Nebraska Medicine

[labguy]

Same project. I have no idea how close to reality that rendering will end up being.

[Doctor Fate]

So I am little confused, is this the admin tower then? It is only $25 million? or is this a temporary structure until the tower is built?

This is the new administration building. A few new details were announced this morning. Some differ a bit from what was in the Board of Regents proposal.

Construction on the $21 million project will start this summer and run through December 2025.

Details of the administrative facility include:

It will be a seven-story office facility.
UNMC will own one floor for a total of 30,023 gross square feet used for administrative functions.
UNMC will own 6,477 gross square feet of shared conference, wellness and support space located on a separate, common use floor.
The remainder of the building will be separate corporate offices spaces for Nebraska Medicine, some retail space and shelled office space.

Only 7 stories now? That is wildly disappointing. The rendering was like 15+ stories.

[skinzfan23]

Well there was the smaller building in the rendering, so I was thinking maybe it was that, but with the costs of the project, it seems very underwhelming. I think the Justice Center downtown was over $100 Million. If this is only going to be $25 Million, it can't be that great.

[Lillian Bean]

It will be a seven-story office facility.
UNMC will own one floor for a total of 30,023 gross square feet used for administrative functions.

One floor = 30,023 x 7 floors = 210,161 square feet. The small building on the left looks to be about that size. But that's a minimum $85M project (and likely more).

[Athomsfere]

It could be the start of just the smaller part of that tower? That one appears to be 6ish stories.

So perhaps build the one part of the admin building / campus and then the main tower later?

From the rendering too, the smaller one is closer to the intersection.

From a logistics standpoint, I think it would make sense as well.

Start the smaller building, and the SC LID, then finish up with the main / taller building.

[Flyer14]

There are some overlapping time lines, and with so much construction in one area no wonder the confusion. Being a med center employee the info shared with us today was that this project will accompany the admin tower. The med center will still have a decent amount of space in this new project too. I cannot confirm if the admin tower has been downsized (have not heard that here), but I don’t believe the admin tower is suppose to start until next year. There are still plans for lid/ pedestrian bridge over saddle creek. A lot if work in this area to say the least!

[Athomsfere]

There are some overlapping time lines, and with so much construction in one area no wonder the confusion. Being a med center employee the info shared with us today was that this project will accompany the admin tower. The med center will still have a decent amount of space in this new project too. I cannot confirm if the admin tower has been downsized (have not heard that here), but I don’t believe the admin tower is suppose to start until next year. There are still plans for lid/ pedestrian bridge over saddle creek. A lot if work in this area to say the least!

That all makes perfect sense to me.

It will be interesting to see both of these start, as well as anything else with Project NeXT.

[Doctor Fate]

There are some overlapping time lines, and with so much construction in one area no wonder the confusion. Being a med center employee the info shared with us today was that this project will accompany the admin tower. The med center will still have a decent amount of space in this new project too. I cannot confirm if the admin tower has been downsized (have not heard that here), but I don’t believe the admin tower is suppose to start until next year. There are still plans for lid/ pedestrian bridge over saddle creek. A lot if work in this area to say the least!

Thanks for the info! It's hard to keep all of timelines and info straight lol.

[S.O.Boy]

While out, we drove Emile to 45th st to Dewey to 44th st. They are demolishing Dewey to Farnam, 44th to Saddle Creek.

[S.O.Boy]

Russell Speeder is opening a location at Saddlecreek & Hamilton, where Gorilla Car Wash was at. That's about 2 miles North, so I am assuming the Farnam location will close.

[legato9]

Noticed some activity at the steel mill. Part of the roof is gone, as is part of the wall on the west side.

Hopefully they’re getting moving on this.

[S.O.Boy]

Noticed some activity at the steel mill. Part of the roof is gone, as is part of the wall on the west side.

Hopefully they’re getting moving on this.

It also looks like the white "windows" on the East side are being removed.

[S.O.Boy]

Just looked at Douglas County Assessor. Hamilton location lists owner as Russell Speeder. South Saddle Creek has no data.

[bldgengineer2015]

Just looked at Douglas County Assessor. Hamilton location lists owner as Russell Speeder. South Saddle Creek has no data.

There's a lot of properties around that area that were owned by either Board of Regents or UNMC that seem to be without information currently. Including Don and Millie's and Rathskeller Bierhaus.

[ita]

The parking lot on the Southwest corner of Saddle Creek and Farnam was empty today (I have never seen it empty before) and the locating service was marking the parking lot.

Hopefully that means they are starting construction on the admin tower.

Have they released any specific timelines on this or other UNMC projects?

Nothing specific, but they have mentioned that construction was supposed to start by the end of this year.

I've been scouring the webz for any details regarding Project Next. I found something I haven't seen before with a decent timeline.

UNMC Project NExT - June 22, 2022

UNMC is planning to add new buildings to its campus at 42nd and Dewey St. Plans are still in process, but the new building is expected to be well over one million sq. ft. Demolition and site work are already underway. The building will be completed in stages, with the initial phase scheduled to open in 2025. UNMC will complete the final phases over the following five years. UNMC currently occupies 12.8 million sq. ft. Project NExT, together with other planned related and affiliated academic and clinical additions, will bring that total to an estimated 16.1 million sq. ft. by 2028. UNMC, Nebraska Medicine and its affiliates accounted for a $6.4 billion economic impact in 2021. That impact is projected to grow to $8.3 billion by 2028. Combined, UNMC and Nebraska Medicine are Nebraska’s largest employer.

The total cost of Project NExT is estimated to be nearly $3.1 billion. The project is funded by the federal government, State of Nebraska and City of Omaha, as well as private philanthropic and corporate contributions.

I don't know if this information is new, but I don't think I have seen the timeline spelled out that way. I assume Phase 1 is the admin tower and adjacent midrise. The next phase is the main hospital project? If that's accurate, we are on a much shorter timeline than I expected. We could have 2-4 new high rises at the campus by the end of the decade. That's cool.

[S.O.Boy]

I think they are removing or lowering the hill at Farnam & Saddle Creek

[yman97]

Isn't this where the bridge over Saddle Creek is going?

[S.O.Boy]

Isn't this where the bridge over Saddle Creek is going?

Yes.



I forgot to mention looks like fencing is up West of 4469 Farnam St.

[bones]

Former Munroe Meyer Institute demo and grading work going on at Farnam and Saddle Creek

[Coyote]

'The green light': Regents will vote to expand UNMC across Saddle Creek

The Nebraska Board of Regents will vote on approving the start of construction for the Innovation Hub, which is part of a UNMC project called 'Catalyst.'

[Athomsfere]

I'm certainly excited to see this overdue next step start.

[Coyote]

NU Regents to vote on innovation hub project that expands UNMC campus
Old steel castings plant dating to 1906 to be repurposed

OMAHA — A favorable vote this Friday would trigger full-throated transformation of an old steel mill operation into the Catalyst, a $60 million entrepreneurial tech hub meant to expand the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus. Various enterprises are to be housed at the retrofitted, enlarged and infilled structure west of Saddle Creek Road, including new branches of UNeMed and UNeTech, which help spark health care startups. UNMC is to own an anchor chunk — about a quarter — of the Catalyst’s 160,000 square feet or so of business and office space. The medical center also owns the land underneath it all.


Atrium of the Catalyst, which is to be a hub for businesses seeking new breakthroughs and patents related to health care. (Courtesy of APMA and GreenSlate Development)

Green light to construction

So the vote to be cast Sept. 30 by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents is needed to launch major construction of the redevelopment vision that’s been years in the making. (Cleanup, site preparation and design work has been ongoing.) More specifically, said an NU spokesperson, the Regents’ action during their meeting in Kearney would approve final details such as the ground lease, ownership arrangement and $29 million in UNMC costs. “The Catalyst project will transition the Saddle Creek campus from industry to innovation,” says a statement prepared for the Regents by UNMC and architect Alley Poyner Macchietto. “The redevelopment is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to symbolically take a keystone of Omaha’s 20th century heavy industry and reinvigorate it into a cornerstone of Omaha’s 21st century healthcare industry.” The Catalyst development team foresees the new “innovation-centric space” fueling further growth of Omaha’s medical industry by attracting researchers, inventors and investors to the former Omaha Steel Works tract, built in the early 1900s.


The Catalyst project is to house various tenants and the UNMC’s “Innovation hub.” (Courtesy of GreenSlate and APMA)

History-filled site

The steel plant in younger years helped build the State Capitol; produced integral parts for the railroad and World War II efforts. Some know the area also for the wood shop that operated at the site after the steel business moved to Wahoo. The Catalyst project — which also is to include a food hall and market, plus event space — is key, but it’s only a portion of a larger, roughly 25-acre site west of Saddle Creek Road that’s expanding the UNMC footprint. An administrative tower complex spanning about 350,000 square feet and reaching as high as 17 floors is planned southwest of Saddle Creek Road and Farnam Street. It is to house work and office space for clinical faculty as well as shops and retail bays.

The roof of that facility’s low-rise parking garage is to bridge east over Saddle Creek Road, serving as a landscaped pedestrian crossing that links to the existing UNMC campus. A UNMC official has said that when the broader redevelopment site is built out in a decade or two, it could contain 1.75 million square feet of new building space for the medical center. Hotel rooms and housing also could sprout on the public-private redevelopment site, which is surrounded by many private real estate ventures developed separately but spurred by UNMC’s growth boom over the last several years.

Health-tech ecosystem

The private development team leading the 3-acre Catalyst initiative pairs Omaha’s GreenSlate Development and Denver’s Koelbel and Co. GreenSlate’s Jay Lund and Matt Dwyer said the goal is a health care and technology “ecosystem” where like-minded tenants congregate and stimulate new ideas, ventures and patents that advance medicine. They see physical structure and environment as a big lure.


Restaurants also will be at the Catalyst structure, designed to spark creativity of medical-related tenants. (Courtesy of APMA and GreenSlate)

“You can’t replicate these old structures in new construction,” Lund said. “Weaving that into the new architecture and design is going to provide a building like no other.” He said the local Catalyst is estimated to be a $60 million investment overall, and is modeled after Koelbel’s Catalyst project in Denver’s RiNo (River North) District. The Denver project was designed to be an epicenter of advancements in wellness. Planning documents presented earlier to the City of Omaha said the Catalyst is expected to bring up to 670 full-time jobs to the area, about half of which would be relocated and the rest newly created from expansions and startups. The city has approved the project for $8.1 million in public tax-increment financing.

Big winner

UNeMed and UNeTech would be moving from outdated space elsewhere to the UNMC-owned space within the Catalyst and would be joined by other tenants. Michael Dixon, CEO of UNeMed, expects Omaha will see more national entrepreneurs drawn to the midtown campus and collectively more contributions to medicine. He said the project should also grow the local tax base. “Ultimately the big winner is Omaha and our biotechnology ecosystem,” said Dixon.


The Catalyst project west of Saddle Creek Road is to house techie and entrepreneurial businesses that will advance the UNMC mission. (Courtesy of GreenSlate and APMA)

[thenewguy]

looks cool

[Coyote]

NU Regents to vote on innovation hub project that expands UNMC campus
Old steel castings plant dating to 1906 to be repurposed


Photo by: (Courtesy of APMA and GreenSlate Development)
The “Catalyst” project west of Saddle Creek Road would expand the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus and be a business hub for innovators in health care.

[Mjs5050ss]

NU Regents to vote on innovation hub project that expands UNMC campus
Old steel castings plant dating to 1906 to be repurposed


Photo by: (Courtesy of APMA and GreenSlate Development)
The “Catalyst” project west of Saddle Creek Road would expand the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus and be a business hub for innovators in health care.

Anyone hear how this vote went? Will be nice to get this cleaned up.

[ita]

NU Regents to vote on innovation hub project that expands UNMC campus
Old steel castings plant dating to 1906 to be repurposed


Photo by: (Courtesy of APMA and GreenSlate Development)
The “Catalyst” project west of Saddle Creek Road would expand the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus and be a business hub for innovators in health care.

Anyone hear how this vote went? Will be nice to get this cleaned up.

NU Board of Regents signs off on details of UNMC innovation hub

Dan Crisler
The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s planned innovation hub took a significant step forward Friday when the University of Nebraska Board of Regents authorized several aspects of the project.

The board unanimously approved, among other things, a program statement for the hub and a lease to two private developers that are partnering with UNMC on the project.

The innovation hub will be part of a larger development called the Catalyst, which will be located on the west side of Saddle Creek Road across the street from UNMC’s existing main campus. The Catalyst project is being developed by Omaha firm GreenSlate Development and Denver firm Koelbel and Co.

In addition to approving the lease, the board also approved the hub’s program statement. That program statement includes space measuring 8,510 square feet for UNeMed and UNeTech. According to documents, space also will be available for biotech and technology startups to lease, which will generate income for UNMC.

UNMC has budgeted $29,280,480 for the project. The project’s cost will be covered by internal funds consisting of nearly $24 million in revenue bonds and $5.35 million in reserve funds. The project includes 40,834 gross square feet of space that has been designated for the education institution.

Overall, the Catalyst is projected to measure at least 170,000 square feet. The private developers will own about 120,000 square feet.

The timeline calls for construction to begin this fall and be finished in spring 2024.

[Coyote]

UNMC's Innovation Hub gets approval from Regents
The Innovation Hub Project near Farnam Street and Saddle Creek Road will facilitate growth of research, collaboration for UNMC branches.

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents on Sept. 30 approved the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s plan to build an innovation hub on its new Saddle Creek campus in Omaha. The project will bring UNMC’s UNeMed and UNeTech branches together to facilitate the growth of research and innovation. UNMC said it will also allow entrepreneurs, investors and innovators to collaborate in the renovated 1906 Omaha Steel Castings industrial tract, located south of Farnam Street between 48th Street and Saddle Creek Road. The Innovation Hub will be a UNMC-owned facility, and they said it will be within the larger office development project known as Catalyst. Remaining space will be unfinished and leased to a wide spectrum of biotech and technology startups.

“The UNMC Innovation Hub at Catalyst is the next step to transform the Saddle Creek Campus from industry to innovation,” said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD. “The flexible lease space will support entrepreneurial businesses in a collaborative environment, will generate income for UNMC and spur regional economic development.” UNMC said within the building, their Innovation Hub at Catalyst will have access to shared conference rooms, amenities and collaboration zones. The project includes 40,834 gross square feet of designated condo space for UNMC, including 8,510 gross square feet for UNeMed, currently housed in Annex 14 at 4460 Farnam Street, and UNeTech, currently in Annex 32 at 3929 Harney Street. “This innovation space will help us with our ultimate goal of seeing more university technologies developed into products that make the world a better place,” said Michael Dixon, PhD. “In addition to the new building, the associated entrepreneurship development programs will develop and attract more entrepreneurs and collaborators.”

Dixon is the president and CEO of the UNeMed Corporation, which works with UNMC faculty, staff and students to commercialize innovative ideas that have the potential to improve health for Nebraska residents and beyond. Rodney Markin, MD, PhD, in agreement said, “The Innovations Hub is critical to the development of a start-up and tech/biotech ecosystem and will be the center piece for our technology development initiatives.” Markin is associate vice chancellor for business development and executive director of the UNeTech Institute, which is Omaha’s only university-supported startup incubator. Construction work is expected to begin in the fall of 2022 with completion in spring 2024. The Innovation Hub at Catalyst is part of UNMC’s larger Saddle Creek redevelopment project. In June, the Board of Regents approved the administrative facility at the corner of Saddle Creek Road and Farnam Street. Construction on the seven-floor office facility will begin this year with completion in late 2025.

[Jins123]

Former Munroe Meyer Institute demo and grading work going on at Farnam and Saddle Creek

Moving right along

[S.O.Boy]

They have put a driveway in from Saddle Creek to 4444 Farnam St

[Coyote]

Munroe-Meyer Institute hosts Trick or Treat event for families with intellectual, developmental disabilities

Munroe-Meyer Institute announced plans for its Trick or Treat event for families with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Faculty and staff members of the Munroe-Meyer Institute, as well as community partners, will give candy and treats to children and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their family members as part of the annual Trick or Treat event. This year it's being held indoors with COVID-19 safety protocols in place.

[nativeomahan]

Former Munroe Meyer Institute demo and grading work going on at Farnam and Saddle Creek

Moving right along

What is going to replace this building, which didn’t look all that old?

[ita]

Former Munroe Meyer Institute demo and grading work going on at Farnam and Saddle Creek

Moving right along

What is going to replace this building, which didn’t look all that old?

This is, reportedly, the location of the UNMC Next project. So, demo of MMI is a good sign that project is moving forward and maybe construction, and more importantly, renderings are due soon.

[ita]

UNMC leads Nebraska to new heights in patent list

UNeMed Corp. helped propel the University of Nebraska System to its best-ever ranking among the top 100 academic institutions throughout the world in earning United States patents.

The newly released report from the National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners Association lists the university at No. 64 for the number of United States patents issued in 2021. It marks the university’s fifth-straight year on the list and a climb from No. 77 in 2020.

“UNMC’s mission is to create a healthier future for our state, our country and our world,” said Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD. “Our researchers’ and clinicians’ efforts are key in achieving that goal. This rapidly growing continuum of science and clinical care is a critical part of the economic development part of our mission. This ranking is an indication of their dedication, as well as that of their colleagues and collaborators through the University of Nebraska, and we take pride in their successes.”

The ranking includes patents granted in 2021 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to the university’s technology transfer offices — UNeMed at UNMC and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and NUtech Ventures at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

In the last calendar year, UNeMed secured 28 patents for UNMC and UNO innovations — of which 22 have been licensed for further development.

The rest of the article highlights some of the projects and companies, which is pretty interesting.

[Brad]

Aerial from a few days ago:

[Doctor Fate]

Aerial from a few days ago:

Isn't this where the admin tower is going? Or am I confused on the locations?

[Brad]

Isn't this where the admin tower is going? Or am I confused on the locations?

Admin tower is going west of Saddle Creek.

[Doctor Fate]

Isn't this where the admin tower is going? Or am I confused on the locations?

Admin tower is going west of Saddle Creek.

Oh ok. So is this the 1,200 bed hospital?

[ita]

Planning board will be reviewing a revised final plat for the UNMC SADDLE CREEK CAMPUS, area southwest of Farnam and Saddle Creek. This includes rezoning from GO, GI, and GC to CC, TOD-1 and 2-MX. The latter are the highest intensity TOD zoning designations. Likely no renderings, but we'll see how they envision the rest of the Steelworks development will go.

[Mapguy]

It seems to me like the city doesnt really have a coherent vision for Saddle Creek. Theyre re-zoning the areas by UNMC as TOD but also approved a largly car-centric apartment complex accross from the BOS with 2 outlots surrounded by parking just 3 blocks south.

To me it just seems like spot zoning. Whenever a developer wants a zone on Saddle Creek changed to suit their needs the city changes it---which really isnt how zoning should work.

Lets just rezone all of Saddle Creek TOD in 1 swoop and then make developers conform to that vision if thats what they want.

[Brad]

It's not always the developers that want the parking. Some developers want to do the minimum parking allowed by the TOD but its the neighbors who are worried people will be parking in front of their houses if the apartments don't have enough parking.