Creighton's new $650 million neighbor brings the city and University closer together than ever
Read more about Fly Together, the nearly $300 million initiative constructing and upgrading 11 new or reimagined recreational, athletic and outdoor spaces located on Creighton’s east campus and adjacent to the new 17th Street corridor.
The corridor will act as a “front porch,” welcoming Omahans and guests with its direct connection to the city's new urban village, the Builder’s District, home of Kiewit Corporation's headquarters.
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By Micah Mertes
Fly Together connects Creighton University to the Builder’s District, a 10-block urban village totaling more than $650 million in private development, anchored by Kiewit Corporation’s headquarters.
Fly Together’s blending of the University with the rising mixed-use district gives Creighton students something they’ve never had before: a city campus, merging Creighton’s academic, recreational and social life with a new, bustling hub of retail, dining, nightlife, entertainment, hotel and office space.
The developer of the Builder’s District is Noddle Companies, which also created Aksarben Village. Additional partners in the district include the City of Omaha, Union Pacific Railroad and Kiewit Corporation, which backed the development.
(Learn more about the Builder's District here.)
“Our goal is to make the line between the campus and the community invisible,” said Jay Noddle, president and CEO of Noddle Companies. “Creighton and the Builder’s District are a great match in every way, and they will blend seamlessly.”
Creighton President Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, said the parallel rise of the Builder’s District with the Fly Together project further strengthens both endeavors.
“As Creighton continues investing in the urban core and deliberately activates the east side of campus with more recreational and athletic activities, our neighbors are creating one of the most exciting new areas in Omaha,” Father Hendrickson said.
Fly Together will bring some of the campus’ most popular attractions to its enhanced recreational corridor for all students: a renovated Rasmussen Center, a new Student Fitness Center, and baseball and softball fields available to intercollegiate, intramural, club sports and community competitions.
Across 17th Street, the Builder’s District will offer 600 apartments of prime living space to thousands of Creighton students, faculty and staff.
Meanwhile, a 12-story destination hotel — with a clear view of Morrison Stadium and the new baseball and softball fields — will provide a home base for families touring campus, teams competing in the Men's College World Series and Creighton fans in town to catch a game at the CHI Health Center Arena or D.J. Sokol Arena, the soon-to-be-reimagined home of Creighton volleyball and women’s basketball.
The Builder's District now also includes the four-story 1501 Mike Fahey Building, the city's first timber-hybrid structure. The building's first tenant is The Root co-working space. Noddle Companies will move its headquarters to 1501 Mike Fahey this fall.
“The Builder’s District and Fly Together will forever blur the eastern boundary between the University’s campus and the city of Omaha,” said Scott Heider, trustee of the Heider Family Foundation, the lead donor of Fly Together.
“Very few colleges in the country have an opportunity like this," Heider said, "where a campus’ social and recreational life will be so closely interwoven with an urban retail and entertainment district. The sheer density of activity that will be involved here — with the students and faculty, Kiewit Corporation, a new full-service hotel, apartments and restaurants, all within walking distance — is going to bring Creighton and Omaha closer together than ever before.”
Read more about the new chapter in Creighton and Kiewit's longtime partnership.
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