 1: I moved here in nineteen ninety three, it was just
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Speaker 1: open new. So yeah, it was brand new, and we're like, wow,
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Speaker 1: isn't this great? But you know, let's talk about let's
11:17
Speaker 1: move on to seventy second and Dodge.
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Speaker 2: We've got a beautiful.
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Speaker 1: New library on one corner I know for sure, on
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Speaker 1: the north east corner where Petco is. That property has
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Speaker 1: been bought. I have seen the renderings of what the
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Speaker 1: new owner wants to build there. Crossroads. Now, Crossroads went
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Speaker 1: through some I don't want to say starts and stops,
11:37
Speaker 1: I'll say some slowdowns. You know, it was owned though
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Speaker 1: by one single person, Frank Craigie, for many, many years.
11:44
Speaker 1: Of course, everybody knows Frank passed away. He had a
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Speaker 1: few partnerships, some of them dissolved.
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Speaker 2: Right now.
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Speaker 1: That area has been bought by a company Woodbury, out
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Speaker 1: of Salt Lake City. When I was still mayor, I
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Speaker 1: was working with them a lot. They had a great design.
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Speaker 1: They were going gangbusters. We see a lot of equipment there,
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Speaker 1: you know, we see a lot of grading going on.
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Speaker 1: The infrastructure, no doubt, is in there. I mean, the
12:12
Speaker 1: infrastructure is in there.
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Speaker 2: You know, Sears is.
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Speaker 1: Gone, and there was a lot that had to be
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Speaker 1: done to this point. But are we seeing any movement
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Speaker 1: that you know of yet?
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: In fact, if you drive by and you look carefully,
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Speaker 4: you can see the elevator shafts going up for that
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Speaker 4: first entertainment building that's going to be there. And then
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Speaker 4: also if you kind of look a little more carefully
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Speaker 4: than that, you can see some of the concrete from
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Speaker 4: the underground parking in which they've made a ton of progress.
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Speaker 4: As you well know, Gene from working with them, Woodbury
12:44
Speaker 4: is very capable and has a tremendous track record.
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Speaker 2: Yes, they do.
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Speaker 4: I'm totally bullish on the Crossroads project. I keep hearing
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Speaker 4: things that we can't report yet about what might be
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Speaker 4: coming there, pretty impressive stuff. I think people will be pressed.
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Speaker 4: But I'll tell you, if I had a dollar for
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Speaker 4: every time we get a nasty email into Gromaha, and
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Speaker 4: we get a lot of them, because our audience is
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Speaker 4: thankfully huge, we get tons of emails. If I had
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Speaker 4: a dollar for every time someone was complaining about the Crossroads,
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Speaker 4: I'd have a lot of dollars.
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Speaker 3: But people just need to.
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Speaker 4: Realize this is a billion dollar project right in the
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Speaker 4: middle of the city, with a lot of competition around.
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Speaker 4: But because the right people have been involved, because the
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Speaker 4: right company has it now, and because the infrastructure around
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Speaker 4: it is awesome, it will be a big hit. It's
13:31
Speaker 4: just going to take a lot of time, And.
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Speaker 1: I agree because I used to get those hate mails
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Speaker 1: about crossroads too. But like we said there, I mean
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Speaker 1: best Buy is gone, Sears is gone. The infrastructures in
13:43
Speaker 1: the city is building those parking garages. The big question
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Speaker 1: always was what's going to happen with that big parking garage.
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Speaker 2: But it's in the wrong place.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's old, and that needs to go. And
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Speaker 1: I think everybody realized that, and we needed multiple smaller
13:58
Speaker 1: parking garages within the development that would make parking much
14:03
Speaker 1: easier and more efficient. And the city is building those
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Speaker 1: those parking garages and working with the woodberriers. Myself, I
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Speaker 1: know they are very capable, and I know this is
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Speaker 1: what they do. They buy rundown malls all over the
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Speaker 1: country and they make them something great. And these all
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Speaker 1: of these malls, you know, they have times that they
14:22
Speaker 1: slow down a little and they speed up a little,
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Speaker 1: but things are happening. I used to get the same
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Speaker 1: types of calls about Heartwood Preserve at one hundred and
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Speaker 1: forty fourth and Dodge between Dodge and Pacific out there
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Speaker 1: and the old Boystown property. But look at that now.
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Speaker 1: Everybody was asking when is that row? You know they
14:40
Speaker 1: call it the row in the middle. When is that
14:42
Speaker 1: going to happen? Nothing's happening there, Well, you know, nothing's
14:44
Speaker 1: going to happen there at all, but now it is,
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Speaker 1: and you're seeing things just going up like crazy out
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Speaker 1: at Heartwood Preserve.
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Speaker 3: Well, yeah, and a perfect example.
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Speaker 4: Literally just about an hour ago, we posted a newsbrief
14:56
Speaker 4: on gromha dot com about Campo or Compo. It's going
14:59
Speaker 4: to be an upscale Tuscan inspired prime chop house. Ooh,
15:04
Speaker 4: in the row, it's going to be a flagship restaurant
15:07
Speaker 4: in the new Ellwyn Hotel. Six story building. Construction on
15:10
Speaker 4: that starts this summer. They've got another six story building
15:14
Speaker 4: they're going to start this year that's going to be multifamily.
15:17
Speaker 4: I'm hearing about one hundred and fifty thousand square foot
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Speaker 4: office building for a local companies headquarters.
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Speaker 3: So the Row is blowing up.
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Speaker 4: Landaha is doing a great job with Oh they are,
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Speaker 4: and that area will be exarbon West someday it.
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Speaker 1: Is really it'll really be something. Now those apartments, there's
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Speaker 1: these huge amount of apartments that are on one hundred
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Speaker 1: and forty fourth just north of Millard North. Oh yeah,
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Speaker 1: and Broadmoor is doing those now I know some of
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Speaker 1: those other ones on the west end, the Slosburgs are
15:47
Speaker 1: doing those and those are more luxury, I believe.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, is that your understanding?
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Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah.
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Speaker 4: And that Broad Moore one you're talking about right north
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Speaker 4: of Millard North High School. That building has five hundred
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Speaker 4: and fifty apartment units in it, totally col and if
16:02
Speaker 4: you figure, what about one point eight people per unit,
16:06
Speaker 4: so we'll say, you know, about a thousand people living
16:09
Speaker 4: are going to be living there. There are a lot
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Speaker 4: of cities in Nebraska that don't have a thousand people
16:13
Speaker 4: in them. So you know, that's an amazing project and
16:17
Speaker 4: it's going to put a lot of people right there
16:19
Speaker 4: in that Heartwood Preserve development you're throwing all the other
16:23
Speaker 4: stuff that's going on there, It's going to be a.
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Speaker 3: Pretty special place.
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Speaker 1: And that's Jeff Beals is with us today with grow Omaha.
16:28
Speaker 1: I know you all recognize his voice. Applied underwriters are
16:31
Speaker 1: that's their project out there. I worked with them quite
16:34
Speaker 1: a bit. That huge building that everybody said, what is that?
16:39
Speaker 1: And what's going on there? That huge, huge building on
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Speaker 1: the south side of Pacific is their headquarters and there,
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Speaker 1: as far as I know, they're planning on opening that
16:48
Speaker 1: this Fall.
16:49
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it's been a long time coming. And I
16:51
Speaker 4: think a lot of that is Applied Underwriters is a
16:53
Speaker 4: very unique company. Yes they are, and they had certain
16:57
Speaker 4: standards for that building, and from what I can tell,
16:59
Speaker 4: they were going to compromise on them. And we actually
17:02
Speaker 4: toured it about a year ago, and a year ago
17:05
Speaker 4: it looked like it was getting pretty close to being done.
17:07
Speaker 4: But I think and I don't mean this in that
17:09
Speaker 4: bad way at all, because I have tremendous respect for
17:11
Speaker 4: Applied Underwriters. I think they've been very picky about what
17:15
Speaker 4: they want that building to be. They've had a big
17:17
Speaker 4: ambitions for it, and they've been demanding about it, and
17:20
Speaker 4: I think it'll pay off for them because when their
17:22
Speaker 4: clients come there someday, or when they're trying to recruit
17:25
Speaker 4: some talented executive to go work there, they're going to
17:29
Speaker 4: drop their jaws when they walk in that build.
17:31
Speaker 1: It's something else. And Steve Menzies is the president CEO
17:35
Speaker 1: of the company. I know him very very well, but
17:37
Speaker 1: one thing, for example, he doesn't like the park surface
17:40
Speaker 1: parking lots. It doesn't like it at all. And they
17:42
Speaker 1: have two, I believe levels of underground parking in that building,
17:46
Speaker 1: they're heated, there's car washes in it. It's going to
17:48
Speaker 1: be really something. I did hear a rumor that that
17:52
Speaker 1: will be when it is done. One of the most,
17:54
Speaker 1: if not the most expensive building built in Nebraska per
17:58
Speaker 1: square foot. So it's going to be really something. I
18:01
Speaker 1: want to ask you another thing now that we were
18:03
Speaker 1: talking about all those apartments out there. One thing that
18:06
Speaker 1: I hear on this show, and I heard it when
18:08
Speaker 1: I was mayor too, is why are you letting all
18:10
Speaker 1: these people build, all these developers build all these apartments.
18:13
Speaker 1: We don't need any more apartments. I want your take
18:16
Speaker 1: on that, because I would always tell people these developers
18:19
Speaker 1: are so savvy they are not going to build them
18:21
Speaker 1: if they're not needed. And what I saw is as
18:24
Speaker 1: soon as they're open, they fill up.
18:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, pretty much all of them do. And you know,
18:29
Speaker 4: a couple we get the same thing. That's another nasty
18:31
Speaker 4: note we get in Groma all the time. Well, all
18:33
Speaker 4: these people building all these apartments, we have too many apartments.
18:36
Speaker 4: Actually we don't have enough apartments.
18:37
Speaker 2: That's true.
18:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, you think about it.
18:39
Speaker 4: We're adding in the metro area each year a net
18:42
Speaker 4: of ten thousand people. All right, That unto itself is
18:45
Speaker 4: a decent sized small city, right, that's right. We have
18:47
Speaker 4: to house all those people. We don't have enough housing
18:49
Speaker 4: as it is already. And the other thing we hear oftentimes, well,
18:53
Speaker 4: when they build these apartments like this, they're not affordable housing.
18:56
Speaker 4: Who can afford to live in them. One of the
18:58
Speaker 4: things we have to remember is the best way to
19:01
Speaker 4: make housing affordable is to have more house housing.
19:05
Speaker 3: Right. It's a supply and demand right economics, one on
19:07
Speaker 3: one that.
19:07
Speaker 2: We absolutely and people don't realize that.
19:11
Speaker 1: And I've tried to explain what affordable housing means many
19:15
Speaker 1: many times, and it's very hard for people to understand.
19:18
Speaker 2: A lot of.
19:18
Speaker 1: Times people think affordable housing means, you know, a luxury
19:22
Speaker 1: apartment cheap, and that's not what it means at all.
19:26
Speaker 2: And I explain a lot.
19:27
Speaker 1: It depends on the median income in the area that
19:31
Speaker 1: you are living. Affordable in New York and affordable in
19:34
Speaker 1: LA is not the same as affordable in Omaha. And
19:38
Speaker 1: it makes a difference if you are a single person
19:40
Speaker 1: or a person with family. What is affordable and it's
19:43
Speaker 1: based on their formula basically, in simplest terms, is that
19:49
Speaker 1: they say that you should not be spending more than
19:51
Speaker 1: thirty percent of your monthly income including utilities, on housing.
19:56
Speaker 2: A lot of people do that.
19:57
Speaker 1: A lot of people are in that, so people really
19:59
Speaker 1: don't understand what affordable. I know the number one priority
20:03
Speaker 1: that the new mayor mayor Ewing has is more affordable housing.
20:07
Speaker 1: But people said, yeah, there's that need, but they really
20:10
Speaker 1: don't understand what it means. Some cities have forced developers
20:14
Speaker 1: to say, if we won't approve your new apartment complex
20:18
Speaker 1: or development and less a certain percentages affordable. That is
20:21
Speaker 1: something I would not support at all because what that
20:24
Speaker 1: ends up doing. I mean, the developers have to have
20:27
Speaker 1: a return on their investment, and what that ends up
20:30
Speaker 1: doing is causing a lot of developers to move out
20:32
Speaker 1: of the city and go somewhere where they're not told
20:36
Speaker 1: what they have to build.
20:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, making that mandatory scares me. I can understand why
20:41
Speaker 4: people want to do that, because you know, we do
20:43
Speaker 4: need affordable housing, but I would rather there be certain incentives.
20:48
Speaker 3: And ways to encourage affordable housing.
20:51
Speaker 4: I think we're doing a lot of that right now
20:53
Speaker 4: in the city and have been for a while, and
20:54
Speaker 4: we can continue to do more and that's all good.
20:56
Speaker 4: But yeah, I don't like the idea of making it mandatory,
20:59
Speaker 4: and I think one of the other things we have
21:00
Speaker 4: to be careful about, and some people don't like to
21:02
Speaker 4: hear this. Occasionally there will be some blockbuster projects that
21:08
Speaker 4: will come to a city, and I think these are
21:10
Speaker 4: coming to Omaha in the near future, where someone can say,
21:13
Speaker 4: we're going to build a really expensive tower and it's
21:16
Speaker 4: going to be tall, and it's going to have top amenities,
21:19
Speaker 4: and this would be a huge benefit for Omaha and
21:22
Speaker 4: change the skyline and this sort of thing. If you
21:24
Speaker 4: had to put a certain percentage of those units and
21:27
Speaker 4: that kind of property is affordable, a lot of developers
21:30
Speaker 4: will say, now we're not going to do that.
21:31
Speaker 2: We can't, we can't do it. You know, we have
21:34
Speaker 2: those developers.
21:36
Speaker 1: They put their own money in there, and there's wins
21:38
Speaker 1: and there's losses, and you know they're they're not going
21:41
Speaker 1: to build something, like I said, if they're not going
21:42
Speaker 1: to get a return on their investment. But at the
21:45
Speaker 1: same time, making certain things mandatory is not the right
21:48
Speaker 1: way to go at all. I know some of the
21:50
Speaker 1: city council members, the current ones, have talked about that,
21:53
Speaker 1: and that is something I definitely wouldn't support our Planning
21:55
Speaker 1: department with the City of Omaha. They have what they
21:57
Speaker 1: call their happ Plan HAAP, which is how an Affordability
22:00
Speaker 1: Action plan they're developing it. They are developing more and
22:04
Speaker 1: more affordable housing units every single year, and we do
22:08
Speaker 1: need that. But these apartments that they are building, people
22:12
Speaker 1: need to understand.
22:13
Speaker 2: That they are needed. Excuse me, or they wouldn't be
22:16
Speaker 2: building them.
22:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, they're a very good thing. And when you see
22:20
Speaker 4: a lot of apartments under construction in the city, it's
22:23
Speaker 4: a sign that the economy is as good as this city,
22:25
Speaker 4: you know. And sometimes people will say, hey, we don't
22:28
Speaker 4: like so many people leasing instead of owning. I understand that,
22:32
Speaker 4: but that's a separate issue. Right People need housing no
22:34
Speaker 4: matter what, and as long as we're building some sort
22:37
Speaker 4: of housing at least, it's a sign that the economy
22:39
Speaker 4: and the city's good.
22:40
Speaker 1: And I want to get to Center Mall or Central
22:43
Speaker 1: Mall in just a second. We're going to have to
22:45
Speaker 1: take a break. But before we take a break, can
22:47
Speaker 1: we take a call.
22:49
Speaker 2: We have a call. Somebody wants to ask you a question.
22:51
Speaker 2: Let's take that call.
22:52
Speaker 3: Here we go.
22:52
Speaker 5: We are with Jeff Biil's this morning host of the
22:54
Speaker 5: grow Omaha Show on Saturday mornings nine a m.
22:58
Speaker 2: Right here on KFAB.
22:59
Speaker 5: And if you know anything about that show, it is
23:01
Speaker 5: very much like this caller here, Kevin, thank you so
23:04
Speaker 5: much for calling into eleven to ten KFAB. You are
23:07
Speaker 5: live with Jeff Beal's and Jean Stouth.
23:09
Speaker 2: Good morning, morny, Kevin, Good.
23:11
Speaker 4: Morning, say the well, first off, how about the golf
23:16
Speaker 4: course over there about ninety third Center and.
23:19
Speaker 1: P Dodge I think owns that property.
23:21
Speaker 2: It used to be like a nine to hole.
23:23
Speaker 1: Any development ideas on that, yes, I mean, and I
23:26
Speaker 1: actually I was going to bring that up because I know, Jeff,
23:31
Speaker 1: I know you know quite a bit about that. Excuse me,
23:36
Speaker 1: I think my my cough button isn't working today quite well.
23:40
Speaker 2: But there is it will.
23:42
Speaker 1: Used to be the Sunset Hills golf course, yes, and
23:47
Speaker 1: that was in that area.
23:49
Speaker 2: It was closed for quite a few years.
23:53
Speaker 1: I believe it was purchased by NP Dodge and they
23:58
Speaker 1: were going to develop it.
23:59
Speaker 2: Now.
24:00
Speaker 1: The neighbors were very much against that, and they were
24:04
Speaker 1: saying that they were worried mostly about the traffic is
24:07
Speaker 1: what they were saying in the area. And so you know,
24:10
Speaker 1: I got a lot of feedback on that, but since
24:13
Speaker 1: then I have not heard a lot about MP Dodge
24:17
Speaker 1: going forward with that. And I know that there was
24:20
Speaker 1: going to be some single family, there was going to
24:22
Speaker 1: be some multi family. They said that there was going
24:24
Speaker 1: to be basically a barrier between the current housing and
24:28
Speaker 1: the new project. They were going to work on the
24:31
Speaker 1: traffic and the safety, but the people in the area
24:33
Speaker 1: are very much against it.
24:34
Speaker 2: Now, that is what you know. Has any of that.
24:37
Speaker 4: Changed, Yeah, I'm not privy to anything in particular that's
24:40
Speaker 4: happening with that property. My assumption is that the owners
24:45
Speaker 4: will wait for the right project at the right time. Okay,
24:48
Speaker 4: I would say, you know that though that's a great area,
24:51
Speaker 4: it's in the heart of the city. It's weird to think,
24:53
Speaker 4: as a native Omahon that ninety third and Center is
24:56
Speaker 4: the heart of the city in midtown, but it is,
24:59
Speaker 4: and you know, and eventually, I think what a lot
25:01
Speaker 4: of people have to understand, whether we're talking about the
25:04
Speaker 4: old Sunset Hills golf course or anything like it. When
25:07
Speaker 4: you have a piece of privately owned property that is
25:10
Speaker 4: in a vibrant, healthy city like Omaha, eventually someone's going
25:14
Speaker 4: to put something on it. And not everyone's going to
25:17
Speaker 4: like that. You know, we get that all the time.
25:18
Speaker 4: I mean, shoot, even when the Costco was going to
25:22
Speaker 4: be built at one hundred and eightyeth concentered neighbors were
25:24
Speaker 4: complaining that the view of green Grass was going to
25:27
Speaker 4: go away.
25:27
Speaker 3: Right.
25:28
Speaker 4: People have to understand that at some point in time,
25:30
Speaker 4: a private property is going to become something you might
25:33
Speaker 4: not want it to be.
25:33
Speaker 2: That's right.
25:34
Speaker 1: And that even happened around my house about one hundred
25:36
Speaker 1: and twentieth and Q. It used to be a movie
25:39
Speaker 1: theater and then Pat McNeil wanted to build apartments there,
25:43
Speaker 1: and even my neighborhood because I lived just south of there,
25:45
Speaker 1: my neighbors were saying, how can you let those apartments.
25:47
Speaker 2: Be built there?
25:48
Speaker 1: Well, because private property owners have rights, and you know,
25:52
Speaker 1: if it is in accordance with the city master plan,
25:55
Speaker 1: if it meets the right zoning, they.
25:57
Speaker 2: Can build there.
25:58
Speaker 1: I mean that the city looks at that and wants
26:00
Speaker 1: to make sure, according to the master plan it fits
26:02
Speaker 1: in the area.
26:03
Speaker 2: But they can do that.
26:04
Speaker 1: So I wanted to bring up again that area that
26:07
Speaker 1: with Sunset Hills that the Collar called about, that's about
26:10
Speaker 1: ninety third and Harbor. This in twenty eighteen, it was
26:13
Speaker 1: the city council unanimously approved the beginning and of the
26:17
Speaker 1: phases of a plan to redevelop that area. And I think,
26:20
Speaker 1: I mean, that's quite a while ago. And so it
26:23
Speaker 1: was supposed to be thirty seven single family and two
26:26
Speaker 1: hundred and ten apartments, and they said sixty percent of
26:30
Speaker 1: that at that time was going to stay green Space.
26:33
Speaker 1: Peyton's give me the stink eye over here. So we're
26:36
Speaker 1: going to have to break for a quick commercial. Can
26:38
Speaker 1: you stay after the stormercial as long as you want
26:40
Speaker 1: me here? Okay, We'll be on the next till two
26:42
Speaker 1: o'clock this afternoon. Jeff Beal's with grow Omaha is still
26:45
Speaker 1: with us because we have so much more to talk
26:47
Speaker 1: about today. But the one thing I wanted to bring
26:50
Speaker 1: up again since we're talking about in apartments and newer developments,
26:54
Speaker 1: is the Center or some people call it the Center Mall.
26:58
Speaker 1: Some people have called it the Cent, but it is
27:01
Speaker 1: the Center Mall at forty second in Center there. I
27:04
Speaker 1: think I don't think it's been purchased yet. I think
27:07
Speaker 1: there is an agreement to purchase agreement by Lockwood that
27:10
Speaker 1: wants to develop that corner. Jeff let's talk about that,
27:14
Speaker 1: because because you have a little well we all know this,
27:18
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna let you say it.
27:20
Speaker 2: It was the first. Go let's say it.
27:22
Speaker 4: You can make an argument that it was the very
27:24
Speaker 4: first mall in the United States of America. And it
27:27
Speaker 4: doesn't get that credit because that goes to one in
27:30
Speaker 4: a dynam Minnesota. And that's because the International Council of
27:34
Speaker 4: Shopping Centers said you had to have two department store
27:36
Speaker 4: anchors to qualify. Center had one. But put it this way,
27:40
Speaker 4: the center was around before the first mall in America
27:44
Speaker 4: was built.
27:45
Speaker 1: Isn't that quite amazing? And now Lockwood, now I haven't
27:48
Speaker 1: seen the plans, so I can't say whether he wants
27:51
Speaker 1: to preserve something some that's already there, if he wants
27:55
Speaker 1: to demo what I haven't seen that.
27:57
Speaker 3: I know.
27:57
Speaker 1: There was a community meeting that was held, I believe
28:00
Speaker 1: on the twenty first. I don't know the results of that,
28:03
Speaker 1: but let's talk about that too.
28:05
Speaker 2: So you got this older mall.
28:08
Speaker 1: There are some tenants in it, it's not full, it's old,
28:12
Speaker 1: it's seen its better days. The property value on that
28:15
Speaker 1: area drops every year. You've got a developer that is
28:20
Speaker 1: very successful and focused in Omaha wants to purchase it
28:24
Speaker 1: and build some apartments and some mixed use development there.
28:28
Speaker 1: Because the area, because it's defined as an area of
28:32
Speaker 1: community development, the area that would apply or be eligible
28:37
Speaker 1: for TIFF is broader than just that corner right there.
28:41
Speaker 1: And of course we all know TIFF number one is
28:43
Speaker 1: hard to understand. But TIFF has that language in state
28:48
Speaker 1: law that says an area has to be blighted in substandard.
28:51
Speaker 1: I know the people that live in that area, some
28:54
Speaker 1: are living in Morton Meadows particularly.
28:57
Speaker 2: They are saying, we.
28:58
Speaker 1: Don't want this because it will blight our property and
29:01
Speaker 1: our property value will go down. You and I know
29:03
Speaker 1: that to follow that state law to the t there's
29:07
Speaker 1: basically six criteria to be blighted. You only have to
29:11
Speaker 1: reach one of those criteria out of six. One of
29:13
Speaker 1: the criteria is that the buildings are forty years old
29:17
Speaker 1: or older. It does not mean that your property is substandard.
29:22
Speaker 1: It does not decrease the value of your property. Let
29:26
Speaker 1: me get your take on that.
29:27
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's unfortunate that state law even uses the word
29:30
Speaker 4: blighted because it's not an accurate word in most cases. Yeah, TIFF,
29:36
Speaker 4: as you well know, gene from your time in City
29:39
Speaker 4: Hall is an amazing tool that makes redevelopment possible. And
29:43
Speaker 4: if I was living in the Morton Meadows neighborhood or
29:46
Speaker 4: one of those surrounding neighborhoods there, knowing what I know
29:49
Speaker 4: about development, I would be thrilled about this proposed plan
29:54
Speaker 4: because anytime you take the commercial anchor of your neighborhood
29:58
Speaker 4: and you take it from something that is sixty seven
30:02
Speaker 4: years old and tired and underutilized and turn it into
30:07
Speaker 4: something brand new that's getting the type of management, love
30:11
Speaker 4: and attention that brand new buildings get and attract the
30:14
Speaker 4: types of tenants that brand new buildings attract. Actually, you
30:18
Speaker 4: could make an argument that your property value will probably
30:21
Speaker 4: go up, yes, because these will be nice apartments and
30:24
Speaker 4: there would likely be some commercial there. And I've seen
30:26
Speaker 4: a couple renderings floating around, and one of them that
30:30
Speaker 4: I saw it kind of looks like them all still
30:32
Speaker 4: there and going to be incorporated. So I don't know
30:35
Speaker 4: for sure, and I'm not sure it's been announced whether
30:37
Speaker 4: the building's coming down and replaced or added on to
30:41
Speaker 4: or just renovated.
30:42
Speaker 3: We'll see.
30:43
Speaker 4: But knowing the capabilities of Lockwood Development and their tremendous
30:48
Speaker 4: track record. I think the people in that surrounding area
30:51
Speaker 4: should be excited about it. I think it will increase
30:53
Speaker 4: their quality of life. They'll have more stuff to do,
30:56
Speaker 4: and it should have a nice positive effect on property values. Right.
31:00
Speaker 1: Understand too, that that in state law that we have
31:03
Speaker 1: to follow as far as tiff, there are only certain
31:05
Speaker 1: tiff eligible expenses. But there is another statement in the
31:10
Speaker 1: state law or clause that says it's called the butt
31:13
Speaker 1: four and the butt floor clause means that that development
31:18
Speaker 1: would not happen. It won't happen at all, but for
31:22
Speaker 1: the tiff, it won't happen. And so you know, if
31:26
Speaker 1: they don't, if they're not awarded the tiff, and that
31:28
Speaker 1: area is not deemed I hate to use the word again,
31:32
Speaker 1: blighted in substandard, then that may just sit there forever. Oh,
31:36
Speaker 1: and the property value going down and down and down,
31:39
Speaker 1: because that developer cannot basically afford it his capital stack
31:44
Speaker 1: to be able to afford to do that development. It's
31:47
Speaker 1: dependent on the amount of tiff that they receive, and
31:50
Speaker 1: they may just walk away and leave it there. That's
31:52
Speaker 1: not what the neighborhood wants.
31:54
Speaker 4: No, And I think I think people have to realize
31:57
Speaker 4: that TIFF is a beautiful tool and extremely important fact.
32:00
Speaker 4: Omaha's intelligent but active use of TIFF is one of
32:05
Speaker 4: the things that have kept the city of Omaha from
32:08
Speaker 4: becoming a Detroit or a Saint Louis. It absolutely does, yeah,
32:12
Speaker 4: because people people should also understand that generally speaking, it's
32:16
Speaker 4: more expensive for a developer to build in the heart
32:18
Speaker 4: of the city than it is to knock over a
32:20
Speaker 4: cornfield to intern eightieth and wherever. And we don't want
32:25
Speaker 4: them just to knock over cornfields. We need corn that's right,
32:28
Speaker 4: but we want we want people in the city. And
32:31
Speaker 4: and by doing TIFF, we say to these developers, we
32:33
Speaker 4: remove some of the risk and cost from you in
32:37
Speaker 4: order to build in the city. Then meanwhile, you have
32:39
Speaker 4: a city that still has a strong core, which makes.
32:41
Speaker 1: The whole city absolutely And you know, people criticize Mutual
32:44
Speaker 1: of Omaha when and I work that deal when they
32:46
Speaker 1: were going to build that skyscraper downtown. But I had
32:49
Speaker 1: met with Mutual years and years before this actually happened,
32:53
Speaker 1: and people knew what was going to happen, and they
32:55
Speaker 1: were talking about expanding and building, and they could have
32:59
Speaker 1: they could have went to West Omaha and a lot cheaper.
33:03
Speaker 1: They wouldn't have built a skyscraper. It might have been
33:05
Speaker 1: some more of a campus. But I thought Mutual of Omaha,
33:09
Speaker 1: a fortune five hundred company, they needed to be downtown.
33:12
Speaker 1: They needed a skyscraper and they needed to enhance our
33:15
Speaker 1: skyline now and forever, and that's where they needed to be.
33:19
Speaker 1: And they couldn't have done it without the tiff the
33:22
Speaker 1: tax increment financing, and speaking about that, I think we
33:25
Speaker 1: just got a few more minutes here. Jeff Biels is
33:27
Speaker 1: with us with Grow Omaha and the silos. Let's talk
33:31
Speaker 1: about those because once again those silos, we started talking
33:35
Speaker 1: and meeting with the buyers the owners of those silos
33:37
Speaker 1: years and years and years ago. Those are on South
33:41
Speaker 1: thirty fourth Street and Vinton Street. We can also know
33:43
Speaker 1: where they're at there, right off the Interstate there. And
33:46
Speaker 1: the city council approves the Silo Redevelopment plan yesterday. It
33:51
Speaker 1: is a fifty six million dollar plan to raise and
33:54
Speaker 1: repurpose some of those huge concrete grain elevator silos and
33:59
Speaker 1: then there will be a mixed use development in there.
34:02
Speaker 1: The city Council will authorize the tax increment financing of
34:06
Speaker 1: about ten and a half million, those developers, And that's
34:10
Speaker 1: another good example. They could not afford to do this
34:14
Speaker 1: project in those old old Grain elevators that have been
34:18
Speaker 1: vacant for god knows how long, that are full of graffiti,
34:21
Speaker 1: full of people doing bad things in that area. It
34:25
Speaker 1: either is going to be left there like that, decaying,
34:28
Speaker 1: or with the TIFF, they're going to be able to
34:30
Speaker 1: do a great development right there.
34:32
Speaker 2: What do you know about the grain the silos, Well, yeah.
34:35
Speaker 4: And thank goodness that that TIFF exists to make that possible,
34:37
Speaker 4: and thank goodness for visionary developers, because what they're going
34:41
Speaker 4: to do with that project is something Omaha has never seen.
34:45
Speaker 4: They're to you, they're going to they're going to tear
34:47
Speaker 4: down most of the silos in the middle, keep some
34:50
Speaker 4: of them on the edges, so you'll still have kind
34:52
Speaker 4: of that gritty historical industrial look, which is part of
34:55
Speaker 4: Omaha's agro industrial heritage. But they're going to build apartments
34:59
Speaker 4: on the bottom foundation of those silos. So it's an
35:03
Speaker 4: amazing way to get infield development, keep the central city strong,
35:07
Speaker 4: but yet you still preserve a piece of our agra
35:10
Speaker 4: industrial heralda.
35:11
Speaker 1: It's very clever development and the South Omaha trail that
35:15
Speaker 1: is used by cyclists and runners and walkers, well it
35:18
Speaker 1: passes by those silos and the well. Like we said,
35:22
Speaker 1: the basis of the silos were painted with a series
35:25
Speaker 1: of colorful panels that formed a mural in the past.
35:28
Speaker 1: This is going to be what they are going to
35:31
Speaker 1: do and what they're committed to do here is going
35:33
Speaker 1: to be something great. I know when we first started
35:35
Speaker 1: talking about it that those silos that are the closest
35:38
Speaker 1: to the interstate were like, holy cow, if those come down,
35:42
Speaker 1: are we going to have to close the interstate? During
35:44
Speaker 1: the demo, those aren't the ones that are going to
35:46
Speaker 1: go down. They're building around it and they're preserving the
35:48
Speaker 1: history with it too. Jeff Beal's Girl Omaha. Tune in
35:52
Speaker 1: you all on Saturday mornings at nine to ten. You
35:55
Speaker 1: will hear a lot about what's going on in Omaha.
35:58
Speaker 1: We have a lot more I could have talked about today,
36:00
Speaker 1: but I think our time is getting short here at
36:03
Speaker 1: the end. So thank you so much for being here today.
36:05
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. Tell Trenton Maggot your partner. We
36:09
Speaker 1: all said hello too.
36:11
Speaker 3: I'll tell them that, and Gene, thank you. So much.
36:13
Speaker 4: It's an honor to be on your show, especially after
36:15
Speaker 4: twelve years of you being on my show.
36:17
Speaker 1: Yes, I said, we kind of had a little switch
36:19
Speaker 1: to ruin here this morning because usually I'm sitting in
36:21
Speaker 1: the opposite seat here. But I always love coming on
36:24
Speaker 1: your show because I was able to talk about things
36:27
Speaker 1: within the city, within the planning department, within the finance
36:30
Speaker 1: department that you weren't all aware of. But boy, you
36:32
Speaker 1: have all of this information and that's what people want
36:36
Speaker 1: to know. When I would talk about crossroads, the number
36:40
Speaker 1: one question is always, well, what's going to be there?
36:42
Speaker 2: What store is going to be there? Are what's going
36:44
Speaker 2: to be there for me to want to go to?
36:46
Speaker 1: Same with all of these developments, and you guys got
36:48
Speaker 1: your finger on the pulse of everything. So thank you
36:51
Speaker 1: for what you do. It's great to have you here.
36:53
Speaker 1: And once again, if people want to follow grow Omaha
36:57
Speaker 1: with your newsletter, how did they do it?
36:59
Speaker 3: And just go to GROMA.
37:00
Speaker 4: There's a place where you can sign up for the
37:02
Speaker 4: newsletter and every past edition of the newsletter is available
37:06
Speaker 4: on that website as well.
37:07
Speaker 3: Growl ama dot.
37:08
Speaker 1: Com a wealth of information there. Jeff Beal's with grow Omaha.
37:12
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for being here today and have a
37:13
Speaker 1: happy Fourth of July.
37:14
Speaker 3: Thanks Geene.
37:15
Speaker 2: Happy Fourth to you too, Thanks so much.
37:17
Speaker 5: Jeane Stouthard, my name is Peyton Highlock and Gene, you
37:20
Speaker 5: got a lot that you want to talk about here
37:21
Speaker 5: as we wrap up the show.
37:22
Speaker 2: I do.
37:23
Speaker 1: I'm going to be really quick, but you know, Lucy
37:25
Speaker 1: and Scott were talking if you were listening earlier, about
37:27
Speaker 1: AI and I sent you a video that somebody sent
37:31
Speaker 1: me this this weekend and it was me with a
37:34
Speaker 1: suit on in high heels, running down the street and
37:36
Speaker 1: then jumping in and.
37:38
Speaker 2: Disappearing in a pothole.
37:41
Speaker 1: And I I know, and they meant to really slam
37:44
Speaker 1: me with it because some of the comments were, well,
37:46
Speaker 1: I wish she'd just disappear in a pothole forever. But
37:49
Speaker 1: this is what could happen in campaigns in the future.
37:51
Speaker 1: I mean, you could see commercials with candidates doing things
37:55
Speaker 1: that aren't them at all. This thing with me was
37:57
Speaker 1: rather funny.
37:58
Speaker 2: I gotta admiting.
37:59
Speaker 5: Just think about the silly things Trump has done, probably
38:01
Speaker 5: no sombreros on people and making them laugh.
38:04
Speaker 1: This could be I mean, this could just be terrible
38:06
Speaker 1: in the future. But Anyway, whoever sent me that thing
38:09
Speaker 1: of me running down the street jumping in a pothole
38:11
Speaker 1: and disappearing, I thought.
38:12
Speaker 2: It was funny. It was funny.
38:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, you didn't hurt my feelings at all. But you know, Chip,
38:17
Speaker 1: Maxwell will be on for me on Thursday Friday. I
38:20
Speaker 1: guess where I'm going to? Saint Louis?
38:22
Speaker 2: Where really lewis? Where where I really lives?
38:24
Speaker 3: Your home?
38:25
Speaker 2: Yeah? Really not?
38:26
Speaker 5: You could jump jump in a pothole and does it
38:29
Speaker 5: the exit point in Saint Louis.
38:30
Speaker 1: There's plenty of potholes there. But you all know I
38:33
Speaker 1: live here in Omaha. But my sister and my brother
38:36
Speaker 1: from Minneapolis is going to be there, Kevin and my
38:38
Speaker 1: husband's family is going to be there. So Chip, thank
38:40
Speaker 1: you again. He's gonna be here Thursday, Friday and Monday
38:42
Speaker 1: for me. But you know, as we celebrate our two
38:45
Speaker 1: hundred and fiftieth anniversary here and as July fourth approaches,
38:49
Speaker 1: does this celebration to any of you smith feel smaller
38:52
Speaker 1: than it should or less unified or less shared because
38:55
Speaker 1: of what we hear all over the country right now
38:59
Speaker 1: and the two hundred and fifth anniversary, you know, it
39:02
Speaker 1: doesn't have the kind of shared civic feeling. That this
39:07
Speaker 1: milestone might have once inspired if because of what we
39:11
Speaker 1: hear all over the TV all day long. But let
39:14
Speaker 1: me tell you all, it should not and does not
39:17
Speaker 1: diminish the significance of this anniversary. In many way, it
39:21
Speaker 1: heightens it. And across America you are going to see parades, museums, churches, libraries, classrooms, parks,
39:28
Speaker 1: civic organizations preparing hundreds of exhibits, performances, concerts, community opportunity,
39:34
Speaker 1: family experiences that invite Americans to engage in our shared story.
39:42
Speaker 1: And we should remind ourselves that history of annivers with history,
39:47
Speaker 1: anniversaries are not endpoints, but they're an invitation. Because anniversaries
39:53
Speaker 1: at best do not simply ask us to remember. They
39:56
Speaker 1: ask us to recommit. They ask us to renew the
39:59
Speaker 1: habits of citizen ship, to strengthen the institutions of civic life,
40:03
Speaker 1: to prepare the next generation not only to inherit the
40:06
Speaker 1: American experience and self government, but to help lead and
40:10
Speaker 1: sustain it. And here's something I invite you all to do.
40:14
Speaker 1: Take ten minutes, take five minutes and read the first
40:19
Speaker 1: the Preamble of the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence,
40:22
Speaker 1: and as we leave this show today, I want you
40:25
Speaker 1: all to have a very very happy Fourth of July.
40:29
Speaker 1: But I want to read the Preamble of the Constitution
40:32
Speaker 1: of the United States, when it says, we, the people
40:34
Speaker 1: of the United States, in order to form a more
40:36
Speaker 1: perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the
40:42
Speaker 1: common difference, promote the general warefo welfare, and secure the
40:49
Speaker 1: blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity, do
40:54
Speaker 1: ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.
40:59
Speaker 1: Then the Declaration of Independence when we start out, when
41:02
Speaker 1: in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for
41:05
Speaker 1: one people to dissolve the political bands which has connected
41:09
Speaker 1: them with another, and to assume among the powers of
41:13
Speaker 1: the earth the separate and equal station to which the
41:16
Speaker 1: laws of nature and Nature's God entitle them. A decent
41:21
Speaker 1: respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
41:26
Speaker 1: declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Let's
41:30
Speaker 1: remember that on our Fourth of July this year. These
41:34
Speaker 1: are the important things, is or what our country has
41:36
Speaker 1: been built on. I wish all of you a very
41:39
Speaker 1: very happy Fourth of July, and let's just remember what
41:43
Speaker 1: we are celebrating, and celebrate it together, and celebrate what
41:47
Speaker 1: we have here in this great country. That is it
41:50
Speaker 1: for us today. Thank you so much for spending this
41:53
Speaker 1: hour with us. Jeff Beal's thanks again for being with us.
41:56
Speaker 2: We love for you to join in CHIP tomorrow.
41:59
Speaker 1: But today I am Jean Stothard and this is eleven
42:03
Speaker 1: ten kf ab