metroMagazine • The Spirit of Omaha
approached Wohlner’s Grocery Store to inquire if the family owned and operated business would be interested in opening a second location in Midtown Crossing. The answer was an enthusiastic, “Yes,” and Wohlner’s opened its doors to the public in November 2010. Now residents can keep their car keys in their purses and pockets, walk to the market, and pick up ingredients for their evening meal. Don’t feel like cooking? Enjoy take-out from Wohlner’s extensive deli or eat in at the dining area. “Midtown Crossing is a wonderful marriage of old favorites like Delice bakery and Wohlner’s combined with exciting, first-to-market restaurant chains like Cantina Laredo from Dallas and Minneapolis’ Crave,” Skold states. “That mixture is what makes us unique.” Though the initial goal of developing the land adjacent to the Mutual of Omaha headquarters was to build up the midtown area and in doing so, to set in motion a ripple effect of further development of the city’s eastern neighborhoods, SUSTAINABILITY was also an important premise of Midtown Crossing. Developers wanted to create a green community, one where residents could walk to entertainment and services. Mission accomplished. Downtown Omaha Inc. awarded Midtown Crossing its Visionary Award for its sustainable practices. The country’s greenest restaurant (with interiors using reclaimed wood from old barns), the Grey Plume, calls the development home. It’s an urban village with an eye toward conservation, not consumption. Mutual of Omaha saw an opportunity to affect some much-needed change in its neighborhood. It made a promise to the community and made good on it. Despite a struggling economy in which construction ground to a halt throughout the country, the Midtown Crossing project “went full steam ahead,” asserts Skold, resulting in a “vibrant group effort to bring this area alive.” They’ve succeeded. AND THEN SOME. m
spring calendar: MIDTOWN CROSSING
MARCH 1 ECR JAMES TAYLOR CONCERT
MARCH 2 YPN NIGHT BEFORE SUMMIT
MARCH 3 YPN CONFERENCE
MARCH 10 UNMC REAL ESTATE APPRECIATION EVENT
APRIL 7 2011 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
APRIL 8 2010-11 AK-SAR-BEN CHAPTER IAAP PRESENTATION
APRIL 16 CHILDREN'S EASTER EGG HUNT
APRIL 23 EASTER BEGG HUNT
MAY 14 LANDMARK GROUP'S RACE TO RECYCLE
MAY 21 MIDTOWN CROSSING ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
MAY 28 OUTDOOR MARKET KICKOFF
MAY 29 YOGA ROCKS THE PARK