Omaha World-Herald May 27, 1999

Large Lakefront Project Near Waterloo Planned

CHRIS OLSON WORLD - HERALD STAFF WRITER

After completing Oak View Mall, one of the area's largest commercial projects, long - time Omaha developer Frank Krejci is launching one of the area's largest residential lakefront developments.

Next month, dredging is scheduled to begin on a 202 - acre lake that will be the centerpiece of West Shores, a development of 282 homes of $300,000 to $1 million or more in western Douglas County. Lots will be priced at $110,000 or more.

The site - a sanitary and improvement district in the City of Waterloo's planning jurisdiction - will have 242 lakefront lots and 40 lots off the lake, Krejci said. Waterloo will provide sewer and water service.

The more than $150 million development will be built on a section of corn and soybean fields that Krejci, the president of Century Development Co., owns and farms. The 640 - acre site lies between U.S. Highway 275 on the east and 252nd Street on the west, and between West Dodge Road and Pacific Street.

Omaha developer Robert Horgan is working on a similar lakefront development on a section near 168th Street and Bennington Road. It will have 284 lots and a 300 - acre man - made lake.

"I bought this land in the early 1990s from the sale of land for the Wal - Mart store at Interstate 680 and Fort Street," Krejci said of his West Shores project.

Dredging of the lake, which will be large enough for water skiing, is expected to be completed by June 2002, Krejci said.

"Once the lake is half done, we plan to put in infrastructure so we can start building homes on the east side of the development before all of the dredging is completed," he said. "It will cost $15 million to get the lake built and the infrastructure put in."

The lake will be fed by the Ogallala Aquifer, which runs 200 to 300 feet under the land at about a quarter of a mile per hour, said Richard Morgan, director of marketing for the West Shores project.

"The lake will average 10 to 15 feet deep, with 30 - foot holes in the middle to maintain a steady recycling of water," Morgan said. "Sand, which goes 200 to 300 feet underground, will create natural sand bottom and sand beaches around the 30,000 feet of shoreline."

Dirt from the dredging will be placed on the half - acre and bigger lots to raise them 15 feet and above the flood plain, Krejci said.

"The higher level will permit construction of homes with walkout basements," he said. "Most of the homes are expected to be one - story ranches."

Most West Shores home buyers are expected to be empty - nest professionals of 40 years and older. Some are buying multiple half - acre lots, Krejci said.

"Some buyers now have another lake home and a primary residence," he said. "They want to combine those two homes into one year - round lakefront home in West Shores."

Morgan expects to have home construction in West Shores well under way by 2004, when widening of West Dodge Road to four lanes will be completed west to 204th Street.

"Widening West Dodge Road will help West Shores develop quickly," Krejci said. "It will be 10 minutes from all of the newer professional office buildings along the Dodge corridor."

While both West Shores and the Bennington residential lake projects are outside Omaha's zoning jurisdiction, they fit within the metropolitan area's growth plan, said Steve Jensen, assistant director of the Omaha Planning Department.

"There is a need for a mix of housing types and lakefront homes certainly are a very desirable type of housing," Jensen said.

Getting West Shores this close to development was a challenge, as is development of agricultural land nationwide under a new requirement for a wetlands determination on every project, Krejci said.

"We spent 14 months getting a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to develop West Shores," he said. "It used to be a 90 - day process."

Obtaining the wetlands permit for West Shores cost in excess of $100,000 in research studies and fees for specialists, Krejci said.

"When you work with government agencies, you have to jump through a lot of hoops," he said. "We've now applied for a grading permit and are going in for final plat approval from the county."

Environmental requirements were the biggest obstacle to West Shores and prevented development of a golf course on the site, Morgan said.

* * *

The method of returning lake water back underground was a major environmental problem, Morgan said.

"Run - off surface water will go through drains located in the center of the lake's cul - de - sacs," Morgan said. "The drains will slowly percolate the water down through 20 feet of pipe filled with rock, stone, gravel, sand and finer sand. As it percolates down, the water is treated."

* * *

Even before work has begun on the lake, about 45 of the lakefront lots have been reserved, Morgan said.

"One of the problems in attracting new businesses to Omaha is that we don't have some of the amenities that other areas have," Morgan said. "We are never going to have mountains, but we can create a lake."

Copyright (c) 1999 Omaha World Herald

Frank Krejci, President of Century Development Company, LLC., developer of West Shores - October 31, 1999