By Pat Caveye, Reporter
If there’s one thing for certain within Omaha, it’s that the city is constantly growing. According to the city’s website, there are approximately 968,000 people within the Omaha metro area, a 12% increase over the last decade.
Due to the rising population, Omaha has been forced to build new living areas, especially to the west. While new developments like Broadmoor in Aksarben and Flanagan Pointe near 180th and Fort provides new housing for some Omaha residents, there are those looking to move out and escape city life.
An area that accommodates those people is Valley, a town of about 3,000 people 10 minutes outside of Omaha. Mayor Cindy Grove says she’s already seen the impact they’ve had on the town and hopes it’ll continue.
“You know as people move from West Omaha, and they’re definitely moving to the lake communities already, that that is bringing more kids into our school and brining more people shopping in our businesses,” Grove said.
Mayor Grove said new lake homes are going for $450,000 or more, which may not be affordable for some Omaha residents looking to leave the city. However, there is one developer that’s providing another option that might be more budget friendly.
That development is Country Aire II, a house/duplex combo located on the south side of Valley. Developer John Tomanek of Tomanek Enterprise stated that he wanted to provide new, affordable housing to both current and new Valley residents while keeping the small-town vibe people like Mayor Grove fell in love with.
With Valley being a located within a flood plain, the ground needed to be raised for the houses to be out of the flood zone. To do that, Tomanek had to bring in 30,000 cubic feet of dirt to raise the land out of the flood zone.
Mayor Grove believes that this housing district will also be good for those looking to move but stay within Valley as well.
“These new homes and duplexes will provide families who bought a house when they were married but how have kids to relocate somewhere new and more spacious for them without having to leave town if they don’t want to,” both Tomanek and Grove said.
Country Aire II will offer 16 rentable duplexes and 31 single family homes. More information can be found at www.countryaire2.com.
