Published August 17, 2025 | Updated April 14, 2026

The six-story brick and limestone building in the Flatiron District is in the process of offering additional affordable housing to Omaha.

The Standard, designed by father-and-son architectural team John and Alan McDonald and constructed by Vaughn Construction Company, originally served as the headquarters for the Standard Oil Company of Nebraska.

Located at 500 S. 18th Street, the building continued to serve that purpose from the time it opened in 1921 until 1939, when it was purchased by the Standard Oil Company of Indiana. The building was later converted into law offices and became known as the Law Building. Renovated in 1978, the sixth floor retained its early 1920s decor. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places one year later.

Clarity Development is in the process of rehabilitating the building, which will be known as The Standard. The building will include 40 studio and one-bedroom apartments on the upper five floors. The ground floor will contain six commercial bays. Tenants will use on-street parking and the nearby OPPD parking garage.

Aimed at low-income tenants, units will be rent-restricted and available only to those who meet certain income requirements. The projected monthly rent when the story was published last year was $766 and up for studio apartments and $955 and up for one-bedroom units. The expected completion date at that time was 2026.

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