R&R Realty Group has opened the first building in what it plans as a 1 million-square-foot warehouse development in the Omaha area, one of two projects that the West Des Moines company has planned for the city.

The first warehouse building in the 80-acre R&R Commerce Park is 250,000 square feet — the largest of its kind in the area, according to a news release — and features 32-foot ceilings and a state-of-the-art fire suppression system. R&R plans three more buildings in the commerce park.

“There’s been a strong demand for warehouse space, particularly from companies engaging in e-commerce, distribution and light manufacturing,” Mike Homa, president of R&R’s Nebraska division, said in a statement. “When we began doing research on what warehouse users are looking for, items like ceiling heights, accessibility to major roadways and safety features came up frequently. This type of warehouse product was simply in limited supply, or not available in the local market.”

R&R Commerce Park is a speculative project, but “we have received several inquiries from users new to Omaha,” Homa said.

R&R President Mark Rupprecht also pointed out that some space in the company’s Greater Des Moines warehouses is occupied by nontraditional users who need office and showroom space or areas for light assembly, research and development. 

“At the end of the day, these groups are all looking for flexibility, and that’s exactly what we aimed to build into our first Omaha development,” he said.

The commerce park is located along a highway corridor that connects to Interstate 80 in the southwest Omaha suburb of Papillion.

A few miles to the north near U.S. Highway 6 in west Omaha, grading and infrastructure work is underway on Fountain Ridge Office Park. Plans call for eight buildings that will feature fitness facilities, conference centers, training rooms and other amenities that have become standard for R&R office parks.

Both projects reflect a five-year effort by R&R to tap into the Omaha market.

Omaha is a natural fit because of its similarities to R&R’s home turf, Rupprecht told the Business Record in 2013.

“The economy is very stable, the highs don’t get too high and the lows don’t get too low,” he said. “It has great companies and employers. I think it was just a good fit overall from our standpoint.”