Published August 5, 2025 | Updated May 31, 2026

While the Rorick Apartments have been all over the news for the deplorable conditions in which its tenants live, it hasn’t always been that way. When Ernest Rorick filed the building permit to build his namesake apartment complex in 1950, it was the largest single-structure permit filed in Omaha since 1928.

After receiving a $2 million loan from the Federal Housing Administration, he set out to build the 11-story apartment complex at 22nd and St. Mary’s Avenue. To make room for the new complex, two landmark homes-turned-apartments built in 1878 and 1888 for James M. Woolworth were razed.

The cross-shaped building with penthouses on the top two floors was designed by architect M.J. Lahr. Rorick Construction Company, which Ernest ran alongside his twin brother Forest, built it. The steel-frame structure had smooth buff brick with spandrels of green marble between the windows. Glass blocks were used to provide additional lighting, and the exterior stairs were made of granite. A two-story parking garage was constructed on its western end.

The interior, meanwhile, included amenities such as a lounge, rec room, children’s play area, and a nursery for the children of working mothers. Of the 235 apartments, most were one-bedroom or single-room efficiency units, though there were a few two-bedrooms. Rents ranged from $65 to $125 per month. The owner himself lived in the larger of the two penthouses for much of his life.

When the Rorick opened in 1952, it was the first high-rise apartment building in Omaha. The building served as the home to various radio stations, including KOIL, throughout the years, with a 132-foot radio transmission tower installed on its roof. High winds caused the tower to come loose in 1967. In 1980, powerful storms cracked it in half, at which point it was removed.

After its owner passed away in 1983, the apartment would slowly take a turn for the worse, as the man whose personal touch had made it an attractive place to live was gone. There were a series of fires starting in the late 1980s, in some cases due to faulty wiring and equipment. After the downtown YMCA closed its residential program in 2002, many of its single and low-income residents moved to the Rorick.

After its owner passed away in 1983, the apartment would slowly take a turn for the worse, as the man whose personal touch had made it an attractive place to live was gone. There were a series of fires starting in the late 1980s, in some cases due to faulty wiring and equipment. After the downtown YMCA closed its residential program in 2002, many of its single and low-income residents moved to the Rorick.

The situation at the Rorick deteriorated further, leading to an attempt to convert the units into condominiums in 2005. After that failed, the units reverted to apartments. By 2011, it was renamed City View Apartments.

Despite horrid conditions at City View that included faulty plumbing leading to flooded apartments, broken entry doors, holes in the ceilings and walls, mold, exposed wiring, and elevators that only sporadically worked, it was the only option for many of its tenants, most of whom were very low-income or disabled.

Fortunately, those individuals are in the process of being relocated, thanks to the extensive assistance of local nonprofits including Reimagine Omaha, Threshold CoC, and North Omaha Community Partnership, which is now $46,000 in debt. It is due to their efforts that all residents have permanent housing lined up and will avoid being evicted as the apartment complex closes.

Like the neighborhood that surrounds it, now rebranded as The Quarters, the old Rorick may finally get a much-needed second act. An Indianapolis bank has taken ownership, and a new property management company plans to gut and renovate the building. Whether that amounts to revival or just another flip remains to be seen.

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More pictures

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• Ernest C. Rorick (1895-1983) – Find a Grave Memorial