Nebraska's biggest vacant building is still for sale more than a year after its last tenants moved out, but its owner remains optimistic.
"We've had numerous tire-kickers, but nothing concrete, no offers," said James Fitl, chairman and president of Mid City Bank, which bought the former InterNorth Corp. building at 2223 Dodge St. in a sheriff's auction in 2001.
"It's an excellent building," Fitl said. "Somebody will want it."
Northern Natural Gas Co. built the six-story portion in the 1950s and added the 15-story tower in the 1960s. The 3.77-acre site across the street from Joslyn Art Museum and Central High School has 225,000 square feet of office space and nearly 600 parking spaces.
In 1985, Northern's parent company, InterNorth Inc., merged with a Texas company, becoming Enron Corp. The next year, Enron moved the company's headquarters and most of its Omaha jobs to Houston. Enron sold the building for $11.52 million in 1988, and in 1991 the remaining Northern employees moved to 103rd and Pacific Streets.
First National Bank's credit card operation moved in, occupying the building until the new First National Tower at 16th and Dodge Streets opened in 2002.
Real estate broker Barry Zoob said a corporation looked at the buildingas a headquarters but eventually chose another city. Nearby Creighton University thought about its potential as a classroom-dormitory. And the building could be leased out to several businesses and sold to an investment company, Zoob said.
Eight months ago, Mid City cut the asking price by $2 million, to $11,950,000. An appraisal put its value at more than $19 million - if it were filled with tenants.
"We are in discussions with several people," Zoob said. "The attractiveness of this building is unique," with a full kitchen and cafeteria, a record of meticulous maintenance and enough rentable office space to cover four football fields.
Real estate ads list the structure as "Office Building, 2223 Dodge St." Fitl calls it the Enron Tower.
If you buy it, he said, you get naming rights, too.
Meanwhile - Omaha's office space vacancy is not as bad as originally thought:
I think that is an ugly building. Yeah it is one of the taller buildings but it will start to look more and more like the old federal building by the Civic. I wonder if it would be better to clear out some of the unattractive buildings to encourage new growth or fill up more attractive buildings and areas. Nothing old like OM but like this one or some of the other buildins in west DTO.
I'm not a fan of that building either. It looks like something out of those architectually horrid SW plains cities like Amarillo or something.
Who knows if that International style of architecture will come back in the future (I hope not), but maybe a future owner/tenant will reclad the thing to make it look more modern. Until then, it's one of my least favorite buildings on the skyline.
Good to hear the news about the office space as well, although the following from the article stuck out:
For downtown, where the surveys showed the vacancy rate ranged from 18 percent to 30 percent, Hornish said the worst is yet to come. Large vacancies still exist from when ConAgra and First National Bank consolidated offices into new buildings, and more square feet are being vacated - in seven different buildings - from UP's consolidation.
"It's not over," Hornish said. "We'll see downtown bloom to 35 percent vacancy. It's as bad as everyone thought."
Secor, however, estimates that about 50 percent of Union Pacific's leased space will not be re-let as office space because of its age or other features that make it less efficient. He predicted the space ultimately will be taken out of the office inventory as owners find alternative uses or tear down buildings.
I have mixed feelings about UP's old building. It has the old part and then that parasitic looking part on the east. I hope since UP is a very historic company that the building will be kept around. If they wanted to put something else better there I may be for tearing it down. But it would have to blow away anything that's ever been done in Omaha.
If I'm not mistaken Central Park I & II are empty or at least barely occupied. I would hate to lose those since they are such a distinctive part of the Skyline. Does anyone know what a healthy DT vacancy rate is for a city like Omaha's DT?
Well, there's a lot of variables to your question DTO. I would say that a downtown vacancy rate of around 9-10% would be required to get financing for a speculative office project these days, most of which would have to have secured a major tenant before even being built.
In lieu of the economic conditions over the past 4 years, a vacancy rate of 15%+ would likely be the norm, but there's just so many variables in a downtown office market from city to city, it's hard to make a comparison.
I would wager that all American cities except for a handful with the hottest commercial real estate out there right now have larger quantities of older Class B and C space sitting vacant. If a city has a lot of Class A space that is vacant, something is defintely wrong.
As for Omaha, getting a project like Central Park Place built would probably be virtually impossible for a while to come. Another large company could build a new headquarters at any time, but this likely won't help the vacancy situation much because they would probably vacate the location they are currently occupying.
In the meantime, the focus should be on converting the antiquated office space sitting vacant into other uses like residential.
2223 Dodge isn't that bad. You have to see it up close... it actually uses some very good quality materials, including a very nice granite base. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures that do it justice. I think the parking garage area on the south side could use some improvements... and it would be nice if they replaced the surface parking to the southeast with greenspace.
As for the old UP headquarters... I'm betting it gets levelled. The property is becoming too valuable to be left in it's current state.
I expect the downtown residential market to remain rather static in terms of new office construction as well. The focus will be on residential for the foreseeable future.
I think I read in Omaha's Daily Newspaper that it would cost 5 million to tear down the UP building because of asbestos. I hope the cities (taxpayers) aren?t the one picking up the tab for this. If Casino gambling is approved they should require the Casino to pay for this before they are allowed to build in Omaha.
I wonder if the Brandeis building will be turned into residential. It was almost exclusively Union Pacific offices so I imagine it will soon be vacant soon. If I am not mistaken the top floor of the building is already a huge penthouse.
I have ben in that building that was for sale and it wasn't all that impressive. I think the outside part w/ those shiny metal things is what makes it ugly.
I hope someone will try to save the old UP building. We all know you can't replace those buildings once they are gone.(Butternut, old Woodmen Tower). The Nebraska state office building is in no way equal to what the old WT was. If UP is destroyed it should only be for something much much better than what is there now.
I'd be in favor of saving the UP building if they could eliminate the 'modern' portions... which are absolutely horrible. I guess UP's excessive practicality in favor of aesthetics... dates back decades.
Wow. Â So this building's been on the market for, what, six years now? Â
Surprising, because it really is a great building. Â I hope somebody decides to purchase it soon, and puts some decent money into spiffing it up a bit.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
Here's the plan (mine, not anything I've heard) for this building. D'Shawn is correct, it should go residential with it's proximity to the Joslyn. The question is, what's the price tag for asbestos removal, etc. The building is hideous IMO, I think it would need a complete (reclad and all) overhaul.
I think after removing the asbestos and remodeling, it could not be anything but office. Â There is no way they could do anything affordable there for condos and apartments. Â If that place is as bad as I have heard, its not going to be anything soon. Â There is so much potential in that area... I would start with putting a wrecking ball to that old motel on Douglas.
When I worked for First National, I had to go to a meeting up there about once a month. Â What a dump inside. Â Dismal, dingy, run down, partition walls everywhere. Â It would need a major gutting of the interior. Â As for the outside.....unfortunately, it is a style of architecture that just should have never happen. Â Formica tables were one thing, but...on the outside of buildings? Â It is a style the Federal Government latched onto for a period of time. Â Even the Government had the good sense to reclad a number of this style office buildings in various cities to make them more modern and less dingy. Â
The best thing that could happen to this building is a total tear out of both the interior and the exterior.
Always a business-oriented city hungry for growth and focused on development with laser intensity, Omaha aimed high, reached for momentum and found critical mass.
Look at how the Zorinsky building was redone. That thing went from hideous to gorgeous.
If someone buys it, they should remodel it, and then sell the surrounding parking lots to other developers to be developed into buildings of similar height as this one.
Swift wrote:If someone buys it, they should remodel it, and then sell the surrounding parking lots to other developers to be developed into buildings of similar height as this one.
I look at that area as being perfect for a major retail area, or dare I say it - a downtown "mall" and stop for a streetcar. Â I don't think you'll ever see much there over 6-7 stories, but if you incorporate a LOT of parking into the interior of the block(s), you're on to something.
STEVE JORDON WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Currently the largest vacant office building in Nebraska, it's in immaculate condition, said James Fitl, president of Mid City Bank of Omaha, the owner.
With more than four football fields' worth of usable space, plenty of off-street parking and nearly four acres of land, the building carries a $10.95 million price tag, reduced by $1 million over the past year and less than its purchase price of 20 years ago.
STEVE JORDON WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:The 15-story building overlooks Joslyn Art Museum's new sculpture garden and Creighton University to the north, the Midtown Crossing development to the west and, to the east, the Missouri River and the central business district.
From some offices, you'd be able to watch the 2011 College World Series, although you'd need a good telescope to see who's on first.
“I think it's the greatest view in town,” said John Lund, whose Lund Co. real estate firm is listing the building. “This is a very big deal for Omaha. This is a large asset in a very significant corridor, Dodge Street. It's a landmark building.”
It's ready for occupancy almost immediately, Lund said.
STEVE JORDON WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Lund said the silver trim and boxy style are in vogue again. “It's stately. It's retro.”
Preservation officials are reviewing an application to list the building, designed by the John Latenser & Sons architecture firm of Omaha, on the National Register of Historic Places. The designation would help it qualify for tax incentives and other benefits.
STEVE JORDON WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Workers recently removed the last bits of asbestos from the building, Lund said, so it's free from the insulation material that was widely used at the time of construction but later deemed a health hazard.
STEVE JORDON WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:First National Bank, meanwhile, leased much of the old Northern Natural building for its growing credit card business. First National moved out when it completed its office tower at 16th and Dodge Streets in 2002.
“They left it in pristine condition, and it still is,” Lund said of the bank tenants. “It just needs someone who wants to be there on a daily basis and conduct their business there.”
1) How can 1st National have inhabited this building while there was still asbestos?
2) How can crews have just recently removed said asbestos, and this still be a financially viable building?
3) Why is this somehow possible in this building but not in the Federal Building on 15th?
Asbestos is not a heath issue unless it is friable. Â Meaning breaking apart or creating dust. Â If it identified and marked and in good shape it will not create problems until you cut into it or go to remove it and do not do it properly. Â There are a lot of old building and homes for that matter that still have asbestos in them. Â There is floor tile, Transit siding on buildings, old break pads ( not so much any more) as well as the more traditional insulation materials that have it and are still in place. Â If you are going to start to disturb these areas that is when you need to know about it and better know what you are doing.
For the record NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER !!!!!!!
It seemed in the Fed building thread that the consensus was that the project was economically non-viable. Â Yet eight blocks away we have basically the same situation and it is totally viable.
Either people don't know what they heck they're talking about or I'm totally missing a detail somewhere.
Big E wrote:It seemed in the Fed building thread that the consensus was that the project was economically non-viable. Yet eight blocks away we have basically the same situation and it is totally viable.
Either people don't know what they heck they're talking about or I'm totally missing a detail somewhere.
I would suspect the structural integrity of one building is better than the other, for starters.
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
First off, the big difference is one has been removed and the other one is full, however they are both worthy of being saved.
I don't see too much about it not being viable?
Big E wrote:It seemed in the Fed building thread that the consensus was that the project was economically non-viable. Yet eight blocks away we have basically the same situation and it is totally viable.
Either people don't know what they heck they're talking about or I'm totally missing a detail somewhere.
the1wags wrote:I heard a rumor today that 1st National has purchased the fed building on the SW corner of 15th and Dodge. Rumor also has it that it is chock full of asbestos and that it might see a wrecking ball. Better get those chains ready Big E, you might have to save this one. I'd really like to see this one stick around as well.
Brad wrote:Since when did Asbestos = Wrecking Ball?
Big E wrote:
Brad wrote:Since when did Asbestos = Wrecking Ball?
Since when is a 75-year-old deco building more appealing than a parking garage or a park? Â Think PROGRESSIVE, man. Â
-Big E
Bobcat wrote:I would not endorse tearing this building down. Â That mistake was made with the old U.P., yet this property has the same issue - asbestos. Â You can read through the documents at the online bid site. Â Every square foot of it has asbestos. Â To remediate costs the same as the tear down.
No one really know how much (from a removal standpoint) is or was in either one(we know that one is empty now). Â One could also speculate that one being a private building (NNG), that may be along the line as they did some remodeling some was removed here and there or floor by floor and it was not one big lump sum to clear the whole building. Â I am not sure. Â I would just say that anyone tearing down the fed building as opposed to cleaning it up is lazy or selfish (assuming demolition is equal to the cost of cleaning).
I would love to sit here and speculate all afternoon, but I have a photo deadline rapidly approaching and need to get out to some job sites.
I would consider living there if they turned it into residential units. It's not the best looking building but there is far worse and this one is in a great location.
Bosco55David wrote:I would consider living there if they turned it into residential units. It's not the best looking building but there is far worse and this one is in a great location.
I'm not sure I would live there, but they could definitely put alot of units in it. Unfortunately, all the retro fitting on the inside would be extremely expensive. They couldn't just gut that building and give it the rustic loft look like many of the old warehouse buildings. The exterior would also need some work done. I never did understand the architecture of the 50's-70's.
I know I've said it, and I know I'm in the minority, but I appreciate the architecture. I've thought about living there. I know it's virtually impossible for a host of reasons, but I fantasized about living in a primitive "loft" space near the top of the unoccupied building.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
