Rumors - Soccer Stadium - Large Office - Parking Garage

[Brad]

Great new rumors for North Downtown!

[stormchaser]

That would be great news for north downtown!

[Athomsfere]

Union Stadium: GREAT NEWS!

Parking Garage: Upgrade from lots at least!

But that yellow square is huge... Why is it so sprawling? Multiple mid rise buildings at least?

[Coyote]

Great news for the soccer venue!

[Louie]

Holy cow, that is something!

[Omaha1985]

Why do we need two soccer stadiums a mile apart. Hopefully no tax dollars will be used for this new stadium.

[Athomsfere]

Why do we need two soccer stadiums a mile apart. Hopefully no tax dollars will be used for this new stadium.

Where is the second stadium that would be acceptable for a professional soccer team?

[Doctor Fate]

This is awesome! The soccer stadium would be a fantastic addition. Gets rid of a big surface lot and would bring more people downtown.

[Omaha1985]

Why do we need two soccer stadiums a mile apart. Hopefully no tax dollars will be used for this new stadium.

Where is the second stadium that would be acceptable for a professional soccer team?

Morrison Field has a 6,000 seat capacity. Union Omaha's largest crowd was 5,221, they averaged 3,496 fans a game. Seems adequate.

[ita]

That's awesome! I am glad the owners were not dissuaded by their previous experience of trying to build the AAA baseball stadium downtown. I really hope this is really where they are looking to build. This would really boost Millwork Commons/Future Forward, and downtown generally.

I did read somewhere that the developers of Millwork Commons were looking on getting a big corporate move to that office building you identified. Also, the promotional materials for Millwork Commons puts the parking structure just east of the Ashton, south of Millwork Ave.

[Louie]

Why do we need two soccer stadiums a mile apart. Hopefully no tax dollars will be used for this new stadium.

Where is the second stadium that would be acceptable for a professional soccer team?

Morrison Field has a 6,000 seat capacity. Union Omaha's largest crowd was 5,221, they averaged 3,496 fans a game. Seems adequate.

I'm sure the idea behind this is that Union moves up in league tiers in the future.

[Athomsfere]

Why do we need two soccer stadiums a mile apart. Hopefully no tax dollars will be used for this new stadium.

Where is the second stadium that would be acceptable for a professional soccer team?

Morrison Field has a 6,000 seat capacity. Union Omaha's largest crowd was 5,221, they averaged 3,496 fans a game. Seems adequate.

I'd imagine there are issues with getting Creighton to allow the uses they want. Also, hopefully the team GROWS and becomes more popular. 6-10k seems to be the average stadium size right now for the fastest growing sport in the country.

In my humble opinion: Soccer is one of the few sports worth watching. I'd love to see Union do very well in Omaha and herald in Omaha's first "Pro" team in the form of an MLS team...

Also, can you serve beer at Morrison?

[Garrett]

Wow, that’s quite substantial. I feel like North Downtown as a whole has finally hit a tipping point and development is really just coming fast.

[WBR_Tom]

Why do we need two soccer stadiums a mile apart. Hopefully no tax dollars will be used for this new stadium.

Where is the second stadium that would be acceptable for a professional soccer team?

Morrison Field has a 6,000 seat capacity. Union Omaha's largest crowd was 5,221, they averaged 3,496 fans a game. Seems adequate.

Biggest problem with Morrison Stadium for them is probably scheduling. Between Creighton MSOC and WSOC a lot of prime match times are spoken for. And USL probably doesn't want to work around two other tenants, especially for playoff matches on short notice. Beyond that, practices would also have to be scheduled around those two tenants, and all the other events Creighton already uses it for.

It's also not set up for alcohol sales. Creighton controls the concession contract and revenue, so they'd have to come to some sort of agreement on that. Union would want their own locker room facilities, and USL would probably require bigger/better accommodations for the road team, too. Union would want their front office staff at the stadium, or right next to it. They'd probably also want a retail store. There's not a ton of open real estate for all of that stuff directly adjacent to the stadium.

(Most of those same "cons" apply to Caniglia at UNO, too.)

[Athomsfere]

Biggest problem with Morrison Stadium for them is probably scheduling. Between Creighton MSOC and WSOC a lot of prime match times are spoken for. And USL probably doesn't want to work around two other tenants, especially for playoff matches on short notice. Beyond that, practices would also have to be scheduled around those two tenants, and all the other events Creighton already uses it for.

It's also not set up for alcohol sales. Creighton controls the concession contract and revenue, so they'd have to come to some sort of agreement on that. Union would want their own locker room facilities, and USL would probably require bigger/better accommodations for the road team, too. Union would want their front office staff at the stadium, or right next to it. They'd probably also want a retail store. There's not a ton of open real estate for all of that stuff directly adjacent to the stadium.

(Most of those same "cons" apply to Caniglia at UNO, too.)

Great info!

Although, I learned of Morrison Field today: It has a great looking entrance. I guess it's hidden somewhere on Campus though.

[Brad]

Although, I learned of Morrison Field today: It has a great looking entrance. I guess it's hidden somewhere on Campus though.

LOL, not hidden when the stadium lights are on! But yes, its a great venue for CU.

[Fort Calhoun]

Interesting rumor. I wonder what Sarpy County would think about this as they spent $2.2 million to upgrade Werner Park for soccer. Does this indicate Union Omaha wants to upgrade its status and join a different league

[ita]

If they are planning a soccer stadium there, that parking garage is going to be sizable. Most of the lots in Millwork Commons are accounted for other development.

[NEDodger]

Smart location. You've got the nearby hotels. You've got bars and such going in next door, for a pre-game/post-game atmosphere. Hoping this works out.

[MadMartin8]

If they're planning a stadium, then you can bank on them moving up a level.

Good to see, hope they do it.

[skinzfan23]

This would be great infill if it gets built.

Who owns that land now....UP?

[iamjacobm]

Weidner Field is probably a good comp. Opened in Colorado Springs this year, cost $42 million and seats 8,000. I could see a potential stadium here being a bit more modest than this maybe in the 5k-6k seat range with room to grow if needed. Also, a 2000 employee office is a major deal, Kiewit only has like 600 at their new North Downtown building if I remember right. Would be a major anchor for the entire area.

[Athomsfere]

But why smaller than Colorado Springs?

Omaha is the bigger city and metro. Is growing faster.

Also, I believe Omaha tends to have a higher income per capita.

[iamjacobm]

But why smaller than Colorado Springs?

Omaha is the bigger city and metro. Is growing faster.

Also, I believe Omaha tends to have a higher income per capita.

I think Springs is growing like a weed, but they are smaller and less wealthy I agree.

My thoughts are a better soccer culture in Colorado, Werner was purposely built a bit smaller to keep things intimate I can see the same mentality here, keep costs down that stadium probably costs $50+ million with material cost increases just this year. The thought that bigger is better is going away for some people. Scarcity can be a good thing, a full 6k stadium is better than a 75% full 10k stadium is a train of thought now for some.

[BIGO88]

Doesn't the owner of Union Omaha also Own Buildertrend out west? Would make some sense to possibly build an office close by the stadium I would think.

[Omahomie]

Interesting rumor with Union Omaha hopefully there's some muscle behind this. They just came off winning their league and most likely will want to move up a division to USL-Championship with similar sized cities and have opportunity to be team number #31 or #32 for the MLS when that time comes. This is probably Omaha's best chance at getting a professional sports team as MLS is only 27 years old and NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL are all full and expensive. Not to mention soccer's growing popularity with Gen Z and being an international game.

[WBR_Tom]

I do wonder if this rumor leaking has anything to do with the announcement of the "MLS NEXT Pro" league earlier this week. They'll have 21 clubs in their inaugural year, with 20 of them directly affiliated with a parent MLS club. Some of those 21 clubs are moving from the USL tiers.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-next ... march-2022

A true minor league affiliated with MLS clubs and the existing MLS youth academies is a pretty serious competitor to USL, if not threat, regardless of how they spin it. Smart for Union Omaha to have contingency plans in place. And maybe "leaking" the info is their way of dropping a hint that they're interested if MLS NEXT Pro is looking to expand...

[PotatoeEatsFish]

2000 workers using some office planning math is anywhere from 300,000-400,000 square feet.

The first pic is of a 400,000 sq ft office the next is a 300,000 one.
Either way this is definitely adding some height to the area.

[ita]

Doesn't the owner of Union Omaha also Own Buildertrend out west? Would make some sense to possibly build an office close by the stadium I would think.

He's one of the investors:

Union Omaha is led under the leadership and ownership of Alliance Sports CEO Gary Green and Alliance Sports President Larry Botel. The club is also represented by a group of local investors that include: Dan Houghton, Co-Founder of Buildertrend; Mike Cassling, CEO of CQuence Health Group; Martie Cordaro, President of the Omaha Storm Chasers and USL Omaha; Matthew Dwyer, Principal at GreenSlate Development; Philip Lee, Co-Founder of LifeLoop; Jay Lund, Principal at GreenSlate Development; Mike Mackintosh, President of Impact Financial Company; Michael Miller, Executive Vice President of Colliers International Nebraska; Kyle Peterson, Chairman and CEO of Colliers International Nebraska and a baseball analyst for ESPN; Mike Potthoff, President of Colliers International Nebraska; Jeff Royal, Owner of Dundee Bank; Ren Smith, President of RCSS, LLC; and Jeffrey Wyatt, Senior Vice President of Colliers International Nebraska.

That would be a big 'get' for Millwork Commons, if Buildertrend moved in. They have 600+ employees and continue to grow. Being a locally grown tech company, it would be a nice, relevant anchor for the district.

[Garrett]

Looks like Union Omaha has noticed the rumors…

[ita]

2000 workers using some office planning math is anywhere from 300,000-400,000 square feet.

The first pic is of a 400,000 sq ft office the next is a 300,000 one.
Either way this is definitely adding some height to the area.

Here's the page from the Millwork Commons brochure regarding office space (175k sq. ft.) in that general area.

[Taco]

I have followed lower division American soccer for roughly a decade and think Omaha is be a perfect market for the USL championship, especially since Des Moines is likely to have a team soon as well. If they committed to building this stadium it would likely be with an agreement to move up a division.
I would guess the stadium would be modular since it could be built faster and less expensively unless there is a significant commitment from the city. Also as another user mentioned, there is significant uncertainty especially with the new MLS reserve league. Either way, this idea seems like a win-win to get more frequent events downtown and I think it would greatly boost Union Omaha attendance/profile. I hope it comes to fruition.

The 2000 employee office building would be even more of a gamechanger, but like with all large projects right now I don't want to get too excited until we see some shovels.

[jessep28]

This is good news as long as the stadium isn't taxpayer funded.

[Omaha Cowboy]

This is awesome! The soccer stadium would be a fantastic addition. Gets rid of a big surface lot and would bring more people downtown.

Exciting rumor..and I agree- the avenue for top tier professional sports in Omaha appears to be soccer..

I’m equally excited about the idea of a 2000 employee office building for North Downtown..

Full service grocery store next?…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[MadMartin8]

Looks like Union Omaha has noticed the rumors…

Hah, I just noticed that and was coming here to post it.

I wonder if this lends credence to the rumors, or if they're just having fun.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Looks like Union Omaha has noticed the rumors…

Hah, I just noticed that and was coming here to post it.

I wonder if this lends credence to the rumors, or if they're just having fun.

If I had to guess, probably both…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[ita]

Reddit had a ball with the rumor, but there seemed to be a lot of support for a UO Stadium downtown.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Omaha/comments ... ion_omaha/

[Athomsfere]

Reddit had a ball with the rumor, but there seemed to be a lot of support for a UO Stadium downtown.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Omaha/comments ... ion_omaha/

What I love: There are people who at least say they would go much more often, and even ride their bike to a new stadium down town.

This makes me very hopeful for Omaha, and the stadium.

[Omaha Cowboy]

I only look in on the Omaha Reddit Page for entertainment purposes only..There is some really good discussion going on in there sometimes..but a lot of times, it goes off kilter and it can only be taken with a grain of salt..

In the end, it’s great to have multiple rumors of development in our downtown core flying around..It’d be nice to, eventually, see some proposals coming out of this potpourri…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Louie]

Reddit had a ball with the rumor, but there seemed to be a lot of support for a UO Stadium downtown.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Omaha/comments ... ion_omaha/

What I love: There are people who at least say they would go much more often, and even ride their bike to a new stadium down town.

This makes me very hopeful for Omaha, and the stadium.

There is definitely a bigger soccer fan population on the east side of town. Just look at Benson during Premier league games.