Redevelopment

Urban Development Department encourages redevelopment and private investment in projects that strengthen Lincoln. The redevelopment tools available to the City, as defined by the State of Nebraska's Community Development Law, include blight/substandard designation, redevelopment plans and proposals, and tax increment financing. 

The City Council and the Planning Commission review redevelopment activities at several points in the redevelopment process(PDF, 46KB). In addition to regularly reviewing the City Council and Planning Committee agendas, Urban Development's Public Review Schedule lists any major phases of redevelopment under public consideration: blight designation, redevelopment plan and amendment approvals, and redevelopment agreements. For older actions, please refer to the City Clerk's Advanced Search.

 

 

Public Review Schedule

The list below only includes blight designations, redevelopment plans and amendments, and redevelopment agreements that are currently under public review. You can view the Planning Commission and City Council agendas for additional documentation. For older actions, please refer to the City Clerk's Document Management Search

 

 

  

Blight/Substandard Definition

How is Blighted/Substandard defined?

An area may be designated as blighted or substandard if it has enough deficiencies that private investment is not occurring. A summary of the definitions of blighted and substandard are included below, but for complete details, please refer to Nebraska's Community Development Law.

 In summary, an area can be designated “substandard” if it:

  • has a predominance of buildings that are dilapidated, deteriorated, obsolete, or have inadequate ventilation, light, air, sanitation or open spaces
  • has population overcrowding
  • has conditions that endanger life or property, by fire and other causes
  • has a combination of factors that are conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, and crime
  • is detrimental to public health, safety, morals, or welfare

 In summary, an area can be designated “blighted” if it:

  • includes a substantial number of deteriorated or deteriorating structures
  • has a defective or inadequate street layout
  • has a faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness
  • has insanitary or unsafe conditions
  • is experiencing deterioration of site or other improvements
  • has diversity of ownership
  • has tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land
  • has defective or unusual conditions of title
  • has improper subdivision or obsolete platting
  • has conditions which endanger life or property by fire or other causes
  • has factors that substantially impair or arrest the sound growth of the community, delay the provision of housing accommodations, or constitute an economic or social liability
  • is detrimental to public health, safety, morals, or welfare in its present condition and use, and has one or more of the following conditions:
    • an unemployment rate of at least 120% of the state or national average
    • an average age of the residential or commercial units that is at least 40 years
    • more than half of plotted and subdivided property has been within the city for 40 years and has remained unimproved during that time
    • the per capita income is lower than the average per capita income of the city or stable or decreasing population, based on the last two decennial censuses

 A finding of blighted/substandard can be made if these factors are present to a great enough extent that public intervention appears to be appropriate or necessary to assist with any development activities. In addition, these factors should be reasonably distributed throughout the area so basically good areas are not arbitrarily found to be blighted/substandard simply because of proximity to areas which are blighted/substandard.

 

Lincoln Center Redevelopment Plan

The Lincoln Center Redevelopment Plan analyzes existing conditions in a designated area, including land use, zoning, recreational facilities & trails, transportation, public utilities, and historic significance. Based on that analysis and factors detailed in a Blight & Substandard Determination Study, the plan identifies issues that should be addressed. Guided by the City's Comprehensive Plan, the redevelopment plan also proposes public and private projects to address the issues. Projects may be eligible for TIF funds.

Section 1: Introduction(PDF, 232KB) 

Section 2: Existing Situation(PDF, 5MB)

 

Section 3: Future Situation(PDF, 212KB) 

Section 4: Redevelopment Projects

 

        BA. Lincoln Bold Redevelopment Project(PDF, 590KB)

All Other Redevelopment Plans

A redevelopment plan analyzes existing conditions in a designated area, including land use, zoning, recreational facilities & trails, transportation, public utilities, and historic significance. Based on that analysis and factors detailed in a Blight & Substandard Determination Study, the redevelopment plan identifies issues that should be addressed. Guided by the City's Comprehensive Plan, the redevelopment plan also proposes public and private projects to address the issues. Projects undertaken in areas with redevelopment plans may be eligible for TIF funds.

Redevelopment plans already exist for several areas, including:

 

Invitations for Proposals

Those interested in submitting Redevelopment Proposals should monitor this listing for any addendums to Resource Materials.  For City Bidding Opportunities, please refer to City Purchasing. If you have any questions about these IFRP's, please contact the Urban Development Department at 402-441-7606 or urbandev@lincoln.ne.gov

Open for Bids

IFRP-11-01: Nebraska Innovation Campus Projects 

Redevelopment Projects may include Mixed Use, Research and Development, Commercial, Office or Residential Projects
Advertised: 01/24/2010 and 01/31/2010          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-09-03: Lincoln Center Projects 

Redevelopment Projects may include Office, Commercial, and/or Residential Redevelopment to revitalize Downtown Lincoln, including the Historic Haymarket and West Haymarket areas
Advertised: 04/12/2009          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-09-02: Van Dorn Projects 

Redevelopment Projects may include: Office, Commercial, Industrial, or Residential Redevelopment to revitalize the Van Dorn area
Advertised: 02/15/2009          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-09-01: University Place Projects

Redevelopment Projects may include: Office, Commercial, or Residential Redevelopment to revitalize the University Place/North 48th Street area
Advertised: 02/15/2009          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-08-07: 56th and Arbor Road Projects

Redevelopment Projects may include: Industrial, Commercial, or Distribution Redevelopment Projects that generate New Primary Employment
Advertised: 03/22/2008          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-08-06: South Street Projects

Redevelopment Projects may include: Office or Commercial Redevelopment to revitalize the South Street area
Advertised: 03/22/2008          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-08-05: West O Street Projects

Redevelopment Projects may include: Office, Commercial, or Industrial Redevelopment that generates New Primary Employment
Advertised: 03/22/2008          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-08-04: North 27th Street Corridor Projects

Redevelopment Projects may include: Office or Commercial Redevelopment to revitalize the North 27th Street area
Advertised: 03/22/2008          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-08-03: Havelock Projects

Redevelopment Projects may include: Office, Commercial, or Residential Redevelopment to revitalize the Havelock area
Advertised: 03/22/2008          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-08-02: Antelope Valley Projects

Redevelopment Projects may include: Research and Development, Commercial, Office or Residential Projects
Advertised: 02/17/2008          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-08-01: Northwest Corridors Projects

Redevelopment Projects may include: Office or Commercial Redevelopment that generates New Primary Employment
Advertised: 01/20/2008          Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

IFRP-07-02: 48th & O Projects

Redevelopment Projects may include: Urban Mix of New Commercial Retail or Office Services
Advertised: 04/13/2007           Bid Opening: Open Ended
Resource Materials:

Bidding Closed

     IFRP-12-01: Active Living Center / Jayne Snyder Trails Center 

Advertised: 02/19/2012          Bid Opening: Open Ended
IIFRP-18-01: Pershing Center
Advertised: 08/30/2018     Bid Opening 05/11/2020, Noon
 
IFRP-15-03: West Haymarket - Block 4
IFRP-16-01: West Haymarket - Block 5
Advertised: 3/1/2016     Bid Opening: Extended to 5/27/2016, Noon
 
IFRP-15-03: West Haymarket - Block 4
Advertised: 11/13/2015     Bid Opening: Extended to 5/27/2016, Noon
 
IFRP-15-02: Lumberworks Garage Liner Buildings
Advertised: 10/16/2015     Bid Opening: 01/15/2016, Noon
 
IFRP-15-01: 21st & N Street
Advertised: 01/19/2015     Bid Opening: 05/19/2015, 4:30 pm CDT
 
IFRP-14-02: West Haymarket - Block 4
Advertised: 12/17/2014     Bid Opening: 03/17/2015, Noon
 
IFRP-14-01: Lumberworks Garage Liner Buildings
Advertised: 03/05/2014     Bid Opening: 05/16/2014, Noon
 
IFRP-12-04: Pershing Center
Advertised: 07/02/2012     Bid Opening: 10/01/2012

IFRP-12-05: Canopy and P Streets Premier Corner Lot
Advertised: 07/15/2012     Bid Opening: 08/15/2012, Noon
 
IFRP-12-03: 21st & N Street
Advertised: 05/26/2012     Bid Opening: 11/01/2012

 

IFRP - 22-01: South Haymarket Park Redevelopment Site

 Advertised: 08/30/22         Bid Opening:  11/17/2022, Noon

 

SODO Rental Rehabilitation Grant Program


SODO Rental Rehabilitation Program Updates: 

Update: 12/15/22

Today we sent out emails to inform those who submitted information to our second round of information request that one or more, or none of their submitted properties were selected.  Those with selected unit(s) will be contacted in the coming days where we will share which units were selected and weeks to schedule a meeting in January to review your proposed work, and discuss program details. Those units that were not will be kept on file and automatically reconsidered in the next round in 2023.  If you prefer not to be reconsidered, please respond to the e-mail and ask that your application be withdrawn.

More about the selection process will be shared in the future.

Update: 11/21/22

Thank you for your interest in the South of Downtown Organization Rental Rehab Grant Program. We just wanted to give you a quick update on where we are with our selection process - we received the first round of applications and had over 2,000 units apply for the program. We decided to send out a second round of applications to gather some more detailed information about the units. That effort results in approx 1,500 units (i.e., we removed units outside of the target area, some didn't apply, others withdrew etc.)

We have now used this additional information and narrowed the selection down to about 250 units based on location, affordability, cost, investment, lead paint, and other factors. We are working to narrow the selection down to 100 units which will be the first group of units we plan to award the grant money to. This decision was planned to be made on November 17th but we are needing some more time in order to process and make our final decisions.

We plan to notify everyone as soon as decisions are made and we hope to be able to continue to receive grant money for this program so that we can provide funds to even more of our applicants in the future. Additionally, we are considering providing some information about the type of homes that made the second round process and the final selection for our first year.

We are meeting on Dec 2nd, and hope to have an update after that meeting. Please continue to check this page for further updates.
We appreciate your interest in the SODO Rental Rehabilitation Program.

Update: 03/27/23

Thank you for checking back. We have received several questions about who was selected and the selection process. As noted above we shared we were working to select a smaller pool for our first round of funding. We contacted the owners of approximately 150 units and are still working with them to finalize grant agreement documents. We want to emphasize this was a selection process and not a simple formula. For example, most of the units we choose to select were 100+ years old, these units also agreed to work with other funding sources (i.e., LES, Black Hills, Lead Grants etc.), many committed to extend years of affordability,  among other criteria. All finalist sites were review onsite by a number of reviewers. 

On Thursday January 12th. The Mayor held a press conference on this program. You can view it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpjGaoOAIy4

Once a final list of units is finished we will post that here.
Going forward, we are working to open the next selection round in August. We'll keep in contact with existing applicant owners and reach out to new ones as well.