Omaha Landmark: Flat Iron Hotel and Restaurant.

 The Flat Iron was constructed in 1912 as an office building.  It is on a diagonal street, 1722 St. Mary's, a block from the Orpheum Theater.  In 1912 it had 10 storefronts on the bottom floor.  The upper floors had 96 bachelor rooms.  After only a couple years it was remodeled as a hotel and restaurant.  It catered to men only.  It was when it reopened that it sported a restaurant.  It is four stories.  It is a triangle shaped building with the point of the triangle constituting a tower.  The upscale restaurant is on the lower floor.  It now features 30 luxury apartments.  There were rumors that during the 20s and 30s it harbored a criminal element.  The novel "King of Broken Things" is about gangsters using the Flatiron and using tunnels under the building.  It has an iron spiral staircase.  During the 50s and 60s it fell on hard times, as did the neighborhood.  For a time there was talk of demolition and building something new.  However it survives and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is an Omaha landmark.  The restaurant has gone through several iterations.  Recently it housed the restaurant Dirty Birds.  It now houses an upscale restaurant.