A History of the Lindenwood Court Apartments

After World War II, Omaha kept growing in new and different ways than ever before. Building the Northwest Radial along the old Military Road, new apartments along the way were meant to serve the office workers in downtown Omaha who were supposed to shuttle downtown on this rapid roadway. Within 60 years of being built, the City of Omaha was barraged with calls to end of the slum lords who owned the building, and in 2023 the building was demolished. This is the history of one of those apartment complexes built in that era called the Lindenwood Court.

This is from a 1961 Omaha World-Herald article about the building at 4841 Boyd Street.

Originally called The Capri, the apartments at 4841 Boyd Street were actually built in 1960, instead of what the Douglas County Assessor’s Office said (1951). A newspaper article reported the building permit was awarded in 1960 and the first advertisements were placed in the Omaha World-Herald in 1961. The lot went for sale in 1959 as an 8th residential zone, and was advertised for its multi-residential value.

With 37 units, the building originally had a swimming pool in the middle. An “ultra-modern” facility, this building was designed in the Mid-Century Modern style and built quickly. The units had one and two bedrooms, and featured cinderblock construction with wall-to-wall carpeting.

The Catalina at 4842 Sahler Street was built as “an exact twin… even including it’s own swimming pool, now nearing completion… Omaha’s precedent in prestige.” It was advertised as “Hawaii in Omaha” and “Fashionable country club living.” By 1963, the two buildings were referred to as the “Catalina-Capri” apartments.

Rebranded as Lindenwood Court in 1981, the apartments were an adult-only facility with no pets allowed for more than 40 years. With the absence of systemic measures to support increasingly diverse residents starting in the 1970s, there were a string of burglaries, murders and other crimes in the facility.

In 2018, a company called Sahler Street Springing, LLC bought the properties. Incorporated in Omaha in 2017, the company was dissolved in 2019.

“After Omaha Public School teachers, social workers and housing community advocates called on him for help with what he calls, ‘slum lords preying on the poor,’” a city councilman was involved in getting the buildings condemned in 2022.

According to the Omaha World-Herald, Sahler Street Springing LLC sold 4842 Sahler Street to Sams GOAT LLC in 2023 for $1,600,000.

In April 2023 they were demolished.

Thanks to Ashley Wilkinson for inspiring this article!

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