Millwork Commons (MC) has been hailed as Omaha’s largest and most community-impactful urban core redevelopment project. The project included many CREW Omaha members, with Kendra Ringenberg and Katie Underwood being instrumental in its launch. The redevelopment is expected to drive tremendous economic growth in what is historically an underserved area.
The initial complex construction started in the 1880s and served as an economic center for innovative millworkers and furniture makers. Black Dog Management had a vision to connect this rich history with an economically vibrant future. MC had many obstacles that required expertise including historical uses, antiquated infrastructure requiring complete rehabilitation with full interior renovations, need for additional commercial and residential building construction, and very challenging environmental conditions requiring increased testing and remediation work (to name a few!).

Millwork Commons in its early days—more than 130 years ago.
Despite these adverse conditions, Black Dog Development believed that with appropriate due diligence they could turn MC into a vibrant business community, and while not yet complete, the fruit of that labor can be seen on the MC Instagram page.
Armed with many CREW members responsible for various parts of the work including brokering leasing opportunities, attorneys supporting the deal, and engineering consultants, the project now houses more than 60 companies and nonprofit organizations. This redevelopment showcases how much a group of CREW Network industry experts can achieve together.
CREW Omaha members involved in this project:

Ringenberg & Rattner Law, LLC

Ringenberg & Rattner Law, LLC

CommonSpirit Health (Previously Ringenberg & Rattner Law, LLC)

Baird Holm LLP

MillerKnoll
Milena Nazaruk is Director, Strategic Planning and Risk with Cadillac Fairview. She facilitates management decisions in support of strategic plan execution through plan monitoring and relevant industry and business model impact analyses, including facilitating the company’s corporate responsibility strategy and oversight of its enterprise risk program. Her previous experience includes retail, financial services and consulting (retail, logistics, media, manufacturing). Nazaruk has an MBA from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University and a Math/Statistics Hon. BSc. from University of Toronto, and was a member of the 2021 CREW Network Communications and Editorial Committee.
CREWbiz Profile
Have you been involved in a great deal or collaboration between CREW members?
View more member-to-member business success stories in our Newsroom.