A $200 million development to replace the former Ironwood Country Club still hasn’t satisfied its potential neighbors but won the support Wednesday of the Omaha Planning Board.
Since being proposed in July, the developer has stripped an apartment complex from the plans and added a 50-foot buffer between the project southeast of 132nd and Pacific Streets and the surrounding homes.
Despite neighbors asking for further concessions, the Planning Board voted 6-0 to endorse the project, forwarding the plans to the City Council.
The 151-acre Sterling Ridge development would include offices and small shops, upscale single-family homes and condominiums, a hotel and an assisted-living center, and a five-building religious campus with a new Temple Israel and a three-faith religious center.
Planning Board member R.J. Neary compared the project to One Pacific Place for its blend of uses. That project, which replaced a horse farm, also was approved over neighborhood opposition.
Developer Chip James of Lockwood Development said dropping the apartment complex will be a financial loss for the project, but developers took that step to make the project more appealing to neighbors. James said the project will be a great complement to the neighborhood, offering housing, worship centers and small stores.
The developers bought the Ironwood property in January at a foreclosure auction.
Their proposal has been met with concern from neighbors used to the golf course’s tranquillity and green space.
Residents of Royal Wood Estates asked to forbid street connections with the development and wanted to prevent any paving or construction of buildings or sheds in the buffer zone.
“We’re just here to be good neighbors,” said Richard Henningsen, who lives immediately south of the proposed development.
His home would be close to the religious centers for the Tri-Faith Initiative, a partnership involving Temple Israel, a new Institute of Islamic Studies and an Episcopal church.
Henningsen said he welcomes the initiative. Even though “we like them a lot,” he said, “we’d just like to have them away a little bit.”
Although the developer isn’t pushing for street connections on the eastern and southern sides of the property, the city is requiring the streets to be sketched into the plans — to the displeasure of neighbors.
Chad Weaver, assistant planning director, said city planning polices have shifted to encourage commercial developments to connect with nearby homes. It’s intended to give developments a stronger community feel by putting them within distance of a walk or a short drive without having to take major streets.
“On a broader scale, it’s very, very important that those be made,” Weaver said.
Recent Comments