Global contractor Kiewit Corp. will keep its training facility in Omaha, ending a nationwide search for a new location.Video: Kiewit keeps training center in Omaha with new north downtown developmentConstruction on The Kiewit Innovation, Learning and Leadership Facility will begin this fall in north downtown, the company announced Tuesday.The facility -- known by the company as Kiewit University, or KU -- currently occupies space in the Nebraska state office building at 13th and Farnam streets. It will move about 10 blocks north to 14th Street and Mike Fahey Drive.KU brings many of the company’s 25,000 employees in the U.S., Canada and Australia to Omaha. Kiewit was looking at other sites around the country with large concentrations of its employees for the facility. Keeping it in the contractor’s hometown will keep money in the local economy.“When we bring our people to Omaha, we book about 15,000 hotel nights a year,” said Tom Janssen, director of external affairs at Kiewit. “We’re very excited to bring them to Omaha to show off our community and give them a little flavor of what Omaha has to offer.”Janssen called it a commitment, noting the company spends more than $80 million a year on training. He said that’s six times the industry average.The 62,000-square-foot building will be two stories. It was designed by Holland Basham Architects.Kiewit will end its lease in the state office building when it moves to the new site in 2017.Developers from NewStreet Properties also announced Tuesday a new apartment and retail complex for the north end of the site adjacent to Cuming Street, which is currently a parking lot.The apartment development will take the name of the parking lot currently sitting on the site: The Yard. The five-story building will have about 110 units to rent, studios, and one- and two-bedroom apartments. Plans for that building also include 6,000-square-feet of retail space. It was designed by Alley-Poyner Macchietto Architecture.“We’ve owned this property for 10 years now and we’ve watched the growth of the north downtown area,” said Jerry Banks, portfolio director for NewStreet.Banks said he’s also in talks with three or four hotel developers who will eventually put a property on the site. He’s not worried about hotel saturation in the area, especially with the new Capitol District project.“It’s a different price point, a different product, different services and should just add and complement everything that we’re doing here,” said Banks.Developers said the hotel would be 50 percent business clients and 50 percent tourism clients.Noddle Companies, based in Omaha, will develop the entire four-acre site from Mike Fahey Drive to Cuming Street between 14th and 15th streets. It’s an estimated $50 million investment in north downtown. Jay Noddle, president and CEO of Noddle Companies, calls it the largest private investment in that neighborhood.“The biggest message it sends is confidence -- confidence in the area, confidence in our economy and our community,” Noddle said. “It just advances a 24/7 environment that’s populated not just with tourists, but residents as well and there’s a big difference when that happens.”Noddle also serves on Omaha’s Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority Board. MECA oversees TD Ameritrade Park and the CenturyLink Center.“It’s going to lift the entire area,” he said.