OMAHA — A triangle-shaped patch of land west of Omaha’s Saddle Creek Road on the western border of the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus got a new name Thursday, one that hints not only at its location but also the role it’s expected to play in the future of the university, the community and the state.
Dr. H. Dele Davies, the university’s interim chancellor, announced that the 30-acre area will be known as the EDGE District, the name bringing together the concepts behind the research and development-focused project: Explore, Develop, Grow and Engage.
“It represents that UNMC wants to be on the leading edge in all areas of our mission,” Davies said. “... We’re quite excited about this district and what it will do for the future of Omaha.”
UNMC owns much of the property within the district, bordered roughly by Saddle Creek Road on the east, 48th Street to the west and Farnam and Douglas Streets on the north.
The district already is home to the Catalyst, a 170,000-square-foot structure built around the renovated 1906 Omaha Steel Castings industrial plant.
The building, being developed by Koelbel & Co. and GreenSlate Development, will house the UNMC Innovation Hub and offer space for biotech and technology start-up companies as well as a food hall, beer taproom and more. Some events will be held there this fall. The building officially opens for occupancy in January with Big Grove Brewery, based in Iowa, slated to open next spring.
Also under construction is the CORE, or Campus Operations and Research Excellence Building, which will provide space for computer-based research and wet lab-based research for drug discovery, cancer research and other strategic topics. An incubator lab space will be tailored for startups. The City of Omaha will own a 750-stall parking garage in the district.
NU President Dr. Jeffrey Gold, the university’s former chancellor, recalled touring the university 11 years ago with Dr. James Linder, now CEO of clinical partner Nebraska Medicine.
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As they stood between the university’s Durham Research towers, Gold said, Linder pointed west across Saddle Creek and said, “Jeff, that’s the future of our campus.”
The decade since has been spent planning and building the public-private partnerships, including with philanthropists, needed to get the job done, Gold said.
“I do know this, that the future of this district and for all of the communities that we serve as the University of Nebraska, your university, is absolutely bright,” he said.
Also participating in the reveal Thursday was U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, who helped secure $2 million in federal funding for construction of a pedestrian bridge over Saddle Creek Road that will connect the district with UNMC’s main campus.
Rob Owen, executive director of Bio Nebraska, said after the event that the district will serve as an anchor in Omaha for research and development, similar to the role the Innovation Campus plays in Lincoln.
Bio Nebraska, a nonprofit trade association dedicated to supporting Nebraska’s bioscience sector, will have its first physical office in the Catalyst.
Officials announced on Thursday the University of Nebraska Medical Center development west of Saddle Creek Road in Omaha will be called the EDGE District.
Dr. H. Dele Davies, interim chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, speaks during a Thursday press conference announcing the development west of Saddle Creek Road will be called the EDGE District. “It represents that UNMC wants to be on the leading edge in all areas of our mission,” he said.