Omaha Forums

magis wrote:Just catching up on this wonderful blog! I am an owner at the Twin Towers Condos. I have heard that some folks have conversed with the real estate crew at MOO--they have no desire to buy the Twin Towers. In any case, as the original poster hinted, you won't be able to get the super majority required by the by-laws to agree to an offer to purchase all the condos from the current 100+ owners. Thats what I like about condos---I don't care how big the interested company is, they cannot simply walk up and buy the building. I believe there was a time that MOO may have had a better chance of doing so. But it was a catch 22--at the time before the redevelopment they would not have really had the interest in trying to acquire the whole building for the owners--and maybe the owners would not have sold. After all, many of the original purchasers of the condos in the 1980's bought them outright for as low as $25,000. That gives folks good security as they age. And now in the last 5 years the HOA (i.e. the owners of all the condos)for Twin Towers have upgraded the chiller, replaced the roof, remodeled the common areas extensively and purchased two new elevators. This was an expensive capital investment that the owners themselves paid for. They see good value in the building and have hope of good appreciation in the coming years.

mcarch wrote:

magis wrote:Just catching up on this wonderful blog! I am an owner at the Twin Towers Condos. I have heard that some folks have conversed with the real estate crew at MOO--they have no desire to buy the Twin Towers. In any case, as the original poster hinted, you won't be able to get the super majority required by the by-laws to agree to an offer to purchase all the condos from the current 100+ owners. Thats what I like about condos---I don't care how big the interested company is, they cannot simply walk up and buy the building. I believe there was a time that MOO may have had a better chance of doing so. But it was a catch 22--at the time before the redevelopment they would not have really had the interest in trying to acquire the whole building for the owners--and maybe the owners would not have sold. After all, many of the original purchasers of the condos in the 1980's bought them outright for as low as $25,000. That gives folks good security as they age. And now in the last 5 years the HOA (i.e. the owners of all the condos)for Twin Towers have upgraded the chiller, replaced the roof, remodeled the common areas extensively and purchased two new elevators. This was an expensive capital investment that the owners themselves paid for. They see good value in the building and have hope of good appreciation in the coming years.

Yes, but dangle 100k to 200k more than each unit is worth and I'm sure there would be a majority of owners ready to sell. Plus, if a company buys off the right people... eminent domain could also happen.

PotatoeEatsFish wrote:

mcarch wrote:

magis wrote:Just catching up on this wonderful blog! I am an owner at the Twin Towers Condos. I have heard that some folks have conversed with the real estate crew at MOO--they have no desire to buy the Twin Towers. In any case, as the original poster hinted, you won't be able to get the super majority required by the by-laws to agree to an offer to purchase all the condos from the current 100+ owners. Thats what I like about condos---I don't care how big the interested company is, they cannot simply walk up and buy the building. I believe there was a time that MOO may have had a better chance of doing so. But it was a catch 22--at the time before the redevelopment they would not have really had the interest in trying to acquire the whole building for the owners--and maybe the owners would not have sold. After all, many of the original purchasers of the condos in the 1980's bought them outright for as low as $25,000. That gives folks good security as they age. And now in the last 5 years the HOA (i.e. the owners of all the condos)for Twin Towers have upgraded the chiller, replaced the roof, remodeled the common areas extensively and purchased two new elevators. This was an expensive capital investment that the owners themselves paid for. They see good value in the building and have hope of good appreciation in the coming years.

Yes, but dangle 100k to 200k more than each unit is worth and I'm sure there would be a majority of owners ready to sell. Plus, if a company buys off the right people... eminent domain could also happen.

I wouldn't mind seeing that tower torn down

OmahaCowgirl wrote:Anyone have a copy of the contract between the Twin Towers Condo Association Board and the construction company that was supposed to "fix" the North Tower so that there were no leaks into the parking garage? You know, the construction project where the condo owners and parking stall owners together pined up $700,000? A couple of weeks into the construction project, allegedly, the construction company was downright stupefied that they would be unable to complete the repair project and the whole building would have to come down. Anyone could see that the building was visibly leaning and was found to be so dangerous by the city that nobody was allowed to walk or park near to it, and there was a huge crane attached by wire to a top corner of the building to hold it upright so it would not fall.
Thing is, that $700,000 was spent, but the underground parking garage still leaks horribly for the past 5 years. I can't understand why the Twin Towers Association Board is unable to get Mutual of Omaha to fix the leaks..........but now we know that Mutual met with Board members years ago, and that is why Board members and their friends and family have been going on a buying spree of commercial and residential units the past few years.

Mutual of Omaha may have a new home office in its future, not far from its current Midtown location.

“We’re thinking about it,” Mutual Chief Executive James Blackledge said Thursday. Although there is no definite plan, timetable or exact location, he said, a decision may come “in the not-too-distant future.”

The 109-year-old company has 5,300 employees, three-fourths of them in Omaha. Mutual has added 500 jobs and boosted its revenue by nearly one-third in the past three and a half years, said Blackledge, a 28-year Mutual employee who became CEO in 2015.

He said a new headquarters would be close to the current home office at 3301 Dodge St., an iconic structure that includes a black tower topped by the company’s Indian-head logo. Built in five phases and connected by hallways, the first part was completed in 1940 and the latest addition, a dome-topped underground building, in 1979.

OmahaOmaha wrote:Will this be a new skyscraper or a sprawling campus, and how many millions of dollars in incentives will this cost the city?

http://www.omaha.com/money/mutual-of-om ... ba69a.html

Garrett wrote:Based on some rough calculations, Mutual of Omaha has about 800,000 sqft. of space between their two buildings in Midtown. For comparison, Woodmen tower is about 525,000 sqft, One First National is 730,000 sqft, and Union Pacific has 1.1 million sqft, of which 780,000 is dedicated to office usage. Basically, they could easily build the biggest building in Omaha if they wanted to move all of their employees over.

GrandpaaSmucker wrote:The article said they are looking at an "unspecified acquisition" a "big merger." I have no clue what insurance company they are looking at but I will guess Physicians Mutual.

Athomsfere wrote:

Garrett wrote:Based on some rough calculations, Mutual of Omaha has about 800,000 sqft. of space between their two buildings in Midtown. For comparison, Woodmen tower is about 525,000 sqft, One First National is 730,000 sqft, and Union Pacific has 1.1 million sqft, of which 780,000 is dedicated to office usage. Basically, they could easily build the biggest building in Omaha if they wanted to move all of their employees over.

For sheer geekiness what does this look like in number of floors? Let's say they planned far ahead for 1,000,000 square feet could that be (in a crazy scenario, not realistic for Omaha) a Devon Tower?

Coyote wrote:It would be devastating to Midtown Crossing to take away a potential 4000 lunch/dinner guests.

bigredmed1 wrote:

GrandpaaSmucker wrote:The article said they are looking at an "unspecified acquisition" a "big merger." I have no clue what insurance company they are looking at but I will guess Physicians Mutual.

That would be interesting in as much as PMut. moved into the old Northern Natural Gas HQ that was supposed to be 3 or 4 buildings, but Enron interrupted the plan leaving the other buildings unstarted.

GrandpaaSmucker wrote:

bigredmed1 wrote:

GrandpaaSmucker wrote:The article said they are looking at an "unspecified acquisition" a "big merger." I have no clue what insurance company they are looking at but I will guess Physicians Mutual.

That would be interesting in as much as PMut. moved into the old Northern Natural Gas HQ that was supposed to be 3 or 4 buildings, but Enron interrupted the plan leaving the other buildings unstarted.

The puzzle pieces fit nicely. Mutual Of Omaha buys out Physicians Mutual and builds their new headquarters on all that extra land they got there.

Garrett wrote:

GrandpaaSmucker wrote:

bigredmed1 wrote:

GrandpaaSmucker wrote:The article said they are looking at an "unspecified acquisition" a "big merger." I have no clue what insurance company they are looking at but I will guess Physicians Mutual.

That would be interesting in as much as PMut. moved into the old Northern Natural Gas HQ that was supposed to be 3 or 4 buildings, but Enron interrupted the plan leaving the other buildings unstarted.

The puzzle pieces fit nicely. Mutual Of Omaha buys out Physicians Mutual and builds their new headquarters on all that extra land they got there.

Very interesting. If it is Physicians Mutual and they end up consolidating offices into 1 building, they currently take up about 1.1 million sqft. between their various offices around the city. That could also free up another huge parcel of land downtown for development.

anon wrote:It seems to be common knowledge these days that Mutual is definitely moving.

Cardinal wrote:Ever heard of Turner Park?