Omaha Exploration

Bluestem Prairie near 52nd Street and Sorenensen Parkway is nearing completion on the site of what used to be the Wintergreen Apartments. The project is being led by Habitat for Humanity.

The 14-acre apartment complex originally named Myott Park opened in 1975. While it initially attracted both middle and low income residents, it was turned into low incomes apartments by 1978. By that time the apartments were neglected while crime increased. The complex was purchased by an absentee landlord and renamed it Wintergreen Apartments. The apartments continued to deteriorate and the conditions in whichthe tenants lived worsened until complex was demolished in 2007. If you’d like to learn more, click here to the full history on North Omaha History: https://northomahahistory.com/2022/10/31/a-history-of-the-wintergreen-apartments/.

After the apartments were demolished, the property sat empty for the next 14 years over which time it became a dumping ground. In 2021 the city sold the property to Habitat for Humanity for $1. At that point they began development on a new neighborhood called Bluestem Prairie. The new neighborhood aims to provide affordable housing designed to appeal to different generations, family sizes, compositions and income.

Of the 85 homes, the majority have from three to five bedrooms; 10 are zero entry villas that have no steps and 5 are accessory dwelling units (ADUs) – commonly referred to as mother-in-law quarters. Included is a barrier-free park that has amenities such as biking and walking trails, playground equipment, basketball and pickle ball courts, picnic pavilions and an amphitheater.

One of the key benefits of Bluestem is to provide home ownership opportunities to people who lack access to traditional housing and lending markets. Buyers must have a two-year employment track record, a certain amount of of money in savings and earn less than 80% of the median income. Click here to learn more: https://habitatomaha.org/bluestem-development/

When the project started it was said that Omaha was short nearly 80,000 affordable housing units with the gap potentially increasing to more than 100,000 over the following 20 years without significant intervention.

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