Land acquisition negotiations for Omaha streetcar to begin soon

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - It’s a long game for the owner of The Lazy Leopard, which opened late last year in the Blackstone District.

“Construction has hurt us tremendously and I know it’s been hard on the neighborhood, but I think the long-term discussion from the meetings we’ve had,” said Nathan Heimuli. “They’ve been very clear about what’s is going to go down and what’s going on.”

Right now, utility work is happening, but soon, negotiations about property acquisition will start, if approved by the city council. Those locations and the amount of land haven’t been finalized yet, but Omaha Public Works will lead the effort.

Assistant Director Austin Rowser said it’ll only be small slivers of land.

“The only thing I think we would need right-of-way for at this point in time is potentially some of the power poles that run the project, potentially some of the stops, and maybe some of the ADA improvements around the corners which is very common where we have to install current ramps,” Rowser said.

This process is common for large projects.

“We start that process early so we can go through negotiations early and have that all wrapped up by the time the project starts,” said Rowser.

If the negotiations don’t work out, the city is authorized to acquire it without cooperation if approved by a judge. Right now, The Lazy Leopard owner doesn’t envision giving the city a hard time.

“Just from seeing what they’ve shown us and as long they stick to that, and they’ve made it really clear that’s what they’re going to do,” said Heimuli. “And I know things change, but I don’t see a tremendous amount of loss.”

6 News walked into several of the businesses along the streetcar route, but many owners weren’t in. Those interested in voicing their opinion on this issue can do so at the first public hearing in two weeks.

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