Gallup's Riverfront Campus

[almighty_tuna]

It's moving day! I'll get photos of the new space posted some time soon.

[windsor]

It's moving day! I'll get photos of the new space posted some time soon.

Still waiting . Overall Gallup has a great looking building. It really looks great in the bright sun when you have the contrast between the cool dark windows and the warm light brick.

[Brad]

Photo Update:

1.


2.

[windsor]

Nice photos. The Gallup campus is beautiful.

[Coyote]

Another one from today:

[Tornado]

Two things............The river is still that high? And is that a red bikini? :D

[Coyote]

Black - and she took it off for the workers on Riverfront 2 and then mooned them - see the Riverfont picture

[almighty_tuna]

Hey...Mark...Rumor has it that I work in that there building. You couldn't stop by and say hi!?!??! :P :P

[Coyote]

Sorry - today is my last day in town so I had to see all the new construction. Next time bro!

[Coyote]

City of Omaha decides not to renew Dam Grill and Bar lease
The popular eatery at Miller's Landing will close out in 10 days.

The Dam Grill and Bar announced their lease is not being renewed by the city of Omaha. The popular eatery at Miller's Landing will close out in 10 days. The group that owns the bar says land use restrictions prompted the city not to renew the lease. As a result, 20 staff members are now out of the job. "The city informed us that the family that gifted the land, the Millers, no longer wanted a liquor and music venue on Miller's Landing Park. And because of that, they were no longer willing to let us operate our business there," said Philip Murante, the CEO at Cutchall Management Company, which owns the business. Murante says they had tried working with Omaha this past year to keep the bar going, along with the adjacent River City Star boat tours.

The city tells KETV they extended the lease a year ago to help with the transition, but now their goal is to return Miller's Landing to the original vision of its donors, the Miller family, as an unstructured greenspace. "The River City Star is important for the city. It's been around for over 20 years. It gets a great reception. And hopefully, we can find a place to put it that serves the community," said Murante. Searching for another location, however, has turned up dry so far. Murante says the choices are limited for a riverboat, which would need to be docked somewhere else for now. News of the closure sent dozens to post on social media, many expressing their sorrow. "As a company we're disappointed. Our customers really enjoy the venue, our staff enjoys the venue, we have a lot of time operating it. It's an exciting place to be," said Murante. It is not over yet though. The Dam Grill and Bar will host their last weekend of live music, food and drinks starting on Friday. The final riverboat cruises are slated for next weekend. Murante says the city may make the property into a welcome center, but it is nothing official yet.

[Athomsfere]

City of Omaha decides not to renew Dam Grill and Bar lease
The popular eatery at Miller's Landing will close out in 10 days.

The Dam Grill and Bar announced their lease is not being renewed by the city of Omaha. The popular eatery at Miller's Landing will close out in 10 days. The group that owns the bar says land use restrictions prompted the city not to renew the lease. As a result, 20 staff members are now out of the job. "The city informed us that the family that gifted the land, the Millers, no longer wanted a liquor and music venue on Miller's Landing Park. And because of that, they were no longer willing to let us operate our business there," said Philip Murante, the CEO at Cutchall Management Company, which owns the business. Murante says they had tried working with Omaha this past year to keep the bar going, along with the adjacent River City Star boat tours.

The city tells KETV they extended the lease a year ago to help with the transition, but now their goal is to return Miller's Landing to the original vision of its donors, the Miller family, as an unstructured greenspace. "The River City Star is important for the city. It's been around for over 20 years. It gets a great reception. And hopefully, we can find a place to put it that serves the community," said Murante. Searching for another location, however, has turned up dry so far. Murante says the choices are limited for a riverboat, which would need to be docked somewhere else for now. News of the closure sent dozens to post on social media, many expressing their sorrow. "As a company we're disappointed. Our customers really enjoy the venue, our staff enjoys the venue, we have a lot of time operating it. It's an exciting place to be," said Murante. It is not over yet though. The Dam Grill and Bar will host their last weekend of live music, food and drinks starting on Friday. The final riverboat cruises are slated for next weekend. Murante says the city may make the property into a welcome center, but it is nothing official yet.

This makes my head hurt.

Why do the previous owners have any say over what a current owner / lesee does with the land?

And what does the city plan to do? Raze the structure to make it an unstructured green space? Or they just not want a music, restaurant and bar there?

[Linkin5]

Yikes, know some people that will be sad about that.

[ita]

This makes my head hurt.

Why do the previous owners have any say over what a current owner / lesee does with the land?

And what does the city plan to do? Raze the structure to make it an unstructured green space? Or they just not want a music, restaurant and bar there?

There might be some kind of reverter clause or first right of refusal. We won't know unless the granting documentation is accessible.

Were the Millers associated with UP? Per the Douglas County site, UP granted Miller's Landing to the City. Now I am really confused...

The article says the City might make it a welcome center.

As far as relocating the riverboat, maybe they move across the river to Council Bluffs. Can Harrah's take them in?

[nativeomahan]

From the news article it sounds like the property was gifted to the city with certain restrictions, which is nothing unusual. If the city violates the restrictions presumably the land could revert back to the possession of the previous owners, who retain certain rights to the space.

[Athomsfere]

This makes my head hurt.

Why do the previous owners have any say over what a current owner / lesee does with the land?

And what does the city plan to do? Raze the structure to make it an unstructured green space? Or they just not want a music, restaurant and bar there?

There might be some kind of reverter clause or first right of refusal. We won't know unless the granting documentation is accessible.

Were the Millers associated with UP? Per the Douglas County site, UP granted Miller's Landing to the City. Now I am really confused...

The article says the City might make it a welcome center.

As far as relocating the riverboat, maybe they move across the river to Council Bluffs. Can Harrah's take them in?

The less nice part of me actually sort of hopes someone else takes over the riverboat stuff too. The boats don't seem to run nearly often enough. And whenever they run some special cool thing like their Jazz on the river, the few tours they do fill up so fast.

I'd love to see it run more like the one in Minneapolis. On a schedule where you can book a random cruise or just show up and get on. (Actually St Paul from my memory, and it was great)

[Bob from Omaha]

Are the restrictions in perpetuity? Yes, yes, yes, greenspace. On the other hand a thousand years from now it could be that conagra wants to come back and build a 2000 story tower there.

[Louie]

My assumption is that the Miller's are leasing the land to the city at $0/year so they can continue to have leverage over what occurs there.

[MadJack]

God forbid people should be having fun on the Riverfront.

[Athomsfere]

My assumption is that the Miller's are leasing the land to the city at $0/year so they can continue to have leverage over what occurs there.

Not according to the Douglas GIS

[ita]

God forbid people should be having fun on the Riverfront.

With the revamp of the Riverfront, the city should encourage more retail/food and drink/entertainment on the river. I wonder if there is something else going on here that's not being said.

[Uffda]

From the news article it sounds like the property was gifted to the city with certain restrictions, which is nothing unusual. If the city violates the restrictions presumably the land could revert back to the possession of the previous owners, who retain certain rights to the space.

A similar situation in Sioux falls. The Sioux Empire fairgrounds property was given to the county as long as it stayed a fairgrounds back in like 1940. There is a quarry company that has offered to buy the property as they own adjacent property. But the county can’t change purpose or it reverts back to family.

[Athomsfere]

From the news article it sounds like the property was gifted to the city with certain restrictions, which is nothing unusual. If the city violates the restrictions presumably the land could revert back to the possession of the previous owners, who retain certain rights to the space.

A similar situation in Sioux falls. The Sioux Empire fairgrounds property was given to the county as long as it stayed a fairgrounds back in like 1940. There is a quarry company that has offered to buy the property as they own adjacent property. But the county can’t change purpose or it reverts back to family.

That one makes sense. But the city leased it out for 20 years and now can't keep doing that...?

[omahahawk]

God forbid people should be having fun on the Riverfront.

With the revamp of the Riverfront, the city should encourage more retail/food and drink/entertainment on the river. I wonder if there is something else going on here that's not being said.

Yes, I tend to think as well that there is something of this story that has yet to be reported. This place was not known to be a trouble bar and it does not seem it was delinquent on any taxes. Hence if this is to become greenspace again, how long will the building sit vacant before it is demolished? If it becomes a welcome center or something else will it be repurposed or built new and when? What kinds of services will it offer? I personally wouldn't mind this becoming a new kind of biker bar...for the type that doesn't have engines. Maybe just a simple place that caters to riverfront users with a few pastries and some fresh brew coffee. Maybe a place that offers education on the river and natural resource conservation, possibly in conjunction with the Parks Service. Or maybe, and this is probably a long shot, but could it be that there are actually works for bringing something like a new college baseball HOF here? Any of these would be good uses. Also would love to see the river boat cruises find new a home whether it be on the Nebraska or Iowa side. And maybe not just relocating but possibly expanding back to something like the scope of the original River City Star if that is even remotely possible again. Totally dreaming here but an actual paddlewheel steamer would be amazing.

[gkudrna]

I would love to see the USS Hazard and sub relocated somewhere more prominent too. It is a shame that it sits where it is in an area of total blight. It could be so much more that what it is now.

[ita]

With the Gallup campus showing up on the planning board agenda, I looked into the empty lots a little more. Per the assessor, 2023 is the first year that the property is being assessed for property taxes. Previous years online show a $0 assessment. For 2023, which will be due in 2024, the assessment is over $8 million. Looking into the history of the campus, its been 20 years since the HQ move. I imagine TIF was involved, so their property taxes on the empty lots were deferred until now. So, they will be on the hook for about $170k in annual property taxes starting in 2024 for a giant empty field. Hence, they are likely unloading it and putting on the market soon or developing, I would think. The adjacent greenfield to the NE and the empty lot across from Cuming/Abbott to the north have both been on the tax rolls already.

[skip]

With the Gallup campus showing up on the planning board agenda, I looked into the empty lots a little more. Per the assessor, 2023 is the first year that the property is being assessed for property taxes. Previous years online show a $0 assessment. For 2023, which will be due in 2024, the assessment is over $8 million. Looking into the history of the campus, its been 20 years since the HQ move. I imagine TIF was involved, so their property taxes on the empty lots were deferred until now. So, they will be on the hook for about $170k in annual property taxes starting in 2024 for a giant empty field. Hence, they are likely unloading it and putting on the market soon or developing, I would think. The adjacent greenfield to the NE and the empty lot across from Cuming/Abbott to the north have both been on the tax rolls already.

Great to hear! thanks for digging into this. Hoping some development comes to fruition.

[omaha79]

With the Gallup campus showing up on the planning board agenda, I looked into the empty lots a little more. Per the assessor, 2023 is the first year that the property is being assessed for property taxes. Previous years online show a $0 assessment. For 2023, which will be due in 2024, the assessment is over $8 million. Looking into the history of the campus, its been 20 years since the HQ move. I imagine TIF was involved, so their property taxes on the empty lots were deferred until now. So, they will be on the hook for about $170k in annual property taxes starting in 2024 for a giant empty field. Hence, they are likely unloading it and putting on the market soon or developing, I would think. The adjacent greenfield to the NE and the empty lot across from Cuming/Abbott to the north have both been on the tax rolls already.

Interesting. Doesn't mean, in any way, that it will come to fruition as a soccer stadium, but I at least feel confident that the rumors I heard were at least discussed high level and it wasn't all just smoke. They have a motivation to get this developed now.

[ita]

With the Gallup campus showing up on the planning board agenda, I looked into the empty lots a little more. Per the assessor, 2023 is the first year that the property is being assessed for property taxes. Previous years online show a $0 assessment. For 2023, which will be due in 2024, the assessment is over $8 million. Looking into the history of the campus, its been 20 years since the HQ move. I imagine TIF was involved, so their property taxes on the empty lots were deferred until now. So, they will be on the hook for about $170k in annual property taxes starting in 2024 for a giant empty field. Hence, they are likely unloading it and putting on the market soon or developing, I would think. The adjacent greenfield to the NE and the empty lot across from Cuming/Abbott to the north have both been on the tax rolls already.

Interesting. Doesn't mean, in any way, that it will come to fruition as a soccer stadium, but I at least feel confident that the rumors I heard were at least discussed high level and it wasn't all just smoke. They have a motivation to get this developed now.

Exactly. I have been watching for anything to indicate Gallup was going to do something, anything, with these empty lots and we finally have some movement. We'll see what happens here, but it's sufficiently big to have something really impactful to the downtown/riverfront area. Just the totality of the grass lots south of Abbot are probably twice the size of Civic Site.

[omaha79]

With the Gallup campus showing up on the planning board agenda, I looked into the empty lots a little more. Per the assessor, 2023 is the first year that the property is being assessed for property taxes. Previous years online show a $0 assessment. For 2023, which will be due in 2024, the assessment is over $8 million. Looking into the history of the campus, its been 20 years since the HQ move. I imagine TIF was involved, so their property taxes on the empty lots were deferred until now. So, they will be on the hook for about $170k in annual property taxes starting in 2024 for a giant empty field. Hence, they are likely unloading it and putting on the market soon or developing, I would think. The adjacent greenfield to the NE and the empty lot across from Cuming/Abbott to the north have both been on the tax rolls already.

Interesting. Doesn't mean, in any way, that it will come to fruition as a soccer stadium, but I at least feel confident that the rumors I heard were at least discussed high level and it wasn't all just smoke. They have a motivation to get this developed now.

Exactly. I have been watching for anything to indicate Gallup was going to do something, anything, with these empty lots and we finally have some movement. We'll see what happens here, but it's sufficiently big to have something really impactful to the downtown/riverfront area. Just the totality of the grass lots south of Abbot are probably twice the size of Civic Site.

That's what I was thinking. If anything, I could have seen them coming to the Union people saying, "hey, we are motivated to unload this now when we weren't for the last 20 years. If you can put together the financing, we will make it worth your while."

If it doesn't go anywhere further than that, it was still "discussed". It could end up as anything, but that area is remote enough that it will take the right project to make it work.

[ita]

With the Gallup campus showing up on the planning board agenda, I looked into the empty lots a little more. Per the assessor, 2023 is the first year that the property is being assessed for property taxes. Previous years online show a $0 assessment. For 2023, which will be due in 2024, the assessment is over $8 million. Looking into the history of the campus, its been 20 years since the HQ move. I imagine TIF was involved, so their property taxes on the empty lots were deferred until now. So, they will be on the hook for about $170k in annual property taxes starting in 2024 for a giant empty field. Hence, they are likely unloading it and putting on the market soon or developing, I would think. The adjacent greenfield to the NE and the empty lot across from Cuming/Abbott to the north have both been on the tax rolls already.

Interesting. Doesn't mean, in any way, that it will come to fruition as a soccer stadium, but I at least feel confident that the rumors I heard were at least discussed high level and it wasn't all just smoke. They have a motivation to get this developed now.

Exactly. I have been watching for anything to indicate Gallup was going to do something, anything, with these empty lots and we finally have some movement. We'll see what happens here, but it's sufficiently big to have something really impactful to the downtown/riverfront area. Just the totality of the grass lots south of Abbot are probably twice the size of Civic Site.

That's what I was thinking. If anything, I could have seen them coming to the Union people saying, "hey, we are motivated to unload this now when we weren't for the last 20 years. If you can put together the financing, we will make it worth your while."

If it doesn't go anywhere further than that, it was still "discussed". It could end up as anything, but that area is remote enough that it will take the right project to make it work.

It's a large enough property, one of the few in downtown or near downtown, that could house a soccer stadium for Union, with space enough for some adjacent development. I will not be surprised if we find out that this spot is in the running.

The relative remoteness of the property could be appealing to a sports facility development; they do not really have any neighbors to contend with other than the folks who just sold you the land.

Anyway, all this speculation better result in something getting built there. My pick would be a nice, dense residential development, with mixed used buildings for some light retail and commercial services space, and maybe our city's only riverfront hotel.

[Garrett]

If the stadium does end up here I hope there’s a lot of work done to help improve connectivity so it’s not just an island.

[F0R_L1F3]

If there is a stadium that ends up along this strip and there's a mixed use entertainment district connected to it, it would add a lot of density to the area which isn't that hard to do. There's somewhat of hope because I could imagine people living in the condos right nearby would have a significantly higher quality of life because of such. Imagine having a stadium right there with a mixed use that offers a lot alongside the trail that runs right across the riverfront.

[ita]

If the stadium does end up here I hope there’s a lot of work done to help improve connectivity so it’s not just an island.

How would you connect it better to the rest of downtown? It's kind of hard because of Lot D and the railroad. Connectivity along Cuming/Abbott could be improved, particularly on the bike/ped side, but I am not sure what else could be done.

[Garrett]

If the stadium does end up here I hope there’s a lot of work done to help improve connectivity so it’s not just an island.

How would you connect it better to the rest of downtown? It's kind of hard because of Lot D and the railroad. Connectivity along Cuming/Abbott could be improved, particularly on the bike/ped side, but I am not sure what else could be done.

It would definitely be pretty tough, which is why I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the site. I'd hope for more development around the Gallup campus, hopefully to bring some greater connectivity to the Riverfront parks system. A small pedestrian connection to Millwork would be good. For a stretch, a cap above the railroad and development on Lot D would be great, but I don't see MECA giving up Lot D too easily, and a cap would be a logistical challenge. Beyond that, the gas plant to the north is going nowhere. We'll see what they have planned, if this is indeed the chosen site.

[ita]

If the stadium does end up here I hope there’s a lot of work done to help improve connectivity so it’s not just an island.

How would you connect it better to the rest of downtown? It's kind of hard because of Lot D and the railroad. Connectivity along Cuming/Abbott could be improved, particularly on the bike/ped side, but I am not sure what else could be done.

It would definitely be pretty tough, which is why I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the site. I'd hope for more development around the Gallup campus, hopefully to bring some greater connectivity to the Riverfront parks system. A small pedestrian connection to Millwork would be good. For a stretch, a cap above the railroad and development on Lot D would be great, but I don't see MECA giving up Lot D too easily, and a cap would be a logistical challenge. Beyond that, the gas plant to the north is going nowhere. We'll see what they have planned, if this is indeed the chosen site.

Totally valid concerns. A pedestrian bridge maybe from Gallup Drive to Nicholas and 11th would be a good connector, but that's a long span, even longer than Baby Bob. I can't imagine how long that would take to get done.



It's definitely tough to figure out how to better connect that site, at least if you're trying to stay realistic from a budgetary standpoint. I love the cap idea, but that's cost prohibitive for sure. They couldn't even get it done as part of the HOA park redux; can't see it getting done here.

If this isn't the site for the Union stadium, what would you like to see developed here?

[Garrett]

If the stadium does end up here I hope there’s a lot of work done to help improve connectivity so it’s not just an island.

How would you connect it better to the rest of downtown? It's kind of hard because of Lot D and the railroad. Connectivity along Cuming/Abbott could be improved, particularly on the bike/ped side, but I am not sure what else could be done.

It would definitely be pretty tough, which is why I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the site. I'd hope for more development around the Gallup campus, hopefully to bring some greater connectivity to the Riverfront parks system. A small pedestrian connection to Millwork would be good. For a stretch, a cap above the railroad and development on Lot D would be great, but I don't see MECA giving up Lot D too easily, and a cap would be a logistical challenge. Beyond that, the gas plant to the north is going nowhere. We'll see what they have planned, if this is indeed the chosen site.

Totally valid concerns. A pedestrian bridge maybe from Gallup Drive to Nicholas and 11th would be a good connector, but that's a long span, even longer than Baby Bob. I can't imagine how long that would take to get done.



It's definitely tough to figure out how to better connect that site, at least if you're trying to stay realistic from a budgetary standpoint. I love the cap idea, but that's cost prohibitive for sure. They couldn't even get it done as part of the HOA park redux; can't see it getting done here.

If this isn't the site for the Union stadium, what would you like to see developed here?

I’d be interested in keeping it residential with a few cafes or restaurants to build on the riverfront. A few more Riverfront Place esque towers would fit well. The park system could even be expanded further to stretch through the area into Miller’s Landing. You could probably make a relatively self contained neighborhood within the area if built dense enough, making up for its weaker connectivity to the rest of downtown.

[omaha79]

If the stadium does end up here I hope there’s a lot of work done to help improve connectivity so it’s not just an island.

How would you connect it better to the rest of downtown? It's kind of hard because of Lot D and the railroad. Connectivity along Cuming/Abbott could be improved, particularly on the bike/ped side, but I am not sure what else could be done.

Won't the Baby Bob help this? I'm not overly familiar with how that will run outside of the fact that it is happening.

[Doctor Fate]

If the stadium does end up here I hope there’s a lot of work done to help improve connectivity so it’s not just an island.

How would you connect it better to the rest of downtown? It's kind of hard because of Lot D and the railroad. Connectivity along Cuming/Abbott could be improved, particularly on the bike/ped side, but I am not sure what else could be done.

Won't the Baby Bob help this? I'm not overly familiar with how that will run outside of the fact that it is happening.

I believe it will extend Bob across the train tracks and connect to the southeast part of Lot D.

[omaha79]

If the stadium does end up here I hope there’s a lot of work done to help improve connectivity so it’s not just an island.

How would you connect it better to the rest of downtown? It's kind of hard because of Lot D and the railroad. Connectivity along Cuming/Abbott could be improved, particularly on the bike/ped side, but I am not sure what else could be done.

Won't the Baby Bob help this? I'm not overly familiar with how that will run outside of the fact that it is happening.

I believe it will extend Bob across the train tracks and connect to the southeast part of Lot D.

While that's not 100% ideal, It does represent connectivity from that side to DT.

[Brad]

If the stadium does end up here I hope there’s a lot of work done to help improve connectivity so it’s not just an island.

How would you connect it better to the rest of downtown? It's kind of hard because of Lot D and the railroad. Connectivity along Cuming/Abbott could be improved, particularly on the bike/ped side, but I am not sure what else could be done.

Won't the Baby Bob help this? I'm not overly familiar with how that will run outside of the fact that it is happening.

I believe it will extend Bob across the train tracks and connect to the southeast part of Lot D.

For ADA compatibility, it will make it closer to 10th street and not the south east corner. See Renderings in the baby bob thread: https://www.eomahaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=23870