OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The owner of a downtown Omaha building severely damaged by fire last winter says it could be rebuilt and ready for retail occupants as soon as next spring.

Mark Mercer, owner of the building, says Nouvelle Eve, a women’s boutique that had been in the building’s southwest corner, might be able to move back next spring or summer.

He says the space that once held the popular M’s Pub will take longer to reconstruct. Mercer and his wife, Vera, lost their home on the top floor of the building.

City of Omaha officials and safety regulators have said a Minnesota excavation company caused the fire when they struck a natural gas line Jan. 9 in front M’s Pub in the Old Market area.