The Omaha City Council opened a public hearing and advanced a $7.82 million purchase and sale agreement on Tuesdays before September 28, handing 13 city-owned parcels to Noddle Companies and its partners and clearing a major hurdle for the next phase of construction in the Builder's District. The parcels sit roughly bounded by 16th, 17th, Mike Fahey, and Cass Streets, and developers are targeting mid-2027 to begin building on the newly private land.
The vote marks a pivotal shift from municipal ownership to active private development in the 10-block urban village rising east of 17th Street and north of downtown, according to Citizen Portal. As the Omaha World-Herald reports, the council's approval transfers the former city-owned land to private hands, setting the stage for the district to build again after years of planning. The Builder's District is envisioned as a $650 million, 10-block mixed-use urban village that will ultimately include 600 apartments, an urban park, retail storefronts, restaurants, entertainment venues, office space, and a hotel, according to Creighton University Alumni and Friends. Master developer Noddle Companies is executing that plan with backing from Kiewit Corporation and the City of Omaha.
Kiewit's Headquarters Anchors the District
The corporate anchor already standing in the district is Kiewit Corporation's seven-story, 203,000-square-foot headquarters at 1550 Mike Fahey Street, which opened in 2021 after the company relocated from the Blackstone District, per the same account from Creighton's alumni publication. Kiewit had been based at 3555 Farnam Street since 1961 before making the move. That headquarters remains the district's most visible fixture as new construction phases move forward.
Noddle Companies is led by President and CEO Jay Noddle, who previously led the creation of Aksarben Village in midtown Omaha and now oversees the Builder's District, per the same account. Noddle also serves as president of the Omaha Streetcar Authority. His firm has already delivered one marquee building in the district: 1501 Mike Fahey Street, a $35 million, four-story, 115,000-square-foot office structure completed in 2024 that marked Omaha's first commercial building built with hybrid mass timber, according to CoStar. That property went on to win CoStar's 2025 Commercial Development of the Year award for the Omaha market.
A Law Firm Bets on the New District
The commercial appeal of that mass-timber building is already drawing established Omaha institutions away from downtown's traditional office core. Law firm Fraser Stryker PC LLO signed a lease to move its Omaha headquarters to 1501 Mike Fahey Street in 2026, leaving its Energy Plaza location after more than 65 years there, according to Fraser Stryker. The firm has practiced law in Omaha for more than 125 years. That relocation lands amid broader momentum in Omaha's office market: the city's office vacancy rate fell to 7.0% at year-end 2023, down from 7.7% the year before.
Creighton's Jaywalk Will Link Campus to the District
Just across 17th Street, Creighton University is building its own bridge into the Builder's District. In September 2025, the university announced Fly Together, a donor-funded $300 million campus project spanning 12 blocks that features The Jaywalk, a pedestrian thoroughfare designed to connect Creighton's east campus directly to the district, according to Creighton University. The initiative launched with a $100 million lead gift from the Heider Family Foundation.
Development documents describe a possible hotel among the district's future components, one that would compete in a growing North Downtown lodging market. KETV notes that nearby Millwork Commons is converting a building into a 144-room boutique hotel scheduled for completion in late 2027, and that North Downtown already draws major events at Charles Schwab Field and CHI Health Center. The Builder's District is one of three master-planned districts reshaping Omaha's urban core north of Dodge Street, alongside Millwork Commons and the Capitol District entertainment complex, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The latest land transfer marks another step in the neighborhood's private redevelopment.
