Many of you know this about me; some may not.
I grew up in Lincoln.
I'll turn 50 this year, and I've lived here all but five years of my life, so I'm qualified to talk about how things have changed -- and how they keep changing.
I've seen a lot of change in my lifetime -- heck, sprint cars used to roar around a racetrack at 27th and Superior streets, and movies played at a drive-in theater at 84th and O -- but nothing in my 50 years can match what's happened over the past decade in Lincoln, from Pinnacle Bank Arena, to new high-rises changing the city's skyline, to the completion of the South Beltway.
And just as the beltway has allowed cars and trucks to efficiently dash around the city's south side, it feels as though Lincoln as a whole is moving full speed ahead, making 2023 another big year.
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Think about the projects. Memorial Stadium plans to celebrate its 100th birthday this year, and at the same time the athletic department will open a $155 million football training complex that will include a new strength-and-conditioning center and dining facility for student-athletes.
Students attending UNL will have a shiny new 13-story student-focused apartment complex on the block bounded by Ninth, 10th, P and Q streets, the former home base of the Journal Star.
Downtown is full of other projects, including numerous condo, apartment and hotel developments that are either under construction or in the pipeline, including a proposed apartment-condo complex on the Haymarket side of Ninth and P streets that would overtake the Lied Place Residences as the city's second-tallest building.
But it's not just downtown. Look around the city, and you'll see development pretty much in all directions.
There's the new Standing Bear High School at 70th Street and Saltillo Road, which will open in August. A couple miles away from that is Bryan Health's new cancer center, scheduled to open before the end of the year.
On the other side of the city is the Lincoln Airport's newly renovated and expanded terminal that's expected to open in late spring or early summer, although additional work will continue into next year.
There's also the $220 million WarHorse Casino under construction in southwest Lincoln. A temporary casino is already operating at the former Lincoln Race Course, but the casino resort, with a hotel, restaurants and other amenities, will open sometime in 2024.
For Jason Ball, who returned to Lincoln last year after spending a decade working in other fast-growing cities, it's an exciting time.
"There are some real strengths ahead for 2023," said Ball, who is president and CEO of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.
Ball worked for the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development from 2008-2012, then left to lead chambers in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Round Rock, Texas, a suburb of Austin. Growth in Round Rock over the past couple of decades rivaled just about any city in the U.S.
Lincoln's growth, meanwhile, has been steady, and Ball said he likes what he sees going on right now.
He pointed to Burrell Aviation's $65 million plan to create a cargo hub at the airport as an example of the strong local and national business interest in Lincoln.
"Project pipelines … are full," Ball said.
He also highlighted the downtown condo and apartment projects, which he described as "the right kinds of investment" for that area.
But there's one investment in downtown that Ball believes is crucial for the city's growth.
"The No. 1 thing we know we need to spend time on now is a convention center somewhere in the downtown area," he said.
The chamber, working with several other organizations, commissioned a study that recommended building a two-story, 129,600-square-foot convention center with an estimated cost of between $111 million and $120 million.
Lincoln-area senators are sponsoring a bill that would give the city a one-time $60 million grant of state funds to make that happen.
Ball said that a commitment from the Legislature would go a long way toward making a convention center happen, but there still is a lot of work to be done, including coming up with the rest of the money, mapping out a structure to govern and manage a center, and picking a location.
The study suggested five possible sites, all of them in or near downtown.
Many of the locations have hurdles that may be too significant to overcome. For example, one of the suggested locations is the city's main post office in the Haymarket, but 1st District Congressman Mike Flood said in December that he spoke to the U.S. Postal Service, which "communicated that right now it's not interested in moving."
For my money, the best site would be the former Journal Star production site sandwiched between Ninth and 10th streets. Not only is the building vacant, but the land north of Q Street already is owned by Drury Hotels. It also seems to be well located near the city's arena, the stadium and other large hotels.
Ball said he's "very bullish" on convention center plans taking a big step forward this year.
Another big priority for the city, in his opinion, is developing the area around the South Beltway. Much of the road is well outside the city limits and does not yet have city infrastructure such as sewer and water.
Ball said private economic development officials have been talking with landowners, developers and city officials, "to try to determine how can we accelerate development in that corridor."
Currently, in new areas of the city, those wanting to develop a property have to agree to be annexed, and then taxes and fees generated by the development help pay for infrastructure costs.
Ball said it's important to look at alternatives to fund infrastructure, not only for the beltway corridor but also in other locations across the city.
Increasing materials prices have caused construction costs to skyrocket, which has driven up housing prices. According to the Realtors Association of Lincoln, the median price of a newly constructed home topped $400,000 last year, and is up nearly $100,000 since 2020.
Because of that, the Realtors' affordability index dropped from 128 in 2020 -- meaning the median household income in Lincoln was 28% higher than what was needed to buy a median-priced home -- to 75 in 2022, meaning it was 25% below what was needed.
Apartment rents, on average, have gone up nearly 10% in the past year.
One possible bright side to the increase in housing costs in Lincoln over the past few years is that it has put more of a spotlight on the need for affordable housing, which the city has made a priority and funneled more money to, leading to proposals for hundreds of affordable units just in the past year.
Ball said housing is one of the main issues driving workforce growth in the city. To get people to move here or to stay here after college, they not only need a good job but also a good, affordable place to live.
He said Lincoln needs "more rooftops."
The last two years have seen more permits issued for housing units than at any time in at least the past 15 years, although the bulk of those have been apartments.
In 2021, just over half of the 2,273 housing permits were for apartments, while in 2022, apartments made up nearly two-thirds of the 2,891 housing unit permits.
Nearly every time the Journal Star publishes a story about a proposed apartment project, I hear from readers who wonder who's going to live in those units.
Trust me, there are plenty of people. Whether it's college students making Lincoln home, people coming here for a job or older people choosing to downsize, there is plenty of demand for apartments.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the multi-family vacancy rate in Lincoln at the end of the fourth quarter was 3.6%, up slightly from a year ago but below the national average and well below where the local vacancy rate was just a couple of years ago.
Here's my take: Continuing to add housing options at different price points is something Lincoln will need to keep growing at a steady pace.
If a city is faced with issues such as how to pay for infrastructure and how to bring down the cost of housing, it's probably because that city is growing. And that's definitely the case for Lincoln.
So buckle up, because we're putting the pedal down and moving full speed ahead.
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.