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January will mark my 18th anniversary reporting on business for readers of the Journal Star.
The past year has been an interesting one. The declining focus on COVID-19 has left me a little more time to focus on business topics. And changes on the Nebraska landscape have opened some new opportunities.
One of those has been casino gambling.
It’s been a challenge to say the least. I’ve been to Las Vegas once in my life, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve set foot in a casino.
But the process of formulating the rules in Nebraska, getting them approved and then opening a casino has been fascinating to me.
That’s why I believe the opening of WarHorse Lincoln was the biggest business story in Lincoln in 2022.
Of course, the current casino is just a temporary one, with about 430 slot machines jammed into every corner of what was the simulcast wagering building at Lincoln Race Course, the horse track which now calls itself Legacy Downs.
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I’ve heard varying opinions of the temporary casino space. Some people think it’s amazing. Others have complained that it’s crowded. And some are disappointed there are no table games.
One thing is for sure, however: people have been going. In its first 10 weeks, the Lincoln casino generated nearly $10 million in revenue, based on tax data released by the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission.
The first state-licensed in Nebraska opened in Lincoln in September, and this story examined the potential tax money it could generate.
After losing Delta Airlines, Lincoln Airport officials discussed how they would need to change their focus from business to leisure travel.
Housing boomed in Lincoln this year, especially downtown. Plans for a 22-story building would be one of the biggest projects in history.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many changes in health care in Nebraska, one of which is the increased use of telehealth.
This story from April talked about how bad drought could get in Nebraska. News flash: It got pretty bad.
Once the permanent casino resort is complete, sometime in late 2024 or early 2025, Lincoln will offer visitors a gambling experience that will rival anything you can find in surrounding states.
And I can’t wait to write about it.
As for other top business news in Lincoln in 2022, here are my choices, in no particular order.
Gas prices in Lincoln hovered near $4 a gallon in May.
Gas prices: Lincoln drivers paid the highest price in history for regular unleaded gas of $4.80 a gallon on June 15. Four days later, on June 19, local diesel prices hit an all-time high of $5.41 a gallon. The good news, prices were back below $3 a gallon at many local stations by December.
A table with T-shirts, lanyards and other goodies greeted passengers boarding the first United Airlines flight to Houston at the Lincoln Airport on Sept. 2.
Lincoln Airport: 2022 was a year of highs and lows for the airport. In January, Delta Air Lines ended service, leaving the airport with just one airline. However, United Airlines added a new destination, Houston, in December. The airport also got $3 million in COVD-19 relief money from the city and county to use as incentive funds to attract new air service. In addition, voters removed a constitutional restriction on using local and state tax dollars to provide incentives to airlines to start new service. Amid all of these developments was the continued work on a terminal expansion and modernization project that’s expected to be completed in 2023.
Developers are proposing a 22-story building on the northwest corner of Ninth and P streets.
Downtown development: Who would have thought that when the Lied Place Residences opened in early 2022 that its status as the city’s second-tallest building would be threatened just a few months later. But that’s exactly what happened when a group of local business leaders proposed a slightly taller mixed-use building on the northwest corner of Ninth and P streets. The proposed 22-story building would have 36,000 square feet of office space on floors two through five, 70 luxury apartments on floors seven through 15 and 33 condos on floors 16 through 21. The project is just another in a long line of downtown residential and hotel projects that are under construction or proposed, including Atmosphere Lincoln, a 13-story, 320-unit student-oriented apartment complex expected to open next summer on the former site of the Journal Star; WD Brock Lofts, a 70-unit apartment development at 1030 O St. that’s in the planning stages; and new hotels at 11th and O and Ninth and R streets.
Tax collections down in November at Lincoln casino
Building that housed iconic Lincoln restaurant being torn down
Home sales: While residential development in downtown Lincoln is booming, construction and sales of homes in other parts of the city finally started to cool off late in the year after several record-setting years. At the end of November, sales of existing homes were down about 5% compared with the same time last year, and while sales of new homes were still up 15% compared with the first 11 months of 2022, they declined on a monthly basis in both October and November. The likely culprits are mortgage rates that have more than doubled over the past year and overall economic conditions, such as inflation and a stock market decline, that may make people less likely to feel comfortable making a large investment. One interesting thing, though, is that the increased interest rates have not caused home prices to decline. Prices for existing homes were up more than 6% for the month of November and are more than 8% higher year to date. Prices for new homes were up more than 7% in November and are more than 11% higher for the year.
Small business lending drops in 2022 but still second best on record in Nebraska
The first state-licensed in Nebraska opened in Lincoln in September, and this story examined the potential tax money it could generate.
After losing Delta Airlines, Lincoln Airport officials discussed how they would need to change their focus from business to leisure travel.
Housing boomed in Lincoln this year, especially downtown. Plans for a 22-story building would be one of the biggest projects in history.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many changes in health care in Nebraska, one of which is the increased use of telehealth.
This story from April talked about how bad drought could get in Nebraska. News flash: It got pretty bad.
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.
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