Black Squirrel Flats: Innovative Housing Solution for Business Professionals and Traveling Nurses
When business professionals, traveling nurses and others are traveling to Omaha for an extended period, they have limited options when picking a semi-permanent home.
Hotels, short term rentals and extended stay hotels are the norm for most in that situation, but Black Squirrel Flats is a new option that has provided clean, safe, affordable spaces to people coming to the Omaha area for an extended period.
Doug Reisz and Scott Porter found that people were looking for three things: Clean, safe, pet-friendly and close to fun things to do. When they constructed Black Squirrel Flats, which opened earlier this year, they decided to do all three.
“We designed this specifically for travelers,” Reisz said.
Inside a gated complex in the heart of a quiet Council Bluffs residential neighborhood — a few minutes from downtown and a couple blocks from the Interstate — sit 20 fully furnished apartments ready for guests.
So far, they’ve hosted traveling nurses, business professionals, folks whose homes were being repaired from extensive storm damage and a few College World Series travelers, too.
Guests have a two-week minimum stay, but they can extend indefinitely, which is helpful to workers whose contract gets extended or who don’t know when their jobs will be completed. Guests each have a heated garage, in-unit laundry, on-site gym and a quiet, tree-lined cul-de-sac for taking a stroll or walking pets. Units have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen and extra insulation to ensure privacy.
“We’re offering something that you really can’t get anywhere else in the Omaha metro,” Porter said. “It’s a really great opportunity for people to have a place to stay that’s going to be convenient for them.”
The company is very small, and Reisz and Porter are laser-focused on attracting clientele and building a customer base, especially among Omaha businesses looking for a place its employees can stay.
Black Squirrel Flats joined the Chamber to network with other businesses, and they’ve found big benefits.
“We built this for the business community,” Reisz said. “I was surprised by all the like-minded people who share the same common interest in growing business. It’s such a great network!”
