Down the road: The future of 27th Street
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By DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star
What does the future hold for 27th Street? At the top end — near its unofficial ending at Arbor Road — the area north of Interstate 80 on the west side of 27th Street has been approved for commercial and industrial uses, but no tenants have been announced yet, said special projects manager Stephen Henrichsen of the city Planning Department.
“We’ve had various folks look at it, but nobody actively doing anything on it right now,” he said.
About half a mile north of the interstate, from Arbor Road to Bluff Road, the future of 27th is largely halted by conservation easements in saline wetlands.
“The future there would be habitat for the Salt Creek tiger beetle,” Henrichsen said.
Once you get out of the wetlands, the land is agricultural all the way to the county line.
For that to develop, sewer service would have to go through the wetlands, and the city has no plans — much less money — to extend that service anytime soon.
Farther south, the future could bring a long-awaited theater to north Lincoln.
In 2002, a six-screen theater was approved at 27th and Folkways Boulevard, but it has not been built yet.
North of Folkways, there’s room for a big box retail store, but no tenants have been announced as far as Henrichsen knows.
He also expects more warehouses and industrial areas between Cornhusker Highway and Superior Street to redevelop into businesses, restaurants and hotels as land becomes more valuable.
On the south end of 27th Street, think the Village Pointe shopping center in west Omaha.
A similar “lifestyle center” is coming to about 40 acres southeast of Yankee Hill Road.
Drive by today and you’ll see evidence of the upscale shopping center to come: a large rushing waterfall, pond and fountain are already in place.
A big box store, restaurants and offices will go in between 27th and 30th streets, with 30th Street the main street anchored by a roundabout and a fountain with fire shooting out of the top.
The “main street” will be bordered by stores and restaurants, wide sidewalks and parking. Expect tenants to be similar to those at Village Pointe and SouthPointe Pavilions.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring.
Super Target was a possible tenant for the big box slot before it decided on 40th Street and Yankee Hill.
About half a million square feet of offices, stores and restaurants are planned.
The Wilderness Hills subdivision — with homes and townhomes — is being developed south of the shopping center and extends to Rokeby Road.
South of there on both sides of 27th, the city has purchased a conservation easement on more than 50 acres of flood-prone land, so that’s likely to remain open to farming, soccer fields or nurseries.
A smaller neighborhood retail center with from 70,000 to 100,000 square feet of stores is planned northwest of Yankee Hill. Most retail centers have a grocery store and smaller stores.
As 27th heads toward Saltillo Road, it swings to avoid railroad tracks, and the city plans to bend the street at the northeast corner of 27th and Saltillo even more so it avoids the railroad tracks and creek and lines up with the planned South Beltway interchange at 33rd Street.
Commercial and industrial development could occur on the north side of the interchange between the railroad tracks and newly aligned 27th Street, Henrichsen said.
South of Saltillo Road, on the northeast corner of the interchange, there’s another large commercial area, although no tenants have been announced yet.
Expect plenty of urban development to the south of the beltway, but it’ll be the end of the road for 27th Street at Saltillo because railroad tracks and Salt Creek are in the way.
Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.
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