The Tower District's first tenants are a Starbucks, a Panera Bread, a Casey's, an AutoZone, a Les Schwab Tire Center and a Pinnacle Bank branch. If that lineup has you wondering when Papillion's newest neighborhood gets its own personality, the developer planned it this way. The chains were brought in to build the traffic that the smaller businesses behind them will need, and those smaller businesses are now on a schedule. Some are waiting for new buildings to go up this winter. The rest are waiting for the city to finish 90th Street.
The First Tenants Were Picked to Bring in Daily Traffic
The Tower District covers 120 acres northwest of 84th Street and Highway 370, under the monarch butterfly water tower that gave it its name. If you've stopped for gas at the Casey's at 111 W. Cedardale Road or used the Pinnacle Bank branch at 122 W. Cedardale Road, you've already been inside it.
Jesse Calabretto, whose Calabretto Collective is building the project, explained the order of tenants in an October 5 interview with Grow Omaha:
"Those users sometimes draw criticism in new developments, but they matter. They bring steady traffic and everyday services that help the smaller local businesses succeed."
Those first tenants are the coffee run, the oil change, the tire swap and the bank stop. They give people a reason to pull in several times a week, and that's the habit a breakfast spot or a sandwich shop needs before it signs a lease. According to the same Grow Omaha report, Calabretto has also said no to "a handful of national users that weren't the right fit, some big-box, some high-traffic fast-food concepts." So the chains you see are the ones he chose to let in.
Homes came before most of the shops. The 307-unit Thread apartment community has opened and leased up, and single-family homes are filling in at Monrovia Estates. With people already living there and daily traffic already coming in, the project is ready for its next phase.
Trigger One: Buildings Going Up This Winter
About 32,000 square feet of neighborhood retail started construction this fall. Calabretto told Grow Omaha that tenants are expected in spring and summer 2027, with construction for the lineup planned through the winter and spring. These are the tenants in this group:
- Ref's Sports Bar. This will be its third location, after 96th and Giles in La Vista and 192nd and Harrison. Grow Omaha reported in August that it's aiming for late spring 2027.
- GreenState Credit Union.
- A sandwich shop
- A breakfast business
- A fitness center
- A medical provider
Only Ref's and GreenState have been named publicly. The other four have been announced by type only, so the names will come later. City permit reports from June listed commercial shell buildings at 225 and 229 W. Cedardale Road under plan review, which puts more of this construction along the same street as the Casey's and the bank.
Ref's matters more to the plan than its size suggests. Right now, nothing in the Tower District gives you a reason to stay past dinner. A sports bar does, and in a project built around everyday errands, it would be the first evening spot.
Trigger Two: The 90th Street Widening
The second group of businesses is waiting on a road. On the west side of the development, the City of Papillion is widening 90th Street from Highway 370 north to Gruenther Street. The project turns a rural two-lane road into an urban section with a center turn lane, curb, gutter and sidewalk.
Calabretto told Grow Omaha that four businesses are ready to start building once that work is done:
| Waiting on 90th Street | What's known |
|---|---|
| New Horizon Academy | Named; no opening date announced |
| Veterinary clinic | Not yet named |
| Neighborhood retail concept | Not yet named |
| Fast-food restaurant | Not yet named |
Here's where the road schedule stands. The city's construction-observation contract anticipated an April 27, 2026 start, substantial completion on October 27 and final completion on November 20. In May, the city administrator's report said the stretch just north of Highway 370 was closed for construction and expected to finish "sometime in November 2026." The October 20 City Council agenda included Change Order No. 2 with contractor Vrana Civil, Inc. It would add 10 days to the job and $39,180 to the contract, bringing the total to $2,382,153.16.
So November is still the month to watch, with a few extra days possible if that change order was approved. The city's news page is the place to check lane status before you rely on 90th as a shortcut.
Once 90th Street is finished, the west edge of the development becomes buildable. A daycare, a vet and a quick-service restaurant on that side would bring a different crowd than the 84th Street side. They're stops people make on the way to and from work.
The Two Gaps Still Open
Two things that come up in any conversation about this corner aren't on either list.
Groceries. The development is still looking for a grocery tenant. A grocery store would do more than anything else to make this a neighborhood where people can handle errands without leaving it, and none has been announced.
The main corner. The lot at 84th and Cedardale Road is being held for what Calabretto called "the right dining concept." It's the most visible spot in the project, and it's being kept empty on purpose until the right restaurant comes along.
The plan has changed in a few places. "I would say the market hasn't fully agreed with every proposed use," Calabretto told Grow Omaha. "Those uses have shifted on four specific lots. But the overall vision and concept have not changed." He also said the community has been asking for small, unique local businesses. An office concept from the original plan is now in design. An out-of-state developer is working on a cottage and villa community for active adults, and Calabretto wants to add 24 to 30 townhomes or row houses.
The Timeline as It Stands
- November 2026. The 90th Street widening is scheduled to reach final completion, possibly a few days later if the change order was approved.
- Winter and spring 2027. Construction continues on the 32,000 square feet of neighborhood retail, and work can begin on the four lots along 90th Street.
- Spring and summer 2027. The first neighborhood retail tenants are expected to open, with Ref's targeting late spring.
- The next 24 months. Calabretto called this "an exciting chapter" focused on neighborhood retail and other businesses.
- Three to five years. This is when he expects people to "really understand the vision."
- About 10 years. This is the estimated time for full buildout.
The layout is also part of the plan. The Tower District is designed around on-street parking and buildings set close to the property line, not activity spread around big internal parking lots. Calabretto calls the goal a "pocket community" within Papillion. The project hadn't yet reached 24 months since vertical construction was allowed to begin, he told Grow Omaha, so the first neighborhood shops are due to open less than three years into a 10-year buildout.
If you live near 84th and Highway 370 and want to talk about how all this building could affect the homes nearby, reach out to Skyler Bauer. I'm watching this corner closely, and I'm happy to schedule a showing or put together a free home valuation that takes the Tower District's next phase into account.
