Paul StinsonThe state of Nebraska has awarded $124 million to support a business park construction project and to develop a community facility in the city of Omaha. The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) delivered the grants through the Airport Business Park (ABP) Program and Multipurpose Community Facilities (MCF) Program.
The ABP Program provides funding to nonprofit development organizations to build business parks near major airports. Business parks are designated areas of land containing office buildings. The program is funded by LB 531, which state lawmakers passed in 2023 to provide grants for economic and community development programs.
The MCF Program supports capital projects that rehabilitate or expand existing multipurpose community facilities in metropolitan areas. The program also supports projects that enable work, education and health monitoring. The program uses federal funding from the Coronavirus Capital Projects fund, which was created to help state governments to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Omaha Economic Development Corp. (OEDC), a nonprofit commercial and residential developer, received a $89.2 million ABP grant to build a business park near Eppley Airfield. The OEDC will use the grant to prepare two sites for development. The first site is west of Carter Lake and is currently used for industrial purposes. The second is connected to a park north of the lake and is used for commercial and industrial purposes.
The city of Omaha received the remaining $35 million MCF grant to build a community facility for residents in the northeast quadrant of the city. The 90,000-square-foot facility will provide educational programming spaces, rooms for healthcare and telemedicine services, youth sports areas and technology labs.
