Why are Aksarben and Blackstone home values going up?

Both are fast-redeveloping midtown Omaha districts. Aksarben Village rose on the former racetrack site and the Blackstone District revived nearby. New construction and dense mixed-use blocks raise what nearby property trades for, and a mass-valuation system carries that into surrounding home values.

How fast have Douglas County values climbed?

Douglas County taxable value rose about 38 percent from 2021 to 2025, with the sharpest single-year jump around 12.2 percent in 2023. Fast-redeveloping areas like Aksarben and Blackstone tend to sit at the leading edge of that increase.

Can an Aksarben or Blackstone assessment be challenged?

Yes. The Douglas County valuation protest window runs June 1 to June 30 every year. The protest goes to the Board of Equalization with an independent referee review and no county filing fee, and it renews each year because Nebraska revalues annually.

Aksarben & Blackstone: Omaha's Fastest-Changing Midtown | FairAppeal

Aksarben Village rose on an old racetrack and Blackstone came back fast. Why all that midtown Omaha development keeps pulling nearby assessments up.

The Aksarben part of midtown sits on an old horse-racing track, and somewhere under it is a 1935 Triple Crown winner named Omaha. The track closed in 1995, the district that replaced it went up fast, and Blackstone came back just as quickly. For nearby homeowners, all that new development quietly keeps pulling assessed values up.

What's behind the Aksarben and Blackstone boom?

Aksarben Village rose on the old Ak-Sar-Ben racetrack grounds, redeveloped since 2005 into a dense mix of offices, apartments, and the UNO campus around Stinson Park. A few blocks north, the Blackstone District came back to life around the restored Blackstone Hotel, where, by Omaha lore, the Reuben sandwich was invented in the 1920s. The part that matters for a homeowner is the density: when blocks like these fill in fast, the sale prices the assessor reads climb with them.

Aksarben, Omaha

Look up if you are overpaying on your Aksarben, Omaha home.

Why do these assessments keep rising?

New development resets the comps. When restaurants, apartments, and offices raise what nearby property trades for, the county's annual model reads that as higher value for the surrounding homes and condos too. Douglas County taxable value rose about 38 percent from 2021 to 2025, and fast-redeveloping pockets like these tend to sit at the front of that climb. A value that rises with the district can easily outrun what an individual home or condo would actually sell for.

What can an owner here do about it?

The protest window is June 1 to June 30, with an independent referee and the Board of Equalization, and no county filing fee. A Fair Appeal review is free, and when a value in either district has outrun the home, FairAppeal carries the property tax appeal from filing through resolution. There are no upfront costs, and the fee, when it applies, is a percentage of first-year tax savings.