Creighton has a new addition to its western edge: the pedestrian bridge that will link the campus to the west side of the U.S. 75 and the NuStyle Development apartments and complex. 

The covered bridge, put in place over the weekend, is expected to be finished by summer of 2018. NuStyle Development is the developing both the highway bridge and the new apartments in the former CHI Creighton Medical Center. The project is on track to finish the bridge by June 1. 

The rest of the project is going to be done in phases, with the final phase to be completed in 2020. Spanning over one million square feet total, the hospital project will be “one of the biggest around,” according to Ryan Zabrowski, real-estate broker for the project.

NuStyle wants to open 100 units of apartments by Aug. 1 for students who need to live there during the academic year while construction is still continuing.  The budget for the bridge was $5.7 million.   

“When the interstate went through and the hospital was built, it really divided [Omaha] … the whole point was how to reconnect the neighborhood back together,” said Todd Heistand, the owner and president of NuStyle.  

The apartments will have retails outlets on the first floor.  Not only will this area attract new apartment renters, but also locals looking for new places for food.  This includes Creighton students, especially those who live on campus without a mode of transportation.  Easy access to a new array of stores and housing is the perfect lifeline for a college student to get off campus.  

The restaurants featured on this storefront will be: Roast Coffee, who has already signed a lease with NuStyle, a higher-end bar and grill that will take up about half the space, a sandwich shop and a small market for last-minute amenities.