Over the next 30 years, Lincoln will likely need to develop 48,000 new housing units to deal with growth.
That will require adding nearly 7 square miles of land to the city, and that's assuming 25% of the new units come from "infill" projects, meaning they are built on land that's already in the city limits.
Those are some of the highlights of Plan Forward 2050, the county's 10-year update to its comprehensive plan for land use. Much of it focuses on issues it has focused on in the past, such as making sure Lincoln makes up 90% of the county's population and that growth occurs in an an orderly, contiguous fashion.
But it also includes new sections focusing on early child care, education and workforce development, as well as the addition of a new zoning designation of light industrial, which is focused on data centers, assembly and warehousing.
The plan assumes that households in Lincoln will get slightly smaller, older and more diverse, which could have an effect on housing patterns, including a demand for more smaller, multifamily and multigenerational homes.
The Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that the document be adopted, with Chairwoman Tracy Edgerton saying it presents an "excellent forward-thinking vision."
* Recommended approval of a plan to declare the former Pershing Center as surplus property, a requirement for the property to be sold to a private entity so it can be redeveloped.
The city has chosen Omaha-based White Lotus Development to move forward with plans for 100 affordable housing units, a small retail space, a wellness center, child care center, underground parking and a community green space. A new Bennett Martin Library also is planned for the site — dependent on the passage of a bond issue — although the White Lotus plan will move forward without it.
* Recommended approval of a zoning change to allow Tabitha to build a 128-unit intergenerational apartment complex on the southwest corner of 48th and L streets.
* Recommended approval of two tax increment-funded redevelopment projects: a $180 million, 250,000-square-foot pet food production facility at Southwest 32nd and West O streets and a $32 million, 152-unit apartment complex at 22nd and P streets that will include a handful of affordable units.
The development planned for land at South Folsom Street and West Old Cheney Road will have 24 town homes and 104 apartments.
New houses being constructed near 98th and Van Dorn streets are signs of Lincoln's continuing expansion, much of which is expected to occur over the next 30 years mostly to the east and south.