FNB & Scooters - Old Meeting Place (12th & Howard)

OmahaChef · Post by **OmahaChef** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 1:45 am

FNB & Scooters - Old Meeting Place (12th & Howard)

After The Meeting Place moved out, there never was "for lease" signs in the windows, and now there is work going on inside. There is paper on all the windows, and large signs by the firm who is designing the new space. It appears their specialty is office, etc., so there may be some creadence to the rumor of a bank branch. It is the same company, I think, who did the new downtown American National branch.

the1wags · Post by **the1wags** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:03 am

Took this Sunday.

If it does end up being a bank, that's just pathetic IMO.

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:47 pm

A bank is needed in the Old Market (for it to truly be a self sustaining neighborhood), plus with a bank it likely won't go out of business in a year like everything else at that location.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:30 pm

There is already a bank in the Old Market. Plus there is a new bank at the Paxton block. First National and the Woodmen already have bank locations DT as well as Wells Fargo and Pinnacle bank.

I guess I'm not totally opposed to a bank going in, but such a big space at such a prominent intersection isn't the best use of the space. The Security National bank takes up a pretty small space.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:19 am

I think a bank will be fine there.

I wonder what bank it would be...??? I hope it has a bit of design to it. You know, like some new, urban concept that the bank is trying or something.

OmahaChef · Post by **OmahaChef** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:04 pm

According to the former owner of The Meeting Place, it will be a First National Bank branch, AND a Scooters Coffee.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:19 pm

Wow! Another coffee place!

I'm so sick of coffee shops. There are enough of them. The last place was a coffee shop and it folded.

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:18 pm

DTO Luv wrote:Wow! Another coffee place! I'm so sick of coffee shops. There are enough of them. The last place was a coffee shop and it folded.

Yeah, but it had WAY too much square footage as Meeting Place to make sense as a coffee shop. Hopefully, with half of the space as a bank, it will now make much more financial sense for a coffee shop.

I'm going to have to disagree on the too many coffee shop comment. For a artsy, eclectic area, the OM has conspicuously few coffee shops. You've got Aroma's way down the south end of the market, and Delice, which is more of a pastry/desert place than a coffee shop, but besides that there's nothing. Sure, there are a bunch downtown, with Scooters and Starbucks, but the OM itself was lacking... For an area always portrayed as "artsy" area, with lofts, galleries, etc, or even the Yuppie crowd its turning to because of the condo prices, I'd expect a coffee place practically every second or third shop (maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration). It might just be the big city in me talking, but from the neighborhoods I've lived in around Chicago that had a similar feel (eclectic turned expensive), you're lucky you don't already have a Starbucks on every corner.

EDIT: Oops, sorry, I forgot about 13th St. Coffee.... Still, you get my point about not being overloaded w/ coffee shops.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:25 pm

Ben wrote:
DTO Luv wrote:Wow! Another coffee place! I'm so sick of coffee shops. There are enough of them. The last place was a coffee shop and it folded.
Yeah, but it had WAY too much square footage as Meeting Place to make sense as a coffee shop. Hopefully, with half of the space as a bank, it will now make much more financial sense for a coffee shop.

I'm going to have to disagree on the too many coffee shop comment. For a artsy, eclectic area, the OM has conspicuously few coffee shops. You've got Aroma's way down the south end of the market, and Delice, which is more of a pastry/desert place than a coffee shop, but besides that there's nothing. Sure, there are a bunch downtown, with Scooters and Starbucks, but the OM itself was lacking... For an area always portrayed as "artsy" area, with lofts, galleries, etc, or even the Yuppie crowd its turning to because of the condo prices, I'd expect a coffee place practically every second or third shop (maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration). It might just be the big city in me talking, but from the neighborhoods I've lived in around Chicago that had a similar feel (eclectic turned expensive), you're lucky you don't already have a Starbucks on every corner.

Don't forget the 14th street coffee. I agree, big bank, little scooters. I bet they saw the MOB and Starbucks Combo at mutual.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:35 pm

13th Street Coffee.

I agree there could be more coffee shops Downtown and in the Old Market. In this case, I'd rather have quality over quantity. I love 13th Street and Aroma's (and Delice, which like it was mentioned, is more than just a coffee shop), but I don't think we yet have any really great, unique, urban coffee houses downtown. I don't know.

The Coffee House in Lincoln (one of the few fond memories I have of my semester there) is a great example. A lot of it has to do with the college town nature of the place, but it was the perfect size with plenty of tables. There was always a good number of people in there, if it wasn't packed. People would spend their whole evening/night there just studying, talking, playing chess, etc. It was great. And this was back when you could smoke there, too. :P

Post by **Brad** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:03 am

Bankers and baristas: Businesses to combine at Old Market site

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1 ... d=10240938

An Old Market corner soon will house a hybrid operation that lets bankers and baristas do their bean counting in the same building.

First National Bank and Scooter's Coffeehouse will mark their entries into the Old Market in mid-March with a business at 1121 Howard St. that is part bank branch and part java joint.

The building on the southeast corner of 12th and Howard Streets was most recently occupied by the Meeting Place, a coffeehouse that closed there last year.

Rolland Johannsen, senior vice president of retail distribution for First National Bank, said the bank decided to make its move into the Old Market to capture some of the downtown area's increasing traffic and to more conveniently serve existing customers.

The bank already operates downtown branches at 16th and Dodge Streets and at 16th Street and Capitol Avenue. It has 125 ATMs in the Omaha area but none in the Old Market.

First National chose to partner with Scooter's and use futuristic, interactive banking technologies to make the bank branch a destination spot within the destination spot of the Old Market, he said.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:50 pm

I still think it's quite a let down honestly. Let's go party and shop at the bank and coffee shop that will close at 9.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:48 pm

DTO Luv wrote:I still think it's quite a let down honestly. Let's go party and shop at the bank and coffee shop that will close at 9.

While I would like to see other things down there, this is not that bad. It will be a stable business that is not going to close after a year. Also, there are a lot of things the close up by nine and who knows if they start having a good night time crowd may be they will stay open later.

.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:54 pm

It doesn't mean the places that close early are any better. If they already had a coffee shop in there that went under, why put another one in?

omahastylee459 · Post by **omahastylee459** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:48 pm

DTO Luv wrote:It doesn't mean the places that close early are any better. If they already had a coffee shop in there that went under, why put another one in?

I think that space was too large for the meeting place. Scooters is a much bigger name, and with the help of a stable FNB, I think they will be there for quite a while.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:47 pm

Scooters and FNB both have a lot more money behind them.

Besides its not like every place in the OM has to be a party spot. There are party spots for just about every type of person down there.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:50 pm

omahastylee459 wrote:
DTO Luv wrote:It doesn't mean the places that close early are any better. If they already had a coffee shop in there that went under, why put another one in?
I think that space was too large for the meeting place. Scooters is a much bigger name, and with the help of a stable FNB, I think they will be there for quite a while.

That's what bothers me. Both places are established so I don't see them going anywhere leaving that space for something new to come into the Old Market. Also

Post by **Brad** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:53 pm

DTO Luv wrote:
omahastylee459 wrote:
DTO Luv wrote:It doesn't mean the places that close early are any better. If they already had a coffee shop in there that went under, why put another one in?
I think that space was too large for the meeting place. Scooters is a much bigger name, and with the help of a stable FNB, I think they will be there for quite a while.

That's what bothers me. Both places are established so I don't see them going anywhere leaving that space for something new to come into the Old Market. Also

Don't you think it would be better for some stable places to stay in the market so that the market will start to expand to the south west? May be take over the Fairmount Building, The Johnstone building and then start up Levenworth?

j4nu · Post by **j4nu** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:11 pm

As a resident of the Market, I am very happy to have these arrivals to the business area. Yes, I would have liked to had another interesting retail option but on a positive side, these are both quality LOCAL businesses investing in the area. The build out will be quality and add the the quality of life in the area.

Before the market spreads more, I would be thrilled if the PE iler space would be filled along with the spaces above Stokes and Delice.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:32 pm

j4nu wrote:I would be thrilled if the PE iler space would be filled along with the spaces above Stokes and Delice.

YES!

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:44 am

I see FNB is now hiring for this location.

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:31 am

During a walk through the Market tonight (yes, you can walk around when it's 4 degrees and snowing up), we noticed that most of the Iler building was lit from the inside. No activity, no appreciable progress, but the interior lights alone gave that block an entire 180-degree facelift. Imagine when there's actual ACTIVITY there.

FWIW.

-Big E

Post by **Brad** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:29 pm

Big E wrote:During a walk through the Market tonight (yes, you can walk around when it's 4 degrees and snowing up), we noticed that most of the Iler building was lit from the inside. No activity, no appreciable progress, but the interior lights alone gave that block an entire 180-degree facelift. Imagine when there's actual ACTIVITY there.

I noticed that too before the Creighton Game. It looked like the big halogen construction lights.

MythOldMarket · Post by **MythOldMarket** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:23 pm

DTO Luv wrote:It doesn't mean the places that close early are any better. If they already had a coffee shop in there that went under, why put another one in?

DTO, the coffee shop you speak of did not fold, the building owner decided to lease to another business. The folks who live above and pay very high rents voiced some concerns about noise and privacy , so changes were made. The coffee shop was sent packing and moved to another location. With the amount of folks and new businesses moving downtown, expect more of the same. We are going to need more than "party spots" to support the area.

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:33 pm

Yeah, and tell that jerk to get his coat off my chair. I'm thirsty.

-Big E

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:10 pm

They have been busy installing HVAC on the roof and putting the "Scooters FNB" signs on the building. It looks like work is going pretty fast.

j4nu · Post by **j4nu** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:24 pm

DTO Luv wrote:They have been busy installing HVAC on the roof and putting the "Scooters FNB" signs on the building. It looks like work is going pretty fast.

We walked by the shop last night and they are definitely in the final stages. Floors, lighting, paint, trim etc are going in.

It is actually interesting how they situated a bank in a coffee shop. You have to go through the shop to get to the bank which is behind frameless glass wall/doors. I guess it makes sense though since the Scooters will have much longer hours than the bank.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:08 am

Could somebody snatch a photo for me??? I'd be very appreciative.

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:07 am

They did a good job with their signage.

Post by **Brad** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:27 pm

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Could somebody snatch a photo for me??? I'd be very appreciative.

DTO is down there every day but he is like you and does not post photos anymore because he said no one appreciates them.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:42 pm

When did I say that? I just don't have the time. I have tons of pics in reserve that I haven't had time to post. I would have gotten your pic but I left the camera at home.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:45 pm

Don't worry. You guys will be getting a massive dose of France and Europe photos before I come home in June.

Post by **Admin** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:50 pm

We will be looking forward to that Streets!

Post by **Brad** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:08 pm

I snapped a photo of the FNB and Scooters over lunch today. I will post it tonight.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:57 pm

After a few delays, here is the photo I promised:

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:18 pm

Thanks so much for that photo update. The signs look great, but I wish they were a little bigger. They're just dwarfed by the facade and the "ghost signage" left on the building. I also wish there were some awnings or something....the building just looks kind of bland.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:22 pm

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Thanks so much for that photo update. The signs look great, but I wish they were a little bigger. They're just dwarfed by the facade and the "ghost signage" left on the building. I also wish there were some awnings or something....the building just looks kind of bland.

No problem.

I kind of like the building the way it is. You can see that interesting patterned glass or tin above the windows, and the piece of structural steel above the windows.

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:34 pm

I love the sign on the corner of the building. It's the absolute pinnacle of good design. No words whatsoever.

OmahaChef · Post by **OmahaChef** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:50 am

I am not a photo expert, but I hope someone can take pics of the bank branch. Anything but an ordinary First National branch! Very modern, lots of glass block, and colored lights and effects, etc. I pictured a counter, but not this. Makes Scooters look a bit bland.

Post by **Brad** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:42 pm

OmahaChef wrote:I am not a photo expert, but I hope someone can take pics of the bank branch. Anything but an ordinary First National branch! Very modern, lots of glass block, and colored lights and effects, etc. I pictured a counter, but not this. Makes Scooters look a bit bland.

Well if the security freaks out with taking photos of the outside of a FNB building... I can't imagine what they would do if you walked inside with a camera!