Downtown HDR Corporate Headquarters

Linkin5 · Post by **Linkin5** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:06 pm

Does anybody have insight when a rendering could be released?

Joe_Sovereign · Post by **Joe_Sovereign** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:19 pm

arcane wrote:
Stargazer wrote:It would be nice if they'd build something like Des Moines' EMC Insurance building, with a 'crown', or maybe like Nashville's 'batman' building... but I'm not going to hold my breath. I'm sure HDR will come up with something nice, whether it's a 300 footer or not, no big deal.
These are terrible building examples and it would be laughable to see anything like that designed today. Gaudy PoMo buildings of the 80s and 90s need not be replicated, ever again.

Are you serious? No one was suggesting these buildings be reproduced it was merely an example of buildings with significant crowns that add to their height and significance in the skyline. We all hope HDR does something revolutionary and creates a signature building for Omaha.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:13 pm

Linkin5 wrote:Does anybody have insight when a rendering could be released?

Depends on how many of their architects have a say in the design and how long it takes them to decide. They'll also have a good cost estimate before they go public with any renderings. I would imagine they already have kicked around a lot of design ideas for each of the sites they considered to help make the decision on which site to choose. Now that they've made the selection, they could take it back to a clean slate to make sure no good ideas are thrown out too soon. It can be a long deliberate process to arrive at the final design.

Erik · Post by **Erik** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:20 pm

S33 wrote:
Coyote wrote:
arcane wrote:
Stargazer wrote:It would be nice if they'd build something like Des Moines' EMC Insurance building, with a 'crown', or maybe like Nashville's 'batman' building... but I'm not going to hold my breath. I'm sure HDR will come up with something nice, whether it's a 300 footer or not, no big deal.
These are terrible building examples and it would be laughable to see anything like that designed today. Gaudy PoMo buildings of the 80s and 90s need not be replicated, ever again.
I agree with arcane (and welcome to the forum). I would hope that instead of imitating some past generations designs, HDR would have enough vision to create something to be imitated in future generations of architecture. I would hope that it would be something so cutting edge that it would be iconic. I hope that it would be something we have never even imagined before, and that it would be HDR's signature piece, that people in Dubai would wet their pants over, that Sim City kids would say they want to come to Omaha to intern at the feet and learn from these guys...
would never happen. This is the city where, literally, we pride ourselves and tout our sensibilities.

The fact that FNB built a 40 story building downtown, is an anomaly. And while it isn't completely boring in its design, Leo A Daily made sure to keep it in character with Omaha.

Sometimes it feels like this forum has much higher hopes for Omaha than what Omaha Has for itself.

Did I read this right? That you believe that we will never get a local icon, because we are Omaha? I think you sell the city short. Besides, HDR is building it, not the city itself. That alone eliminates your 'Omaha anomaly'. As an example, Midtown Crossing definitely falls under iconic status and was built by a local company during the greatest recession since the great depression.

Have a bit of faith. Omaha, and HDR more specifically, is once again showing what it is made of. It has again and again over the last twenty years (amid a few short droughts).

S33 · Post by **S33** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:25 pm

Commercial architecture-wise, Omaha is very bland and unoriginal, and there's no denying it.

Erik · Post by **Erik** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:33 pm

S33 wrote:Commercial architecture-wise, Omaha is very bland and unoriginal, and there's no denying it.

In some ways yes. But there are some very good architecture in A

ksarben Village, Midtown Crossing, the pedestrian bridge, the parks along the riverfront, some of the downtown housing, along with some good suburban architecture in Village Point and South Port (I am ducking).

People from out of state mention this. Now granted we will never be on the scale of some cities, but we definetly have some good ones here. Dont mind this board, people here tend to nitpick if the color of a brick in the wall is slightly off color.

Stargazer · Post by **Stargazer** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:36 pm

People from out of state mention this.

You'd never guess it was Omaha, huh Erik? ;)

S33 · Post by **S33** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:51 pm

Erik wrote:
S33 wrote:Commercial architecture-wise, Omaha is very bland and unoriginal, and there's no denying it.
In some ways yes. But there are some very good architecture in A ksarben Village, Midtown Crossing, the pedestrian bridge, the parks along the riverfront, some of the downtown housing, along with some good suburban architecture in Village Point and South Port (I am ducking).

People from out of state mention this. Now granted we will never be on the scale of some cities, but we definetly have some good ones here. Dont mind this board, people here tend to nitpick if the color of a brick in the wall is slightly off color.

ive never been impressed with the actual architecture of MTC, but simply impressed by the size and scope, and integration of the neighborhood.

Otherwise, it's, per status quo, a bunch of boxes

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 11:25 pm

Here are a few of HDR's other buildings:

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 12:05 am

Just as a general comment about Omaha's skyline architecture. A lot of comments about lacking a "signature" building. I think the First National building is an incredible center piece for the skyline and that the design has proven to be modern with some fantastic call backs to classic high-rise architecture. The tower won awards when it was built and looks just as good now as it did the day they built it.

That being said some modern design would be a nice addition.

Post by **Coyote** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 12:51 am

iamjacobm wrote:Just as a general comment about Omaha's skyline architecture. A lot of comments about lacking a "signature" building. I think the First National building is an incredible center piece for the skyline and that the design has proven to be modern with some fantastic call backs to classic high-rise architecture. The tower won awards when it was built and looks just as good now as it did the day they built it.

That being said some modern design would be a nice addition.

I would like to check old OWH articles about the Woodman when it was built, somewhere I have an old 1970ish copper coin with the Woodman, considering that to be the incredible Omaha skyline centerpiece. I think it is so cool that we are living in an era of Omaha building (ok, those of us who remember the Woodman being built) where we experience the hype of multiple iconic city centerpieces being constructed.

Erik · Post by **Erik** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 5:29 am

Stargazer wrote:
People from out of state mention this.
You'd never guess it was Omaha, huh Erik? ;)

Ha. Yeah, cause we should only expect plain, boring buildings in a city like ours right?

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 6:13 am

...unique but not avant-garde...

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:12 am

I don't think Omaha has done all that bad when it comes to more forward-thinking architecture. When the Woodmen was built, it was the peak of the International Style, and is arguably one of the best commercial examples of it ever built. It was nothing like anything existing in Omaha at the time. I think 1200 Landmark Center also did very well at keeping it simple, yet unique. CPP was a really neat concept that I think could have been executed a little better (another building material beside red brick). The OWH building, built in 1980, still had a style of the decade prior, but did great at fitting into the main building styles of the 80's.

On the other side of the coin, we don't have anything that truly is one of a kind. But to be honest, I feel like if we had something that really did stand out, and was a little 'out there,' we'd have more people complaining about it than praising it.

S33 · Post by **S33** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 12:42 pm

RNcyanide wrote:
On the other side of the coin, we don't have anything that truly is one of a kind. But to be honest, I feel like if we had something that really did stand out, and was a little 'out there,' we'd have more people complaining about it than praising it.

theres the Omaha I'm talking about!

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 12:52 pm

S33 wrote:
RNcyanide wrote:
On the other side of the coin, we don't have anything that truly is one of a kind. But to be honest, I feel like if we had something that really did stand out, and was a little 'out there,' we'd have more people complaining about it than praising it.
theres the Omaha I'm talking about!

It's not something exclusive here. For example, when London built The Shard, a lot of people hated it.

mj3141 · Post by **mj3141** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 3:11 pm

RNcyanide wrote:On the other side of the coin, we don't have anything that truly is one of a kind. But to be honest, I feel like if we had something that really did stand out, and was a little 'out there,' we'd have more people complaining about it than praising it.

See: TD Ameritrade headquarters building

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 4:27 pm

Here is a rendering of a proposed 850 ft tower in Seattle, hopefully if HDR's building is somewhat square, it ends up being unique like this:

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 4:31 pm

That rendering reminded me that I fully expect this project to get some kind of LEED certification.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 11:04 pm

RNcyanide wrote:
S33 wrote:
RNcyanide wrote:
On the other side of the coin, we don't have anything that truly is one of a kind. But to be honest, I feel like if we had something that really did stand out, and was a little 'out there,' we'd have more people complaining about it than praising it.
theres the Omaha I'm talking about!
It's not something exclusive here. For example, when London built The Shard, a lot of people hated it.

With truly great new cutting edge architecture, or any design for that matter, it's often the case that the majority of people will not understand it right away, but will come around eventually, once they find out why they should like it. But there are also designs in which you just instantly know you like them....those may be the ones you are already familiar with, even if you can't recall where you've seen them before. I'm hoping for the former, in this case. That is a lot to hope for...but why not?

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 11:43 pm

Maybe the Vortex Tower guy is working for them now.

Post by **Coyote** » Fri Jun 26, 2015 1:26 am

swgiust wrote:An open letter to HDR. Thank you for your support of the downtown. But this comes with responsibility. You are building in a premier entertainment district. Please consider this in your building plans. Do not produce a building that goes dark at 5:30 everyday. The ground floor must contain retail and restaurant space. Parking is also very important. My home overlooks this lot and most of the time it is full. Event nights it is packed! Please build more spaces than you need, because we need them! One last thought, a HDR sponsored pedestrian bridge at 12th st. over the Gene Lehey mall would be awesome! A straight shot from the heart of the Old Market all the way to TD Ameritrade park. So welcome, welcome, welcome to the neighborhood!!

Ok, here goes my wish list to HDR also (Following swgiust's insights):

An HDR sponsored bridge over the Gene Leahy Mall at 11th Street (not 12th) would almost be critical . Neither 10th nor 13th are very pedestrian friendly, 12th hits a wall, but, there still is the Omaha by Design plan for beautifying 11th St from Farnam to Leavenworth, and one of the original plans from 6 years ago was to have this bridge added (12th St was supposed to get that ice skating area)... Using the HDR HQ to connect The Capitol District to the Old Market at 11th would be preferable, especially if there were street level retail/restaurants along that corridor. Hopefully someone will see fit to create a finer establishment in the former Maria Sangria location (someone, please!) so it would be the 11th St corridor that would bring pedestrians from the Capitol District to the Old Market, and if America First would finally build on their parking lot, with ground floor retail, freaking look out!

Ground Floor retail! Figure out who/what Shamrock is courting and compliment those establishments with retail/restaurants that stay open after TDA and CLink events conclude. Also it appears MECA is wanting to establish Lot B as another 'district' so you would have to coordinate with their soon to be created 'codes'.

As we can guess, thus would also entail coordination with Holland. They need parking and I can't imagine how many stalls you would need, but parking has to be an integral part of this development. With a potential 1000 stalls being taken up by Shamrock and MECA developments and businesses, and your needs for the next 30 years, shared after hours parking is a necessity....

Ok, it's 0130, I hold the right to add on to this dreamers post in the future

(One more addendum: coordinate (I am sure that you have) with all the other players, MECA, Shamrock, Holland, AmeriFirst, Omaha by Design... The Capitol District will help the Convention Center and MECA, but potentially HDR could remake and connect the Old Market shoppes with North Downtown's newly established entertainment districts.)

Oh, and, please make it cool!

Louie · Post by **Louie** » Fri Jun 26, 2015 8:09 pm

...and throw in a new car for me while you're at it.

Midwestern · Post by **Midwestern** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:35 am

I'm hoping this is as close to 300 feet tall as possible but really my main wish is that this has some sort of ground level retail space.

I would take 200 feet with ground floor retail over 300 feet of all office any day of the week. Mixed use is absolutely key in my book, not height.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 2:30 am

Midwestern wrote:I'm hoping this is as close to 300 feet tall as possible but really my main wish is that this has some sort of ground level retail space.

I would take 200 feet with ground floor retail over 300 feet of all office any day of the week. Mixed use is absolutely key in my book, not height.

++

daveoma · Post by **daveoma** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 2:32 am

iamjacobm wrote:
Midwestern wrote:I'm hoping this is as close to 300 feet tall as possible but really my main wish is that this has some sort of ground level retail space.

I would take 200 feet with ground floor retail over 300 feet of all office any day of the week. Mixed use is absolutely key in my book, not height.
++

Why do you think the ground level retail is so critical? Just curious what your thoughts are.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 3:21 am

I think a nice plaza with public art of some sort is key as well, and if they're going for 280,000 sqft on that size of lot, it'll probably happen in some form.

Stargazer · Post by **Stargazer** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 7:28 am

I don't think it has to be retail necessarily, but a coffee shop/cafe would be nice. If you don't have that, you end up having an entire block that is DEAD after 5pm weekdays (although granted, the stuff in the end of Landmark is closed anyway, right?). UP is a nice addition to the skyline, but it really is like a big lifeless, Borg cube. A public plaza would help for sure (unless you've got security harassing the people who are enjoying it ;) ).

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:33 am

Yeah Cafe 110 in the Landmark building has very limited hours (not like it is worth staying open, they aren't very good). Roja and Parliament Pub are open on nights and weekends.

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:59 am

skinzfan23 wrote:Yeah Cafe 110 in the Landmark building has very limited hours (not like it is worth staying open, they aren't very good). Roja and Parliament Pub are open on nights and weekends.

I don't think I've ever seen that place open.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 3:46 pm

So when they said "18 to 20" is that the sum of floors dedicated to office use?

NEDodger · Post by **NEDodger** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:34 pm

That'd be freaking awesome but I took it to mean the total of the building, parking levels and all.

Post by **nebugeater** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:34 am

MTO wrote:So when they said "18 to 20" is that the sum of floors dedicated to office use?

I would bet that it is total floors.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:52 am

nebugeater wrote:
MTO wrote:So when they said "18 to 20" is that the sum of floors dedicated to office use?
I would bet that it is total floors.

However, given that their current office is 180,000sqft., and the new one is 280,000sqft., I would say that the sqft. Number doesn't include the parking.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 12:41 pm

Using 300-350 square feet (S.F.) per parking stall, including circulation, For 500 parking stalls, they would need 150,000-175,00 S.F. for parking alone. Double that for 1000 stalls. But depending on what size floor plate they want for their high rise, they can fit everything in 18-20 stories.

The U.P. building has over 1,000,000 S.F., in 19 stories, so if HDR uses the whole block they're looking at, there are several different ways it can be configured. They seem to imply the total height will be in the 18-20 story range.

I should add...the site itself is around 75,000 S.F. for the whole block.

Stargazer · Post by **Stargazer** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 3:24 pm

Of course UP has the massive atrium as well. In the end, we'll probably end up with another Gavilion. ;)

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:36 pm

Given the size of the site and the 280,000 S.F. needed for office space, there probably isn't a practical reason to go 18-20 stories, but sounds like they want to go that high anyway for the visual impact and to provide natural daylight and great views to as many people as possible. U.P. has an atrium to let in natural daylight to a building with a large footprint.

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:34 pm

Who says they'll occupy the whole block? I have a good feeling that they'll take a lesson from UP and Gavilon and have some public greenspace, or at least have some retail on the first floor.

daveoma · Post by **daveoma** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:49 pm

RNcyanide wrote:Who says they'll occupy the whole block? I have a good feeling that they'll take a lesson from UP and Gavilon and have some public greenspace, or at least have some retail on the first floor.

Agreed, I suspect they'll want to build high to impact the skyline, and also try to make a visual impact to pedestrians looking at street level.

Stargazer · Post by **Stargazer** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:45 pm

You would THINK... if there's any hope of mixed use in this building, it would come from an architectural/planning firm.