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FeedThe Easy Way: MOBA’s New Home Gallery
New home owners face what can seem to be an almost insurmountable to-do list. In addition to packing up an entire household on a constantly shortening timeline, buyers also have to find the time to meet with mortgage lenders, movers and real estate agents. Consulting with contractors while building a new home can put that final ladle of gravy on what already feels like a heaped dinner plate. Luckily, Omahans have a resource at their fingertips to which no other metropolitan area in the country is privy.
Over the course of the last twelve months the Metro Omaha Builders Association has picked up shop, moved to a bigger, smarter location and created a centralized information hub for builders and home buyers that is the first of it’s kind – MOBA’s New Home Gallery.
Now located at 156th and Maple streets, MOBA has helped to bring cutting edge home construction and furnishings to the attention of area residents on a regular basis. In 2009 alone MOBA has five events and tours scheduled to showcase the skills of local builders to the public.
The move to a new location was motivated strongly by MOBA’s tradition of being on the cusp of the Metro-area housing market. Located just off of what has become a major crossroads in West Omaha, MOBA and their services are now situated adjacent to or nearby some of Omaha’s fastest growing residential communities. With a continuous goal of bringing together residential developers and home buyers, Barbie Byrd and her staff at MOBA have created a gallery space that brings together the many aspects of home ownership.
“Aside from events like the Parade of Homes or the Street of Dreams, there really has never been an established place to bring together everything someone needs for a new home,” says Barbie Byrd, MOBA executive vice-president. “Since purchasing or building a home can be stressful enough by itself, we saw this as a chance to make it as easy as possible.”
The New Home Gallery itself occupies the entire basement level of MOBA’s new offices. A complete antithesis of the chaos that can accompany building or remodeling a home, the New Home Gallery is an incredibly relaxing and inviting venue. Complete with bar-height tables and chairs throughout, the gallery showcases the work and projects of numerous companies – builders, developers, interior designers, banks, material suppliers, real estate agents, utilities, insurers and retailers – as well as brochures with contact information.
Hardly just a series of static displays, the companies showcased have the option of including looped video of their projects and advertisements which are projected on large, flat-screen televisions attached to their floor-to-ceiling display. The gradually curving and looped gallery eventually winds casually to a consumer reference wall which provides numerous publications highlighting home building, local utilities, green buildings and cutting-edge home products.
Taking a nod from other interactive customer lounges, a computer center is available to visitors who still crave more information about the products and businesses displayed. As most new home buyers either have or will soon be starting a family, Byrd and her design cohorts have also included a childrens area with videos, toys and games centered around building and construction.
“We wanted to focus on making this process as easy and fun as possible for the entire family,” says Byrd. “While the kids are entertained with Bob the Builder, mom and dad can figure out which contractor creates the look they want, find a bank to finance it and maybe even look for a landscape designer they need on the internet.”
While the ultimate goal of the New Home Gallery was to create a space where potential and current home owners could find any conceivable information they would need, the space boasts a great convenience for local businesses as well. Should a business choose to purchase space in the gallery, Byrd says they will also have the advantage of being included in as many as 20 advertising locations.
Additionally, the gallery space has the amenities needed to host events and meetings for groups of all sizes. With a full-service commercial kitchen, the gallery space has already hosted large gatherings for companies, professional groups like the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Spacious and well-furnished, the gallery’s courtyard provides the perfect space for groups of people to mingle. The outdoor patio, which backs up to a small nature preserve, is also an excellent gathering spot in warmer weather. A large conference room was also constructed for businesses that may need a bit more elbow room than their current offices allow. Equipped to handle networked conferences, this versatile space is yet another reason business owners should be just as excited about the New Home Gallery space as home buyers.
Soon to be open on after hours evenings and weekends, Byrd said she believes the gallery will provide the perfect space for realtors to showcase all of the options available to their clients. An electronic lockbox will also be installed, giving real estate agents and businesses access to the entire gallery at any time. Since most home buyers will have at least one, sometimes two full-time workers, this flexibility gives agents large swaths of time to access the gallery.
“It’s going to be a huge time saver for realtors and their customers,” says Byrd. “Now they can come here instead of driving all across Omaha to show clients the banks available or going to each developer’s showroom independently.”
With the construction of the New Home Gallery, MOBA has placed Metro residential communities and their developers squarely in the national spotlight. By bringing every conceivable aspect of home construction and remodeling to a central, first-of-its-kind location, MOBA and the New Home Gallery provide a way for current and future home owners to save the most valuable commodity of all – time.
