Mutual of Omaha Tower (14th & Farnam)

[JDJase]

The Nebraska Examiner article indicated the new facility will have roughly 2k parking spots. The old Mutual facility had roughly 5,000 employees on site between the old buildings and South campus. I would assume the new facility will house closer to 7,000-8,000 employees. How the company will reach that number will be interesting. Organic growth? Mergers and acquisitions? But, certainly, with only 2,000 parking spots, it will mean that some employees will likely either have to utilize city of Omaha garages which could cost between $80-$100 per month, unless Mutual subsidizes it, or they are going to have to park in mid town and ride the trolley in.

I think Mutual of Omaha only has about 4,000 employees, and I thought the south site building has been leased out to other companies for quite some time.

Yeah I believe 4000 is the number that they gave out yesterday. Additionally, the MoO representative said yesterday that with flex schedules they only anticipate it to be 2/3 full during peak times. That said, 2000 parking spots sounds like it will work perfect.

Also didn't the CEO say there could possibly be 'slight' increase over that 4,000 in the future? So I'm not sure where the "7,000-8,000 employees" assumption is from - if part of the plan was literally doubling their workforce I feel like that would have been bigger news lol.

[Vitruvius]

Here is another building the rendering reminds me of in Atlanta: This one is 657 ft tall.

Wow! Other than the Atlanta building's top having more flair and reach, they look identical.

The signage at the top makes it much worse and unacceptable...following your logic

Construction and materials are high quality too.

You can't be serious.

Completely. What's not high quality? In fact, It's award-winning and LEED Gold

I'm laughing at the fact that you're basing it on a picture and now LEED certification which is more about making it environmentally driven in design than it is the all around materials and construction. Do you think the new tower won't have these considerations?

I hope they not only consider but execute and accomplish sustainable design and LEED. I hope the building equals the Atlanta building in quality, design, LEED, but I also hope it's not a modified copy of it. I suspect that rendering was thrown together for the press conference.
And the fact is you really don't know with certainty what I'm basing my assessment on.

[Athomsfere]

The Nebraska Examiner article indicated the new facility will have roughly 2k parking spots. The old Mutual facility had roughly 5,000 employees on site between the old buildings and South campus. I would assume the new facility will house closer to 7,000-8,000 employees. How the company will reach that number will be interesting. Organic growth? Mergers and acquisitions? But, certainly, with only 2,000 parking spots, it will mean that some employees will likely either have to utilize city of Omaha garages which could cost between $80-$100 per month, unless Mutual subsidizes it, or they are going to have to park in mid town and ride the trolley in.

I think Mutual of Omaha only has about 4,000 employees, and I thought the south site building has been leased out to other companies for quite some time.

Yeah I believe 4000 is the number that they gave out yesterday. Additionally, the MoO representative said yesterday that with flex schedules they only anticipate it to be 2/3 full during peak times. That said, 2000 parking spots sounds like it will work perfect.

Also didn't the CEO say there could possibly be 'slight' increase over that 4,000 in the future? So I'm not sure where the "7,000-8,000 employees" assumption is from - if part of the plan was literally doubling their workforce I feel like that would have been bigger news lol.

He did say that they have (from memory, might be marginally off) 6,800 employees nationally. But only 4,000 of those are in Omaha.

[OmahaFan]

I see my previous comments are being improperly censored. Anyways I can’t wait for the street car and building to be completed. It will be a great addition downtown.

[BRoss]

I see my previous comments are being improperly censored. Anyways I can’t wait for the street car and building to be completed. It will be a great addition downtown.

Partisan politics is not appropriate here and will be removed. There are many other places around the internet for that.

[damonhynes]

I obviously love this, though the base sort of creates phallic resemblance. Haha.

It does have a tumescent quality, even with the MGM logo on top.

BRING BACK MUTANT OF OMAHA!!!111!!!

[Vitruvius]

I obviously love this, though the base sort of creates phallic resemblance. Haha.

It does have a tumescent quality, even with the MGM logo on top.

BRING BACK MUTANT OF OMAHA!!!111!!!

OMG! I was thinking about that last night... the Mutant T-shirts!

[ItsAllAboutMe]

Kudos to the cryptic rumor department! I never for a moment believed a tower close to 700' or taller would be proposed. I think a lot of crazy $hit went down the past few months with the land swap idea. Now, we need a separate thread / name for the lot in front of the new tower and formally part of the mall.

[omaha79]

The Nebraska Examiner article indicated the new facility will have roughly 2k parking spots. The old Mutual facility had roughly 5,000 employees on site between the old buildings and South campus. I would assume the new facility will house closer to 7,000-8,000 employees. How the company will reach that number will be interesting. Organic growth? Mergers and acquisitions? But, certainly, with only 2,000 parking spots, it will mean that some employees will likely either have to utilize city of Omaha garages which could cost between $80-$100 per month, unless Mutual subsidizes it, or they are going to have to park in mid town and ride the trolley in.

I think Mutual of Omaha only has about 4,000 employees, and I thought the south site building has been leased out to other companies for quite some time.

Yeah I believe 4000 is the number that they gave out yesterday. Additionally, the MoO representative said yesterday that with flex schedules they only anticipate it to be 2/3 full during peak times. That said, 2000 parking spots sounds like it will work perfect.

Also didn't the CEO say there could possibly be 'slight' increase over that 4,000 in the future? So I'm not sure where the "7,000-8,000 employees" assumption is from - if part of the plan was literally doubling their workforce I feel like that would have been bigger news lol.

The assumption among many has been that a 40-50 story building must mean more room, which is where the idea of more employees comes from.

There was a release to employees today where the CEO talked about it. Said that with the south building, there was roughly 1.7 million SF in space for roughly 5k employees (some of that space leased to other companies) that was used poorly. He said that even though this building goes vertical, the expectation is that it will be less SF overall but that space will be used better for a more cohesive/dynamic working environment. Also, they do expect many EE's to continue to work from home or become hybrid. The thinking is that with not everyone being there on a given day, it will be fine. I feel better about it now.

The idea of a building for 7-8k employees was a guess based on vertical size. Realizing the actual SF will be less, it makes way more sense.

[charlie123]

Can the height exceed FNBO tower? I once heard that there was an agreement between the city and FNBO that no other building could exceed the height of FNBO's tower for 100 years. Any truth to this?

[cchandler790]

Can the height exceed FNBO tower? I once heard that there was an agreement between the city and FNBO that no other building could exceed the height of FNBO's tower for 100 years. Any truth to this?

I never heard anything like that.

[BobbiDon]

Can the height exceed FNBO tower? I once heard that there was an agreement between the city and FNBO that no other building could exceed the height of FNBO's tower for 100 years. Any truth to this?

I remember hearing that a very long time ago, as well. That notion was brought up recently, once the cryptic rumor department teased grandiose potential, and the idea of a first national lease on the skyline was unfounded/debunked.

[ita]

This is taken from the Chamber's blog regarding possible economic impact of MoO's new HQ project (https://www.omahachamber.org/greater-om ... rban-core/):

Mutual of Omaha’s new headquarters is projected to have a vastly positive economic influence on the city of Omaha. Among other aspects, this project is estimated to have the following impacts:

During the year of construction, the $400 million in construction activity helps support 3,733 jobs in the construction industry and an additional 1,809 jobs in the community based on the increased economic activity.
The economic activity generated by the project adds about $728 million to the local economy during construction.
Includes activity directly related to the company’s operations and associated “spillover” activity.
The 4,000 existing long-term jobs at the project help support an additional 4,900 workers in Omaha.
Additional workers include real estate, restaurants, business support services, etc.
The Omaha economy sees a boost to earnings of over $308.8 million for jobs directly related to the construction of the project, additional business-to-business spending, and additional household spending.

[almighty_tuna]

Can the height exceed FNBO tower? I once heard that there was an agreement between the city and FNBO that no other building could exceed the height of FNBO's tower for 100 years. Any truth to this?

I never heard anything like that.

Lincoln has zoning for their downtown buildings that caps their height at or below 285ft so the Capitol remains prominent. But nothing like this exists in Omaha. From Omaha code website:

Sec. 55-426. - Site development regulations.
Each site in the CBD central business district shall be subject to the following site development regulations:

Regulator Requirement
Lot area No requirement
Lot width No requirement
Site area/dwelling unit 100 square feet minimum
Floor area ratio 10.0 maximum
Front yard No requirement
Street side yard No requirement
Interior side yard No requirement
Rear yard No requirement
Height No requirement
Building coverage 100 percent permitted
Impervious coverage 100 percent permitted

[Omaha Cowboy]

Kudos to the cryptic rumor department! I never for a moment believed a tower close to 700' or taller would be proposed. I think a lot of crazy $hit went down the past few months with the land swap idea. Now, we need a separate thread / name for the lot in front of the new tower and formally part of the mall.

The “Cryptic Rumor Department” thanks you for the acknowledgement .. We (they) may have not got it exactly right..but my sources are Rock solid and they were definitely not far off of the scent..

…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Cermak]

Kudos to the cryptic rumor department! I never for a moment believed a tower close to 700' or taller would be proposed. I think a lot of crazy $hit went down the past few months with the land swap idea. Now, we need a separate thread / name for the lot in front of the new tower and formally part of the mall.

The “Cryptic Rumor Department” thanks you for the acknowledgement .. We (they) may have not got it exactly right..but my sources are Rock solid and they were definitely not far off of the scent..

…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

Agree, the secret was well kept. This exceeded my expectations big time. I always thought MoA would build in the Turner Park East area maybe a couple of mid-rises around 12-15 floors and a conservative but pleasant design.

This should be an amazing building I am looking forward to construction starting sometime next year, half the fun with these towers is watching the progress as they get built.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Kudos to the cryptic rumor department! I never for a moment believed a tower close to 700' or taller would be proposed. I think a lot of crazy $hit went down the past few months with the land swap idea. Now, we need a separate thread / name for the lot in front of the new tower and formally part of the mall.

The “Cryptic Rumor Department” thanks you for the acknowledgement .. We (they) may have not got it exactly right..but my sources are Rock solid and they were definitely not far off of the scent..

…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

Agree, the secret was well kept. This exceeded my expectations big time. I always thought MoA would build in the Turner Park East area maybe a couple of mid-rises around 12-15 floors and conservative design in nature. This should be an amazing building I am looking forward to construction starting sometime next year, half the fun with these towers is watching the progress as they grow taller and taller.

Thank you and no doubt about it-

I can’t wait to see tower cranes in the air and the progress made every month once they (hopefully) break ground in January 2023 …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[ita]

For anyone who has questions about working in downtown, there was a parking study completed in 2020. Per that study, 17k of 30k spaces wait vacant in downtown every day. The insistence of building the street car explains why there is an apparent 'shortage' of onsite parking. The streetcar allows MoO, other businesses, and visitors to downtown to park at one of the empty garages or surfaces lots and walk, bike, or catch the streetcar to their final destination (s). Anyway this study is really informative and it sounds like the mayor actually read it or at least was briefed on it. Pages 17-19 is especially informative for someone who hasn't really looked into the issue.

https://www.parkomaha.com/about/parking-studies

[Tornado]

Photoshop look from Abbott drive please........thank you.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Photoshop look from Abbott drive please........thank you.

We have several who post here who have that skill. I’m confident we’ll see one…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Vitruvius]

Can someone with photoshop skills show the angle from the baseball stadium? That's how most of the country will see this after all.

Hopefully I'm doing this right...new to the forum (and not a photoshop whiz). Obviously the new building would be at an angle (maybe a little bit more to the left), but this gives an idea of location. Imagine the old UP location getting anything UP height or taller built there too.

Thanks for the photoshop. It would be nice to see what it would look like with even like 200 foot tower(s) at the UP site.

[Vitruvius]

For anyone who has questions about working in downtown, there was a parking study completed in 2020. Per that study, 17k of 30k spaces wait vacant in downtown every day. The insistence of building the street car explains why there is an apparent 'shortage' of onsite parking. The streetcar allows MoO, other businesses, and visitors to downtown to park at one of the empty garages or surfaces lots and walk, bike, or catch the streetcar to their final destination (s). Anyway this study is really informative and it sounds like the mayor actually read it or at least was briefed on it. Pages 17-19 is especially informative for someone who hasn't really looked into the issue.

https://www.parkomaha.com/about/parking-studies

So 17k of 30k parking spaces "wait vacant in downtown every day". The mayor said more parking garages are being built... and the revenue from them would help pay for the street car. Then the logic is that people will drive downtown, fill up those 17k spaces, then hop on the street car to go a few more blocks to their final destination? Sorry, I just don't get it. But I also don't get why people without mobility issues have such a problem walking a few blocks in Omaha.
We need leadership with the talent and skill to accomplish substantial change and improvements such as a light rail system that goes from the airport to downtown to the Zoo, and then west along Dodge and southwest all the way to Lincoln.... and then eventually north/south along 72nd Street. Easy? Nope. Cheap? Nope. Infrastructure ready for future growth? Yes.

[OmahaFan]

I really hope Mutual of Omaha makes the skyscraper taller then the First National tower. 50 to 60 Stories.

[ita]

For anyone who has questions about working in downtown, there was a parking study completed in 2020. Per that study, 17k of 30k spaces wait vacant in downtown every day. The insistence of building the street car explains why there is an apparent 'shortage' of onsite parking. The streetcar allows MoO, other businesses, and visitors to downtown to park at one of the empty garages or surfaces lots and walk, bike, or catch the streetcar to their final destination (s). Anyway this study is really informative and it sounds like the mayor actually read it or at least was briefed on it. Pages 17-19 is especially informative for someone who hasn't really looked into the issue.

https://www.parkomaha.com/about/parking-studies

So 17k of 30k parking spaces "wait vacant in downtown every day". The mayor said more parking garages are being built... and the revenue from them would help pay for the street car. Then the logic is that people will drive downtown, fill up those 17k spaces, then hop on the street car to go a few more blocks to their final destination? Sorry, I just don't get it. But I also don't get why people without mobility issues have such a problem walking a few blocks in Omaha.
We need leadership with the talent and skill to accomplish substantial change and improvements such as a light rail system that goes from the airport to downtown to the Zoo, and then west along Dodge and southwest all the way to Lincoln.... and then eventually north/south along 72nd Street. Easy? Nope. Cheap? Nope. Infrastructure ready for future growth? Yes.

There is another statistic that 11k of those vacant spots are surface lots. That includes a lot of privately owned lots. Same goes for a lot of garages, there are a lot that are privately owned and closed t the public. The building of garages in specific areas like millwork commons and builders district, is actually allowing some of these surface lots to be developed for higher use. As far as the privately owned garages I haven't read far enough into the study to know what solution they give. I will look into it tomorrow.

[kuzhouse]

I really hope Mutual of Omaha makes the skyscraper taller then the First National tower. 50 to 60 Stories.

Don't quite think we will see this. Most reports have said 40-50 stories. I personally think it will be 45. I think the rendering shows 44 floors. However, as we all know, that rendering is not even remotely a final design. Quite the contrary actually. Anyway I think it will be right around 650ft. Although I am still hopeful that they break the 700ft mark. Certainly a possibility.

[OmahaFan]

I really hope Mutual of Omaha makes the skyscraper taller then the First National tower. 50 to 60 Stories.

Don't quite think we will see this. Most reports have said 40-50 stories. I personally think it will be 45. I think the rendering shows 44 floors. However, as we all know, that rendering is not even remotely a final design. Quite the contrary actually. Anyway I think it will be right around 650ft. Although I am still hopeful that they break the 700ft mark. Certainly a possibility.

I’d be okay with 50 Stories

[Omaha Cowboy]

I really hope Mutual of Omaha makes the skyscraper taller then the First National tower. 50 to 60 Stories.

Don't quite think we will see this. Most reports have said 40-50 stories. I personally think it will be 45. I think the rendering shows 44 floors. However, as we all know, that rendering is not even remotely a final design. Quite the contrary actually. Anyway I think it will be right around 650ft. Although I am still hopeful that they break the 700ft mark. Certainly a possibility.

I’m thinking what we’ll finally get is a 45-50 story tower between 650-700 feet..enough to be taller than FNC without dwarfing it..

But I agree with you both- I’d like to see it closer to 700 feet…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[mrsticka]

There's an empty lot on 13th, 14th, Dodge and Capitol Avenue. Why not just put it there instead of where the W. Dale Clark Library is?

[ita]

There's an empty lot on 13th, 14th, Dodge and Capitol Avenue. Why not just put it there instead of where the W. Dale Clark Library is?

MoO said they looked at that site, but wanted the streetcar to be adjacent. City said that would cost too much. So MoO chose the site next to the streetcar line. Also, I my opinion the library site has much more prominence than the up site. It's going to be front and center on future postcards taken from GLM.

[Stargazer]

There's an empty lot on 13th, 14th, Dodge and Capitol Avenue. Why not just put it there instead of where the W. Dale Clark Library is?

[mrsticka]

There's an empty lot on 13th, 14th, Dodge and Capitol Avenue. Why not just put it there instead of where the W. Dale Clark Library is?

MoO said they looked at that site, but wanted the streetcar to be adjacent. City said that would cost too much. So MoO chose the site next to the streetcar line. Also, I my opinion the library site has much more prominence than the up site. It's going to be front and center on future postcards taken from GLM.

It'll completely obstruct the Woodmen Tower.

[NEDodger]

I guess do you "need" the shot to be from the traditional vantage point anymore? I mean up until now it was nice because you could clearly see both skyscrapers, had the "twins" behind the library, etc.. But with the new MoO tower.....does the new postcard shot maybe be from Abbott Drive? Maybe something that has Charles Schwab Field towards the right side of the frame?

[ita]

I guess do you "need" the shot to be from the traditional vantage point anymore? I mean up until now it was nice because you could clearly see both skyscrapers, had the "twins" behind the library, etc.. But with the new MoO tower.....does the new postcard shot maybe be from Abbott Drive? Maybe something that has Charles Schwab Field towards the right side of the frame?

True. I personally like the skyline from a southern vantage. I was driving up into downtown on 13th street and was reminded how nice downtown looks from the angle with the industrial foreground, historic low and mid rises, then the skyscrapers.

[Garrett]

I guess do you "need" the shot to be from the traditional vantage point anymore? I mean up until now it was nice because you could clearly see both skyscrapers, had the "twins" behind the library, etc.. But with the new MoO tower.....does the new postcard shot maybe be from Abbott Drive? Maybe something that has Charles Schwab Field towards the right side of the frame?

True. I personally like the skyline from a southern vantage. I was driving up into downtown on 13th street and was reminded how nice downtown looks from the angle with the industrial foreground, historic low and mid rises, then the skyscrapers.

I feel like the postcard shot is mostly known by Omahans. Nationally, the northern view from the baseball stadium is probably the most known because of the CWS, and that will only get better with this view. But I do agree the southern view is probably best from a density standpoint

[Stargazer]

No doubt it'll be interesting to see what become the best vantage points. I'm thinking the Abbott Drive and 10th Street bridges will be contenders.

[GetUrban]

I was hoping they would locate the tower on the north half of the lot. That way the afternoon shadow cast from the tower would have less effect on the GLM. And you might be able to still see the Woodman from the GLM. But they couldn’t resist making it symmetrical on the lot. They say the design may still change, so we’ll see how it evolves. Without a wide angle lens, you’d have to take the old ‘postcard’ shot from east of 10th street to capture the full height of a 700’ tower anyway. I agree the new best shot might be from the CWS stadium.

[ita]

I found the design team for the skyscraper from Mutual's press release. Kendall/Heaton Associates from Houston has dozens of skyscrapers under their belt, from ground up design to renovations. A handful of their designs emulate the curves silhouette of the concept, including the Salesforce tower HQ in San Francisco (I think someone reference that above). Anyway, peruse their portfolio here:

http://www.kendall-heaton.com/projects/

[JDJase]

I guess do you "need" the shot to be from the traditional vantage point anymore? I mean up until now it was nice because you could clearly see both skyscrapers, had the "twins" behind the library, etc.. But with the new MoO tower.....does the new postcard shot maybe be from Abbott Drive? Maybe something that has Charles Schwab Field towards the right side of the frame?

True. I personally like the skyline from a southern vantage. I was driving up into downtown on 13th street and was reminded how nice downtown looks from the angle with the industrial foreground, historic low and mid rises, then the skyscrapers.

Yeah, agreed. I also definitely like the skyline from the southeast, like from the Harrah's garage. The picture from that angle in the header slideshow of this website is my favorite picture of Omaha.

[Louie]

I guess do you "need" the shot to be from the traditional vantage point anymore? I mean up until now it was nice because you could clearly see both skyscrapers, had the "twins" behind the library, etc.. But with the new MoO tower.....does the new postcard shot maybe be from Abbott Drive? Maybe something that has Charles Schwab Field towards the right side of the frame?

True. I personally like the skyline from a southern vantage. I was driving up into downtown on 13th street and was reminded how nice downtown looks from the angle with the industrial foreground, historic low and mid rises, then the skyscrapers.

Yeah, agreed. I also definitely like the skyline from the southeast, like from the Harrah's garage. The picture from that angle in the header slideshow of this website is my favorite picture of Omaha.

I've had that photo as my phone wallpaper for years. Such a dense, urban vibe to it.

[Louie]

I found the design team for the skyscraper from Mutual's press release. Kendall/Heaton Associates from Houston has dozens of skyscrapers under their belt, from ground up design to renovations. A handful of their designs emulate the curves silhouette of the concept, including the Salesforce tower HQ in San Francisco (I think someone reference that above). Anyway, peruse their portfolio here:

http://www.kendall-heaton.com/projects/

Both 1180 Peachtree and the Devon tower were their projects. I'd say that this forum certainly figured out the designer's style quickly.