Twenty years ago, 192nd Street was surrounded by cornfields and stretches of gravel road. Today, the same intersection is becoming the center of one of the largest mixed-use developments in Nebraska’s history.
At 192nd Street and the Dodge Expressway, Avenue One is beginning to take shape after more than two decades of land assembly, infrastructure planning and development. Its first retail phase will encompass approximately 233,000 square feet and is already 73% committed, with a lineup of national retailers and restaurants that includes several brands entering Nebraska for the first time.
And that is only the beginning.
The broader Avenue One master plan covers more than 200 acres and is expected to ultimately represent more than $1 billion in development, bringing together shopping, dining, residences, offices, healthcare, hospitality, recreation and community spaces in a new district designed for the continued growth of West Omaha.
Getting to this point, however, required something increasingly uncommon in real estate development: patience.
Playing the Long Game
The story of Avenue One began long before the first retailer signed a lease.
More than two decades ago, a group of Omaha families recognized the area around 192nd Street and the Dodge Expressway as one of the remaining places where enough land could potentially be assembled to create a development of regional significance. They purchased the first piece of ground at a time when development in the area looked very different than it does today.
Rather than assembling the property all at once, the partnership spent roughly the next 15 years acquiring more than 200 acres through a series of individual transactions. While that process unfolded, Omaha continued moving west. New neighborhoods appeared. Schools followed. Businesses opened. What had once been largely greenfield land gradually became surrounded by growth.
But assembling the land was only part of the challenge. Preparing the property for development required substantial investment in the infrastructure around it. The team worked through the approvals, funding and coordination necessary to expand the adjoining roadway from two lanes to a six-lane, median-divided arterial. Improvements associated with the interchange ultimately represented an investment of nearly $20 million.
The long timeline created an unexpected advantage: The market had time to catch up with the original vision.
By the time Avenue One was ready to pursue its retail component, West Omaha had developed into a significantly larger and more affluent market. Avenue One conducted a national search for retail partners and ultimately brought Poag Shopping Centers and JLL Retail into the project, adding lifestyle-center, merchandising and leasing expertise. From the beginning, the strategy was not simply to fill buildings. It was to find the right brands to establish the identity of the district.
Growth Catches Up With the Vision
Today, Avenue One occupies a position that would have been difficult to imagine when the first parcel was purchased. The development sits directly along the Dodge Expressway, Omaha’s primary east-west transportation corridor and the principal connection between the city’s urban core and its rapidly growing western communities.
Current Avenue One retail materials estimate approximately that approximately 72,000 vehicles travel past the development’s exit each day. Around it, the residential market continues to expand. Between 2010 and 2026, Avenue One’s primary trade area grew approximately 42%, while its broader trade area grew approximately 28%. Nearly 12,300 additional residents are projected to move into the primary trade area over the next five years.
That growth is accompanied by considerable household spending power. Within a five-minute drive of Avenue One, average household income is approximately $201,000 and median household income is approximately $150,000. Even within a 10-minute drive, average household income remains above $188,000. Expand the radius to 15 minutes, and the trade area reaches roughly 278,000 people.
“West Omaha has been growing for years, but what retailers are recognizing now is the depth of the market around Avenue One,” said Jeffrey Hofer, asset and development manager for JSP Development, Avenue One’s master developer. “We have strong household economics, continued residential growth, exceptional visibility and access, and a location positioned to serve both established neighborhoods and where the city is headed next.”
National retailers are taking notice.
A New Retail Destination
Avenue One’s first major commitments began with a group of nationally recognized home and lifestyle brands.
Arhaus, West Elm, Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn were among the early anchors of the project. Arhaus and West Elm will open their first Nebraska locations at Avenue One. They were followed by Barnes & Noble and Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, with Perry’s also choosing Avenue One for its Nebraska debut.
Images above and at top courtesy of Avenue One
L.L.Bean has committed to an approximately 15,000-square-foot store — its first in Nebraska — while Ulta Beauty will occupy approximately 10,000 square feet. Yard House brings another nationally recognized restaurant concept to the district. Together, the announced lineup spans home furnishings, outdoor lifestyle, books, beauty, specialty retail and destination dining.
Perhaps more telling than the number of commitments is who is making them. Arhaus, West Elm, L.L.Bean and Perry’s are all using Avenue One as their entry point into Nebraska. For the retailers still considering the project, that creates something increasingly valuable in a new development: established co-tenancy before the doors even open.
Approximately 73% of Avenue One’s first retail phase is already committed. That momentum is particularly notable at a time when large-scale, ground-up retail development has become increasingly rare. In the second quarter of 2026, the active U.S. retail development pipeline represented less than 0.3% of the country’s existing retail inventory, according to Cushman & Wakefield — a reflection of the land, financing, construction and infrastructure hurdles facing new projects across the country.
Avenue One has spent two decades working through many of those barriers. Now, the focus is shifting from building the foundation to creating the experience.
Creating Reasons To Stay
The vision for Avenue One extends beyond assembling a collection of stores. Its retail district is being organized around a contemporary interpretation of a traditional main street — a place where shopping and restaurants are connected to residences, workplaces, parks and gathering spaces rather than separated from them.
At the heart of the district, a central park is already under construction. Plans include a stage for smaller concerts, events and community programming, surrounded by outdoor dining, pedestrian connections and public spaces intended to keep the district active beyond traditional shopping hours.
Nature is also a significant part of the setting. Immediately adjacent to Avenue One is Lawrence Youngman Lake and Park, providing approximately 175 acres of outdoor space. Within Avenue One itself, plans call for additional parks and green space connected by approximately six miles of trails.
The goal is to give people more reasons to come — and more reasons to stay. Someone may arrive for dinner, walk through the park, attend an event and stop at a store. A resident can walk from home to coffee or dinner. Office employees can use the same restaurants and trails during the day that nearby families use in the evening.
That mix is intentional.
People already live at Avenue One. Additional residential development is underway. Businesses and community organizations are operating within the project today. As the retail district opens, those uses will provide activity throughout the day rather than leaving the development dependent on shopping traffic alone.
More Than a Retail Project
The 233,000-square-foot first retail phase may be the most visible piece of Avenue One today, but it represents only one part of a much larger plan. Future phases contemplate approximately 250,000 additional square feet of retail, along with continued residential, office, medical, hospitality, entertainment and other mixed-use development. At full buildout, Avenue One is expected to eclipse $1 billion in total development and become the largest retail-anchored project in Omaha’s history.
The scale is significant, but so is what has already been accomplished. The land has been assembled. Major roadway and interchange improvements are complete. People already live and work within the development. Retail buildings are under construction. And a group of nationally recognized brands has committed to the project. That puts Avenue One in a different position than a development that exists primarily on a master plan.
It is no longer a vision of what could happen. It is happening.
Shaping What Comes Next
JSP Development remains Avenue One’s master developer, working alongside Poag and JLL on the retail component, with JLL Retail leading leasing efforts. Poag brings experience particularly relevant to Avenue One. Its predecessor helped pioneer the lifestyle-center concept more than three decades ago, advancing the idea that successful retail districts should combine merchandising, architecture, restaurants, public spaces and customer experience rather than treating each as a separate component. That philosophy is helping guide the next chapter of Avenue One.
With nearly three-quarters of the first retail phase committed, the objective for the remaining space is increasingly about curation rather than simply occupancy. The team is targeting retailers, restaurants and experiences that complement the brands already committed and strengthen the district as a whole.
“We have residents, businesses and community organizations in place, construction advancing, and an exceptional group of retailers preparing to join them,” Hofer said. “At the same time, we still have the opportunity to be thoughtful about the brands, restaurants and experiences we introduce next.”
For a project more than 20 years in the making, that may be the most important part of the story. Avenue One was never planned around what West Omaha looked like when the first piece of land was purchased. It was built around what West Omaha could become.
Now, the city is catching up.
For more information about Avenue One and current leasing opportunities, visit AvenueOneOmaha.com.