New Skyscrapers??

AZCorey · Post by **AZCorey** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 5:32 pm

I'm a Nebraska native, and now am living in Phoenix....I was home this past Xmas and am DELIGHTED to see all of the amazing and almost unbelievable construction going on in Omaha....for years I lived there and the city was so blighted and dead...but there is definitely a new revived energy there. I am wondering if there will be any other tall skyscrapers being constructed in the near future....???? It would be great to have another 1 or 2 really tall buildings to add to the skyline....

Even though I'm very excited about the new performing arts center, I was a little surprised to read that it will only seat 2000. I would think it would be a little larger to accomodate more than the Orpheum??

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 11:22 am

Glad to see you found the site AZ!

I would be surprised to see anything new on the horizon within the short to intermediate term future... the vacancy rate downtown is over 30% with all the lease space vacancies left in the wake of the First National Center opening and soon to rise even more with Union Pacific set to occupy their new headquarters this year (better news here though... with all these new positions coming from St Louis). If residential demand really takes off... hopefully spurred by the Riverfront Place and One Renaissance Center midrises... perhaps a taller (but I wouldn't expect anything much over 300 feet at best) condo tower would be a possibility.

As for the Performing Arts Center... it's really the perfect size. It wil specifically cater to symphony, opera, ballet... these audiences, in my experience, don't exceed much more than 1,000. Look around the country at similar facilities in much larger cities... they're not dramatically larger, certainly not by proportion. I think it's the perfect size. What's most important is... we'll have two very nice venues to concurrently host events... which we never were able to do before (must as we now benefit from having the Qwest Center, Civic, AND Mid America Center).

AZCorey · Post by **AZCorey** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 4:20 pm

thanks for your response....which brings me to my next question....what is the civic arena and music hall being used for these days??? or is it?? will it remain, or be razed??? i know they renovated a few years back....just wondering if there's still a 'place' for it now.....

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 5:23 pm

Both the Civic and Mancuso Hall continue to be used and in fact an agreement has just been reach enabling the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (overseeing the Qwest Center)... to manage them as well. The arena football team is continuing to play there... there's talk of an ABA minor league basketball team coming. Some shows are choosing to continue using the smaller Civic venue. When the Qwest Center was built... it was never intended to be a replacement for the Civic... but rather provide more (and obviously a much larger) venues. As is the case with the new performing arts center.

It's downright crazy some weekends... on one day there was a show going on over at the Civic... and a Home and Garden Expo at the Qwest convention center... and both a Creigton game at the Qwest arena during the day... followed by a Mavericks hockey game in the evening.

The Old Market merchants are loving it... restaurant business has apparently never been better.

AZCorey · Post by **AZCorey** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 1:26 pm

that's good to hear....I'm starting to feel a little slighted....although I grew up in NE, and lived in Omaha for 7 years....little to NOTHING was going on downtown.....it was a very dead and sleepy city, but you can definitely feel a very real spirit that is alive and vital now when I come home to visit. I'm glad the businesses in the Old Market are doing so well....perseverence has paid off...and I'm glad that Omaha is accepting the reality that it is becoming a large city....and willing to take on that role.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 4:42 pm

Absolutely, Corey!

Post by **Coyote** » Tue Feb 24, 2004 11:33 am

When the Crossroads and then Westroads were built, downtown Omaha died, especially after Brandeis closed down. With ASARCO spewing so much lead in the area it wasn't a place to be. When they finally closed that monster down and decided to develop the river front downtown Omaha was reborn. I'm sorry they had to gut Jobbers Canyon, but the ConAgra headquarters and the heartland park are now special features along the riverfront especially the Jazz on the Green program. I also wish they had retained the old post Office on 16th and Dodge and the World Theatre, but progress goes on.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Tue Feb 24, 2004 9:38 pm

Jazz on the Green is at Joslyn.

Yeah, Omaha during the 1950s to 1970s was like an architectural landmark slaughterhouse. There are so many buildings that I lament losing, and probably top on the list is the old Post Office.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 7:24 pm

The Old Post office was Awsome, I just wish I was old enough to remember it, I have just seen pics. What about the "new" post office who paid for that horiable looking thing

Post by **Coyote** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 12:00 pm

This was recently brought up thanks to Omaha by Design:
http://omahabydesign.org/

In an OWH article:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u ... id=1029468

The ole Aesthetics vs Utilitarian debate.
City Pride vs City Dollars.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 9:12 pm

That article was fantastic, and I hope many people took it to heart.

Omaha by Design is really bringing about a lot of great discussion!

Omaha Forums

New Skyscrapers??

New Skyscrapers??

I agree