"The city plans to build a new parking garage on the site of the Starship 9 theater, and will seek a private developer to build a high-rise building above the garage, Mayor Coleen Seng said Monday."
"This will attract more private investment to downtown. Â It is important we move ahead with a project that could change the city’s skyline.” Â
"Because the block is outside the view corridor for the State Capitol, the allowable building height on the block is 275 feet, which could accommodate a structure of up to 25 floors."
 :D  :D  :D  :D
Last edited by Linkin5 on Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If it were to be built at 25 stories, it would become the 2nd tallest building in Lincoln. Becuase it is quite a distance away from the capital, I don't think its height will meet much oposition if it stays 25 stories or less.
I hope they build it. They should make it apartments on the bottom floors and condos on top. It's near campus and downtown which would be perfect for students and business people alike. Go Lincoln, I hope they continue to follow OUR LEAD.
If this is an office tower, who will be the tenants? I imagine lots of lawyers and other singular clients would be perfect but there aren't any big companies in Lincoln. Lots of companies are even leaving Lincoln (Gallup). I just don't see who will fill the place.
On the other hand...
Lincoln could become more of a business center as Omaha grows closer. Some people may not want to drive to Omaha, but consider locating in Lincoln. I still think we're a ways from that happening though.
"Because the block is outside the view corridor for the State Capitol, the allowable building height on the block is 275 feet, which could accommodate a structure of up to 25 floors."
Please note:
Up to 25 floors is the max. allowable......I would be surprised if anything close to this height gets built. Not because of The Capitol, but because of capital....as in $$$$$$ !!!
Lincoln has a nack for proposing (too) big concepts that never materialize.
What will happen first? This 'tower', (which I'm guessing would be more like 8 floors .........or the Pedestrian Bridge?
DTO Luv wrote:The pedestrian bridge is starting this summer.
Sorry, I forgot: The city has set a timeline for the selection process:
• March 29: Companies submit their proposals, and the committee begins to evaluate their designs.
• April 10 through 14: Companies are individually interviewed about their designs.
• April 28: The committee recommends a design and a construction team to Fahey.
• May-June: Fahey makes his selection.
• June-July: The selected team receives formal notice to begin a final design, site preparation and construction.
I hope you're right....could be, depending on how you define 'starting'......
If you're basing it solely on this 'timeline'....I wouldn't expect to see much site work before the fall, if we're lucky.
Ifthis 'Tower' project gets deflated like the bridge.....it will have to be referred to by some other term.....(ie: parking structure with shoe repair shop).
'Seng invited private developers to “dream big and look to the skies” by building a tower at the location. Lincoln's last high-rise tower was built more than 20 years ago.'..
Sounds like a doable project with the potential for a nice tower in Lincoln..
1. Lincoln can accomodate a 25-story office tower. It's a metro on the cusp of 300,000, for chrissakes. The mayor said the height of the building is the point. She wants a visible addition to the skyline with which to attract more investment. Sounds pretty doable.
2. No more Starship! Lincoln just won't be the same without it.
I can't help but wonder if this is in someway a response to the Wallstreet Omaha project (some of the phrasing sounded a lot like the phrases used for the UP RFP), similar to the response to the Qwest after the state highschool wrestling tournament moved to Omaha.
Are we going to be hearing proposals for a new Lincoln Performing Art's Center, or a Lincoln Pedestrian Bridge?
Lincoln doesn't really have a complex with Omaha like that Swift.
I think that the Antelope Valley project clearly shows this. They are all about conservative/planned growth, and I think that this tower fits the bill. It will be great for Lincoln...
Doesn't their Embassy Suites count as a "high rise"? It's pretty tall on the skyline there isn't it? It's been built in the last 10 years by my memory...
Anyone have any ideas how the Lincoln DT housing market has been going? We looked at the Lincoln Building on 9th & O when we were moving, but the commute to Fremont would have killed me (not that the one from DTO is much better, but at least it's not into the sun the whole way).
DT Lincoln could support some more 1000-1500 sqft condos. I think the Hampton development that has since been nixed/altered overestimated Lincolnites recovery from sticker-shock.
jsheets wrote:Lincoln doesn't really have a complex with Omaha like that Swift.
Exactly. Until the Holland opened, Lincoln had the premeir performing arts center in the state for about 20 years.
Doesn't their Embassy Suites count as a "high rise"? It's pretty tall on the skyline there isn't it? It's been built in the last 10 years by my memory...
It's only 8 stories. Except for coming into downtown on the 180 expressway, it doesn't impact the skyline anymore than some of Lincoln's parking structures.
Big E wrote:Anyone have any ideas how the Lincoln DT housing market has been going?
Poor. Beauracracy and short sightedness(sp) killed the project to turn the K Street Power Plant building into urban residential. So it continues to sit as a storage building for papers, injecting no new money into the economy and tax rolls.
But Weinberg, who helped work on the city’s Downtown Master Plan, said he thinks it’s likely a developer will come forward with a large residential project, including some sort of office and retail component.
“I wouldn’t bet on the 20 to 25 (stories), but you’re certainly going to see something in the teens,” he said.
Some developers are already eyeing the site, say those involved in the project.
Polly McMullen, president of the Downtown Lincoln Association, said the project has produced “high developer interest” including four or five Omaha companies that asked to be contacted when the city puts out requests for formal proposals.
Dallas McGee of the city’s Urban Development Department agreed.
“We’ve certainly had some very good preliminary interest,” he said.
Might someone have indicated they plan to build a large skyscraper?
“We haven’t had a lot of specifics on magnitude,” McGee said.
McMullen and McGee both said the project is being marketed regionally and nationally.
While McMullen said a high rise building would be feasible and a good addition to downtown, she said she hopes people don’t get fixated on that one possibility.
“From a DLA standpoint, a home run is not so much having a tall building, but having a wide range of uses on that block,” she said.
One of those is street-level retail, which McMullen called, “really, really important.”
Another use for the site might be as home to a major employer.
McMullen said site selectors are always scoping out potential locations for companies that want to move and expand. Lincoln, like Omaha, is a strong insurance and financial center and could attract a company in one of those industries.
With parking already taken care of, the site could be attractive to a large employer.
Yeah that definitely looks bigger than 20-25 stories. The location for the new tower would be a little offset from the US Bank building, wells fargo, and lincoln benefit life. But would definitely be a welcome addition to our little skyline.
Just wanted to know if any head way has been made on the project. the article said that RFP shouldbe out in April/May
McGee said more details will come into focus once the plan has been approved by the City Council and requests for proposals go out, which he said will likely be in late April or early May.
I would like someone to explain this to me, "it can only be 275 feet high". Why is there some kind of height restriction in DT lincoln, it is not close to the airport, so it cant be a landing pattern thing.
It's called the "Capital City Vista", and it's decades old. The idea is that the Capital is so important that no other building should dominate the skyline. It could be called a tired idea, but I think it still has merit.
 :D  :D  :D  :D
)
.........or the Pedestrian Bridge?
Lincoln just won't be the same without it.
