Omaha wants to at least double the number of accessory dwelling units built each year, and it now has outside money and help to try. The city is one of 14 picked for a new Bloomberg Philanthropies program aimed at speeding up local housing production, with Omaha's piece focused squarely on ADUs, the backyard cottages, garage apartments and in-law suites that share a lot with a main house (via Nebraska Examiner).
The program comes with up to $750,000 in grant money for Omaha. Local officials told the Examiner the bigger prize may be the technical help: specialists, plus mentoring from cities that have already gotten results. Bloomberg is pairing participants with San Diego for its fast, digital permitting, Atlanta for its housing "strike force" teams, and Austin, Texas, for its run of ADU growth. WUNC, reporting on Durham's selection, described the effort as a pilot that will eventually reach 30 city halls, with grants between $450,000 and $750,000. The Examiner reported up to 16 more cities could join later.
Eric Englund, Omaha's deputy city planning director, is leading the work. "We think we can make some great improvements in helping to increase production of ADU units," he told the Examiner.
Here's the part builders should notice. According to the Examiner, the grant will pay architects to draw up permit-ready ADU plans, and it will fund technology to make permitting smoother. Omaha planners intend to adapt Austin's approach to local demand and rules. Bloomberg is covering travel separately.
Omaha already loosened its rules once. Back in late 2023, the city was working on a zoning change because ADUs were mostly limited to the eastern part of the city and along the ORBT bus line, and some neighborhoods didn't allow them at all, KMTV reported at the time. The proposal would open ADUs up citywide, in some cases with planning board approval, while barring owners from selling an ADU separately from the main house. WOWT reported in early 2024 that the change would drop an old requirement that a share of neighbors on the block sign off, allowing ADUs by right in some zoning districts and through the planning board in others. The Examiner reports the city changed its code in 2024.
It hasn't moved the needle much yet. Englund said 30 to 35 ADUs have been built or approved since then, calling it "an increase, but it's not substantial." City officials pointed to two likely reasons: there aren't many builders who specialize in ADUs, and lending is a hurdle. Back in 2023, the planning department also noted that new ADUs cost about the same per square foot as other new homes, so they're not cheap to build.
Austin shows what the upside can look like. That city changed its code in 2015, partly by shrinking the minimum lot size for an ADU, and later legalized up to three homes on most single-family lots. Annual ADU permits there averaged about 260 from 2015 through 2024, up from an average of 37 the decade before, according to the Examiner.
Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr. has made housing a priority and called the program "another critical tool." The other cities in the first group are Albuquerque, Alexandria, Charleston, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Columbia, Durham, Louisville, Miami, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Providence and San Jose.
Why it matters for Contractors
Omaha's own planners are saying the quiet part out loud: one reason ADUs aren't getting built is that not enough builders specialize in them. That's an opening for small residential shops and remodelers who already do garage conversions, additions or small new builds.
Permit-ready plans could be the biggest practical change. If the city ends up offering pre-drawn ADU designs, homeowners can skip a chunk of design cost and time, and a builder who knows those plans well can price and schedule them with more confidence. Keep an eye on the city planning department for when those plans and any permitting upgrades roll out.
If you work outside Omaha, check the list. Thirteen other cities are in the same program, and more may be added.