LA VISTA- Come January 2023, La Vista will have a new concert venue aimed at being a “crown jewel” for the ongoing City Centre development.

The Astro Theater, just off 84th Street in La Vista, is expected to be capable of hosting 2,500 people in its indoor theater and 5,000 people in the adjacent outdoor amphitheater that will overlook a 34-acre public park.

“It’s meant to be kind of the heartbeat of the entertainment component to City Centre,” said Chris Erickson, co-founder of Omaha-based City+Ventures, which is developing the City Centre project.

Omaha’s 1% Productions and Kansas-based Mammoth also are behind the $23.6 million theater. Marc Leibowitz, co-owner of 1% Productions, told reporters Wednesday at the groundbreaking ceremony that the theater’s flexibility will be unique among Omaha-area venues.

“On the inside specifically, it can be seated. It can be general admission. The stage moves so the room could be shrunk so it can do shows from 900 (people) to 2,500,” he said, adding that the permanent backstage areas will serve both the indoor and outdoor venues. “We just put a lot of thought into making sure that we put all of the things into this facility that we could to make this flexible.”

According to Jeff Dolezal, a principal at TACKarchitects in Omaha, the Astro Theater will be primarily constructed out of steel and concrete. The exterior will be cladded with bricks and metal panels. An emphasis will be put on exterior lighting.

“We want to light the building in a really sophisticated way because a lot of the concerts will be at night,” Dolezal said.

The City Centre development currently has almost 400 apartments and will also feature retail shopping, office space and perhaps a hotel.

Erickson said developers expect to spend about $250 million to complete the City Centre by the end of this decade. Just over $100 million has been invested so far.

The City of La Vista has helped facilitate development of the City Centre with a number of economic measures. That includes the previous establishment of a tax increment financing district.

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