Omaha could open entire city for small dwellings; winning architect firms have plans ready – Omaha World-Herald

6 minutes, 47 seconds Read

AARP Nebraska has announced the winners of its accessory dwelling units competition at the same time as the City of Omaha Planning Department is finalizing possible new regulations for that housing type.

An accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, is an additional small house or apartment set on a single-family residential property. If changes are approved by the City Council, Omaha would allow ADUs across the city and not just in its midtown and eastern areas.

“We are going to have a whole zoning code update related to ADUs,” said Eric Englund, assistant planning director for the Omaha Planning Department.

The architecture firms and the city’s permits and inspections staff also plan to work together, a cooperation that could speed up approval of building permits by preapproving the winning designs, an option called fast-track permitting.

People are also reading…

Once they have been reviewed for applicable building code requirements by the city, interested parties could use the designs to build on their property, saving weeks in permit review time and costs by not needing to hire an architect for individual design.

Englund said the city desperately needs more housing, and ADUs are an excellent option, especially for older adults.

“>

That’s one of the reasons that AARP sponsored the “An ADU for U” competition, which was won by Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture in partnership with Assistology LLC. Second place went to Straightline Design Inc., third to Actual Architecture Co. and honorable mention to Macondo LLC. They will be honored at a reception later this month.

“The growing population of older adults in the Omaha area and across the U.S. is putting a squeeze on the supply of housing for this demographic,” AARP Nebraska’s State Director Todd Stubbendieck said. “ADUs are an affordable but underutilized housing option that could be the answer for many families.”

Meaghan Walls of Assistology, who does accessibility and universal design consulting, said one in six adults in the U.S. was over 65 in 2020, and that number keeps growing. There’s just under 56 million over the age of 65.

Many older adults experience disability, and that was taken into account in coming up with the winning design, which includes raised garden beds, access to nature and creative storage options.

“Six percent of U.S. housing is considered accessible,” she said. “So there is a disconnect in what accessible housing options are out there for people, and traditional senior living is increasingly unaffordable.”

Daniel Conaway, who was part of the four-person design team for Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, said ADUs are very popular on the West Coast and are just beginning to make an appearance in this area.

ADUs are not tiny houses. A typical two-car garage is about 400 square feet. The winning entry is about 675 square feet with living, kitchen and sleeping areas. It is accessible for someone in a wheelchair or walker.

The cost is similar to building a home but on a much smaller scale. A typical unit might cost around $150,000, Englund said.

While having a place for aging parents who still want some independence is a big draw, Conaway said ADUs are for everyone.

“They are for people who are looking for either additional living space on their property,” he said. “They are also used for people who want to rent them out for additional income. They are also an option for a child who is aging out of your place but still doesn’t have their feet under them. Or someone who needs part-time care. They can have independence and still have that accessibility for someone to watch over them.”

Englund said they are still finalizing other criteria for ADUs, which can be built in a basement, over a garage or as a detached unit in the backyard. They are aiming for the proposed code to be ready for the Dec. 6 Planning Board meeting.

He doesn’t expect a rush of new buildings even if they can be built citywide. ADUs have existed in some of Omaha’s older neighborhoods for generations. Zoning code changes that followed the advent of the ORBT bus system in 2020 opened up more neighborhoods for this housing type, but no permits have yet been drawn.

“While it is a more affordable option, it’s still not going to be cheap to build,” he said. “However, other cities that have opened these up have had great success.”

Marjie Ducey’s favorite house stories in 2022

The house sits in the Walnut Hill neighborhood, which once was one of Omaha’s most prestigious areas. Architect J.B. Mason designed it at the turn of last century to rival nearby Mercer Mansion. 

“We just fell in love with this old girl and thought she needed some love,” homeowner Elizabeth Skinner said.

There’s no signs now of the nightmare the couple endured after the flooding of 2019 wiped away all the work they’d done on what they had thought was the house of their dreams. Or at least it had been heading that way.

The house was scheduled to be torched when the Piepers bought it for just $5. They’ve since spent more than $70,000 to prep it for moving, build a basement at its new home and to purchase new windows.

HGTV did a spread on the fixer-upper home that Danica and Chris Gadeke began transforming in a small community just outside Lincoln in 2016.

The 10th home that a local real estate agent and his team will feature as part of the Old Omaha Showcase is located in the Cathedral area.

The house stands out because owners Jeremy and Alesha Cerny returned it to its roots with a white and aqua paint job, similar to the colors it had when it was built in 1961.

 “Everything you see is slip covered,  so you can throw it in the washing machine,” homeowner Hilary Spurgeon said.

The home they never thought they’d leave went under contract after five days at $40,000 over the $290,000 list price. They chose from 10 offers, a sign that the Omaha real estate market is still going strong.

Since the start of the pandemic, the price of everything has gone up, from materials to labor, so $90,000 is the normal for the cost of a kitchen renovation in Omaha.

The penthouse of the Brandeis Building at 16th and Douglas Streets, a little-known piece of Omaha history, is going on the market for the first time ever on Thursday.

#lee-outstream-wrap {
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
max-width: 800px;
margin: 0 auto;
display: none;
position: relative;
}
#lee-outstream-wrap .ima-controls-div { z-index: 99; }
#lee-outstream-wrap .lee-outstream-video {
position: relative;
padding-bottom: 56.25%;
height: 0;
}
#lee-outstream-wrap .lee-outstream-video video {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
z-index:1;
}
#lee-outstream-close {
display: none;
position: absolute;
cursor: pointer;
top: -25px;
left: -25px;
padding: 10px;
overflow: hidden;
background-color: #000;
border-radius: 20px;
color: #fff;
z-index: 99;
line-height: 0;
box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4) 0px 0px 5px 0px;
}
#lee-outstream-close:hover { color: rgba(255,255,255,.8); }
#lee-outstream-wrap.sticky {
position: fixed;
bottom:0;
right:0;
width: 400px;
z-index: 1000;
height: auto;
box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4) 0px 0px 10px 0px;
}
#lee-outstream-wrap.sticky #lee-outstream-close{ display: block; }
@media (max-width: 767px){
#lee-outstream-wrap.sticky { width: 60%; }
}

#lee-rev-content { margin:0 -5px; }
#lee-rev-content h3 {
font-family: inherit!important;
font-weight: 700!important;
border-left: 8px solid var(–lee-blox-link-color);
text-indent: 7px;
font-size: 24px!important;
line-height: 24px;
}
#lee-rev-content .rc-provider {
font-family: inherit!important;
}
#lee-rev-content h4 {
line-height: 24px!important;
font-family: “serif-ds”,Times,”Times New Roman”,serif!important;
margin-top: 10px!important;
}
@media (max-width: 991px) {
#lee-rev-content h3 {
font-size: 18px!important;
line-height: 18px;
}
}

#pu-email-form-business-email-article {
clear: both;

background-color: #fff;

color: #222;

background-position: bottom;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
padding: 15px 0 20px;
margin-bottom: 40px;
border-top: 4px solid rgba(0,0,0,.8);
border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.2);

display: none;

}
#pu-email-form-business-email-article,
#pu-email-form-business-email-article p {
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, “Apple Color Emoji”, “Segoe UI Emoji”, “Segoe UI Symbol”;
}
#pu-email-form-business-email-article h2 {
font-size: 24px;
margin: 15px 0 5px 0;
font-family: “serif-ds”, Times, “Times New Roman”, serif;
}
#pu-email-form-business-email-article .lead {
margin-bottom: 5px;
}
#pu-email-form-business-email-article .email-desc {
font-size: 16px;
line-height: 20px;
margin-bottom: 5px;
opacity: 0.7;
}
#pu-email-form-business-email-article form {
padding: 10px 30px 5px 30px;
}
#pu-email-form-business-email-article .disclaimer {
opacity: 0.5;
margin-bottom: 0;
line-height: 100%;
}
#pu-email-form-business-email-article .disclaimer a {
color: #222;
text-decoration: underline;
}
#pu-email-form-business-email-article .email-hammer {

border-bottom: 3px solid #222;

opacity: .5;
display: inline-block;
padding: 0 10px 5px 10px;
margin-bottom: -5px;
font-size: 16px;
}
@media (max-width: 991px) {
#pu-email-form-business-email-article form {
padding: 10px 0 5px 0;
}
}
.grecaptcha-badge { visibility: hidden; }

Similar Posts