Mutual Campus Redevelopment (33rd & Farnam)

[Taco]

I think you're overestimating the speed of a streetcar, which is inherently slower than driving due to the need for stopping/unloading. KC's streetcar takes 20+ minutes to go two miles, I expect Omaha's to be the same speed. If I were a mutual worker, I would be very unhappy with the park and ride adding an hour to my work day, no matter how much I am in favor of the streetcar. Some may choose to do this, but I don't see it as a widescale thing.

[ArchStanton]

I asked someone who would know and they believe the plans are already in place for what will be done at the current MoO campus, which would correlate with the story from earlier where someone saw the plans accidentally a couple of months ago.

[Busguy2010]

I asked someone who would know and they believe the plans are already in place for what will be done at the current MoO campus, which would correlate with the story from earlier where someone saw the plans accidentally a couple of months ago.

That makes sense. I can imagine they wouldn't make such a move without any plan for their midtown campus. The streetcar ties it all together. I'm sure they're fixing to make a sh it load of money

[Doctor Fate]

Apparently Jason Lahona told the Planning Board that in about a year Mutual will be back to present their vision to redevelop their current campus with new corporate tenants, housing, and entertainment.

[ita]

Apparently Jason Lahona told the Planning Board that in about a year Mutual will be back to present their vision to redevelop their current campus with new corporate tenants, housing, and entertainment.

Everyone, mark your calendars for spring 2023. I wonder if Lanoha folks are going to be involved, or if he said that because they are doing the new HQ.

[Doctor Fate]

Apparently Jason Lahona told the Planning Board that in about a year Mutual will be back to present their vision to redevelop their current campus with new corporate tenants, housing, and entertainment.

Everyone, mark your calendars for spring 2023. I wonder if Lanoha folks are going to be involved, or if he said that because they are doing the new HQ.

Here is where I got that info from: Planning Board Approves First Steps for Mutual of Omaha Headquarters and Modern Streetcar

Most likely Lanoha was just privy to some information due to them doing the new HQ.

[Doctor Fate]

Wanted to bump this thread because according to the mayor's site back on March 2, 2021:

Lanoha told the Planning Board Mutual will be back in about a year to present a “big vision” for Mutual’s current midtown campus, including new corporate tenants, housing and entertainment.

We're nearing that one year mark and I'm hoping for some nice announcements for the current Mutual site. Lanoha is being given the first option to redevelop the current Mutual campus and, in this Nebraska Examiner article from May 2021, we learned:

Lanoha has been silent on any specific plan for the midtown campus, except for telling the City Council this week that he expects roughly $400 million to be invested in its renovation and redevelopment.

A previous rumor mentioned seeing potential plans for two 20+ story condo towers, two 10 story condo/retail towers, and a 6 story civic building. $400 million could fit that.

[djc311]

Does the development projected costs include a Mega Saver anywhere???

[S.O.Boy]

Does the development projected costs include a Mega Saver anywhere???

Don't forget car wash, Starbucks, and indoor storage.

[Doctor Fate]

Does the development projected costs include a Mega Saver anywhere???

Don't forget car wash, Starbucks, and indoor storage.

Yes, the Cryptic Rumor Department told me that there will be a Mega Saver with 30 gas pumps and a stand alone state-owned liquor store, accompanied by an underground indoor storage facility/car wash, and a Starbucks on the second level of the liquor store.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Does the development projected costs include a Mega Saver anywhere???

Don't forget car wash, Starbucks, and indoor storage.

Yes, the Cryptic Rumor Department told me that there will be a Mega Saver with 30 gas pumps and a stand alone state-owned liquor store, accompanied by an underground indoor storage facility/car wash, and a Starbucks on the second level of the liquor store.

Ummm..The “Cryptic Rumor Department” runs only through “The Don”..

Don’t betray your Godfather …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Doctor Fate]

Does the development projected costs include a Mega Saver anywhere???

Don't forget car wash, Starbucks, and indoor storage.

Yes, the Cryptic Rumor Department told me that there will be a Mega Saver with 30 gas pumps and a stand alone state-owned liquor store, accompanied by an underground indoor storage facility/car wash, and a Starbucks on the second level of the liquor store.

Ummm..The “Cryptic Rumor Department” runs only through “The Don”..

Don’t betray your Godfather …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[S.O.Boy]

Does the development projected costs include a Mega Saver anywhere???

Don't forget car wash, Starbucks, and indoor storage.

Yes, the Cryptic Rumor Department told me that there will be a Mega Saver with 30 gas pumps and a stand alone state-owned liquor store, accompanied by an underground indoor storage facility/car wash, and a Starbucks on the second level of the liquor store.

Ummm..The “Cryptic Rumor Department” runs only through “The Don”..

Don’t betray your Godfather …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

Cool, its getting my business.

[Garrett]

Slightly off topic, whatever happened to that rumor thread where someone claimed to have seen plans for the redevelopment of Mutual's HQ?

[thenewguy]

Slightly off topic, whatever happened to that rumor thread where someone claimed to have seen plans for the redevelopment of Mutual's HQ?

you mean the current site and MTC, right? I agree, good question.

[nebport5]

Slightly off topic, whatever happened to that rumor thread where someone claimed to have seen plans for the redevelopment of Mutual's HQ?

Is this what you're referring to?


viewtopic.php?p=340787#p340787

[Garrett]

Slightly off topic, whatever happened to that rumor thread where someone claimed to have seen plans for the redevelopment of Mutual's HQ?

Is this what you're referring to?


viewtopic.php?p=340787#p340787

A proper legend.

[nativeomahan]

Not sure where to put this. Yesterday a friend in the business community advised that a mutual acquaintance of ours, a prominent architect who formerly worked at the Alley Poyner Macchietto architectural firm before relocating to Florida, was just flown in by the firm and spent time over the weekend touring the present Mutual of Omaha HQ building.
The firm (and the architect) specialize in reimaging large older buildings into urban housing.

[Garrett]

Not sure where to put this. Yesterday a friend in the business community advised that a mutual acquaintance of ours, a prominent architect who formerly worked at the Alley Poyner Macchietto architectural firm before relocating to Florida, was just flown in by the firm and spent time over the weekend touring the present Mutual of Omaha HQ building.
The firm (and the architect) specialize in reimaging large older buildings into urban housing.

With how huge the floor plates are at mutual I imagine that would be difficult

[Athomsfere]

Not sure where to put this. Yesterday a friend in the business community advised that a mutual acquaintance of ours, a prominent architect who formerly worked at the Alley Poyner Macchietto architectural firm before relocating to Florida, was just flown in by the firm and spent time over the weekend touring the present Mutual of Omaha HQ building.
The firm (and the architect) specialize in reimaging large older buildings into urban housing.

With how huge the floor plates are at mutual I imagine that would be difficult

I've never understood this one.

If you are going to essentially gut an office tower and re-furb it for housing, wouldn't the large floor plates increase your options?

Or is it that the only real option is a full-on rebuild so it maximizes the cost models and makes it unattractive?

[iamjacobm]

Not sure where to put this. Yesterday a friend in the business community advised that a mutual acquaintance of ours, a prominent architect who formerly worked at the Alley Poyner Macchietto architectural firm before relocating to Florida, was just flown in by the firm and spent time over the weekend touring the present Mutual of Omaha HQ building.
The firm (and the architect) specialize in reimaging large older buildings into urban housing.

With how huge the floor plates are at mutual I imagine that would be difficult

I've never understood this one.

If you are going to essentially gut an office tower and re-furb it for housing, wouldn't the large floor plates increase your options?

Or is it that the only real option is a full-on rebuild so it maximizes the cost models and makes it unattractive?

A big hurdle is natural light and fresh air. There are rules regarding those for residential units so you need sufficient access to the exterior of the building for air and light. Can leave a lot of essentially unusable space in the middle of the building unless you start punching holes through the interior which is complicated and expensive.

Also if you maximize for as many units to the exterior you end up with a lot of long skinny units which may not be as marketable. Also naturally internal units around air wells are going to fetch lower rent/SF which may not make the redevelopment cost effective.

It can be done, but it gets complex and isn't every developer's cup of tea.

[Garrett]

Not sure where to put this. Yesterday a friend in the business community advised that a mutual acquaintance of ours, a prominent architect who formerly worked at the Alley Poyner Macchietto architectural firm before relocating to Florida, was just flown in by the firm and spent time over the weekend touring the present Mutual of Omaha HQ building.
The firm (and the architect) specialize in reimaging large older buildings into urban housing.

With how huge the floor plates are at mutual I imagine that would be difficult

I've never understood this one.

If you are going to essentially gut an office tower and re-furb it for housing, wouldn't the large floor plates increase your options?

Or is it that the only real option is a full-on rebuild so it maximizes the cost models and makes it unattractive?

A big hurdle is natural light and fresh air. There are rules regarding those for residential units so you need sufficient access to the exterior of the building for air and light. Can leave a lot of essentially unusable space in the middle of the building unless you start punching holes through the interior which is complicated and expensive.

Also if you maximize for as many units to the exterior you end up with a lot of long skinny units which may not be as marketable. Also naturally internal units around air wells are going to fetch lower rent/SF which may not make the redevelopment cost effective.

It can be done, but it gets complex and isn't every developer's cup of tea.

Indeed. There’s a reason residential buildings tend to have an absolute max width of 70-80 feet for a double loaded corridor. Windows and natural light are just really super important

Here is the floorplan of Mutual, for reference

[skip]

I have an internal resource that said they are nearing the final stages of deciding which developer they are selling the property to.

[ita]

Not sure where to put this. Yesterday a friend in the business community advised that a mutual acquaintance of ours, a prominent architect who formerly worked at the Alley Poyner Macchietto architectural firm before relocating to Florida, was just flown in by the firm and spent time over the weekend touring the present Mutual of Omaha HQ building.
The firm (and the architect) specialize in reimaging large older buildings into urban housing.

With how huge the floor plates are at mutual I imagine that would be difficult

I've never understood this one.

If you are going to essentially gut an office tower and re-furb it for housing, wouldn't the large floor plates increase your options?

Or is it that the only real option is a full-on rebuild so it maximizes the cost models and makes it unattractive?

A big hurdle is natural light and fresh air. There are rules regarding those for residential units so you need sufficient access to the exterior of the building for air and light. Can leave a lot of essentially unusable space in the middle of the building unless you start punching holes through the interior which is complicated and expensive.

Also if you maximize for as many units to the exterior you end up with a lot of long skinny units which may not be as marketable. Also naturally internal units around air wells are going to fetch lower rent/SF which may not make the redevelopment cost effective.

It can be done, but it gets complex and isn't every developer's cup of tea.

I listened to a recent radio segment about office to residential conversions and the large floor plates and natural light issue is huge, in addition to the windows situation. Punching in light wells, courtyards, and atriums are all options for large floor plates. I am not super familiar with the history, but did the Brandies Building always have the light wells/courtyards, or was that part of the residential conversion? I looked at the private residence atop the Brandeis when it was on sell last year and noticed the courtyards. I thought it was pretty neat. Here's a floorplate of the Brandeis (per Google Earth measurement, footprint is 125x250)

https://venturi.blob.core.windows.net/f ... scd=inline

I think it's workable with additions of atriums/courtyards and separating the additions from one another. Of course it comes down to money. At 760k sq. ft., there is a lot of square footage to work with. If you take into account possible losing square footage from putting in light wells, separating each addition, then elevator shafts, stairwells and hallways, it'll probably be on the lower end of efficient use of rentable square footage. I think 70% is fair, or about 532k sq. ft.
This is an arbitrary number, but if each unit was about 800 sq. ft., that's about 660 units. That's comparable with the CPP conversion, which includes a new apartment building on top of a parking garage. I don't know if the $160M pricetag for the CPP conversion includes the new construction to the west, but that is probably close to what MoO would cost, I would guess.

[ItsAllAboutMe]

" I am not super familiar with the history, but did the Brandies Building always have the light wells/courtyards, or was that part of the residential conversion?

When I worked in the Brandeis building, in the early 1980's, it did have two large atriums or light wells. Those atriums did not extend to the first two floors. There were escalators between the 1st and second floor, big mistake removing those during the remodel.

[HskrFanMike]

I can't imagine a retail store would leave that giant open space. They were there when it was offices, but I suspect that the floors were removed when Braiker remodeled the store into offices.

[Brad]

The mayor is on Omaha right now and she just said that they’re going to have a big announcement about the Mutual redevelopment coming up soon and people are going to be “excited and thrilled”. She also said Lanoha was doing the development.

[Doctor Fate]

The mayor is on Omaha right now and she just said that they’re going to have a big announcement about the Mutual redevelopment coming up soon and people are going to be “excited and thrilled”. She also said Lanoha was doing the development.

Nice! Can’t wait to listen. About two years ago Lanoha said the development would be like $400 million or somewhere around there.

[Garrett]

The mayor is on Omaha right now and she just said that they’re going to have a big announcement about the Mutual redevelopment coming up soon and people are going to be “excited and thrilled”. She also said Lanoha was doing the development.

Nice! Any idea on when/what it could be? Takes me back to that stray Mutual of Omaha rumor thread we had a couple years ago.

[Doctor Fate]

The mayor is on Omaha right now and she just said that they’re going to have a big announcement about the Mutual redevelopment coming up soon and people are going to be “excited and thrilled”. She also said Lanoha was doing the development.

Nice! Any idea on when/what it could be? Takes me back to that stray Mutual of Omaha rumor thread we had a couple years ago.

The last rumor on that one was two 25 story residential tower on the south part of the current MoO lot and 15-20 story hotel and a 6-8 story civic building on the north part with a grand green space between the two.

[Doctor Fate]

The part of the campus that is currently being redeveloped is just the lot that has the HQ right? Or are the surface lots included?

[Doctor Fate]

The mayor said in August that there would be an announcement soon for Lanoha’s plans here. Has anyone heard anything about when the announcement will be?

[Garrett]

I gathered it was a before the end of the year timeline

[Athomsfere]

I gathered it was a before the end of the year timeline

I feel like thats about the season Stothert likes making these sort of announcements.

Not a political joke like the last time.

[Garrett]

I gathered it was a before the end of the year timeline

I feel like thats about the season Stothert likes making these sort of announcements.

Not a political joke like the last time.

Oh yeah, from a political perspective, I'd expect a few pretty big announcements in the run up to the election. I think the main unpopular local policy for Stothert has been the streetcar and so she needs a few more big announcements to be able to sell it as more of a win.

[nebport5]

I gathered it was a before the end of the year timeline

I feel like thats about the season Stothert likes making these sort of announcements.

Not a political joke like the last time.

Oh yeah, from a political perspective, I'd expect a few pretty big announcements in the run up to the election. I think the main unpopular local policy for Stothert has been the streetcar and so she needs a few more big announcements to be able to sell it as more of a win.

No doubt. And that election being the spring mayor election. I've had a feeling the November election with the bond issues could impact some of these potential announcements. Granted, that may not particularly relate directly to the Mutual redevelopment.

[Garrett]

Not a lot to run on, but GrowOmaha responded to a comment on Facebook that Lanoha's plans for the Mutual Campus Redevelopment would be announced in 2025

[Doctor Fate]

Not a lot to run on, but GrowOmaha responded to a comment on Facebook that Lanoha's plans for the Mutual Campus Redevelopment would be announced in 2025

Nice catch. I'm pretty hopeful for some significant residential highrises here.

[Brad]

Not a lot to run on, but GrowOmaha responded to a comment on Facebook that Lanoha's plans for the Mutual Campus Redevelopment would be announced in 2025

Nice catch. I'm pretty hopeful for some significant residential highrises here.

That's not really new news, nothing new since the mayor was on the show in August that said that they’re going to have a big announcement about the Mutual redevelopment coming up soon and people are going to be “excited and thrilled”. That's when she also said Lanoha was doing the development.

[ita]

Not a lot to run on, but GrowOmaha responded to a comment on Facebook that Lanoha's plans for the Mutual Campus Redevelopment would be announced in 2025

Nice catch. I'm pretty hopeful for some significant residential highrises here.

Awesome! Do you all think it's before the mayoral election? Could be a nice feather in the cap of mayor Stothert's development run in her three terms.