At 58th and Corby streets in Omaha's Benson neighborhood, two brightly colored little houses have people pulling over to snap pictures. For contractors, the more interesting part is what's inside the walls and under the floor.
The Flatwater Free Press took a close look at the two prototype homes as part of its series on Nebraska housing costs. They came out of a partnership among the nonprofit Partners for Livable Omaha, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's FACT design-build studio and Actual Architecture Co. The goal was a home a single first-time buyer or a downsizing older adult could actually afford, built on a lot in an existing neighborhood.
Corby House is a two-bedroom, 802-square-foot home that has already sold to a local artist. Benson House next door is a one-bedroom that Flatwater reported at 602 square feet, still listed for $200,000. UNL's College of Architecture lists Benson House at 618 square feet, so call it about 600.
What's in the build
The walls and roof use structural insulated panels, which Flatwater described as foam insulation sandwiched between plywood. Jeffrey Day, the UNL professor overseeing the students, told the paper that SIPs aren't common in Nebraska, there's no Nebraska-based manufacturer yet, and the crew had a learning curve working with them.
The payoff, Day said, is low maintenance and strong energy performance. Annual heating is estimated at $350, with cooling around $50. The panels can also cut construction time significantly compared with stick framing.
There's more aimed straight at labor and materials. The homes have energy-efficient fiberglass windows. A shallower foundation than Nebraska usually sees means less digging, less concrete, less labor and a faster build. Floors are polished and sealed concrete. There are no hallways, with cabinetry dividing the rooms. The kitchen and bath share one plumbing system. And there are no steps, with wider-than-usual doors for accessibility.
"Efficiency and ingenuity is kind of embedded in everything that we have done," Day said.
UNL says Holy Name Housing Corp. was the general contractor, with FACT designing and fabricating many of the interior components. The city of Omaha helped by approving housing on small lots as part of its Housing Affordability Action Plan.
Not a tiny house
Don't call these tiny houses. As Flatwater pointed out, tiny houses and accessory dwelling units don't qualify for conventional loans. Getting these right meant consulting bankers, lenders, agents, planners and AARP, plus a run through permits and zoning.
"A lot of times, small developers end up going to existing designs because they can't afford to hire a designer, so they're just sort of replicating things that are already out there," said Jessica Scheuerman, executive director of Partners for Livable Omaha.
That's where this is headed next. The plan is a catalog of house designs on the same system. The college will make the construction documents licensable to the public, and Partners for Livable Omaha will start another small-house development.
"We're trying to absorb as much of (the design cost) as we can, bottle it for the general public and create a turnkey solution," Scheuerman said.
Buey Tut, CEO of lender Spark CDI, told Flatwater that small local developers are the key, since big builders aren't likely to chase projects that fill one or two lots.
Elsewhere in the state
The same Flatwater story checked in on North Platte. Since 2023, the city has approved 20 new developments, which would add about 2,400 housing units once everything is built. A local program paid developers a $12,000 bonus for every house built until it ran out of money, after helping add nearly 500 units. A revolving loan fund is now lending $1.19 million in state money and $610,000 in local money to a developer planning a 12-unit apartment building.
Why it matters for Contractors
If you build infill in Omaha or any older Midwestern neighborhood, keep an eye on that catalog. Licensable plans that have already been permitted, financed, appraised and sold take a lot of risk off a small builder who can't pay an architect for a one-lot job. The details here, from SIP walls and shallow foundations to stacked plumbing and concrete floors, are about cutting labor hours and trades on site. Crews that get comfortable setting SIPs now, with no in-state manufacturer yet, could have a head start if this model catches on. And a sold comp at this size helps lenders and appraisers get comfortable with small new homes.