Omaha:Blue Cross 10-story Headquarters

[jhuston]

To be located nearby the 15-story Travel and Transport building... suddenly another mini-skyline will begin to emerge in the 72nd and Center area.

Blue Cross proposing new headquarters at Aksarben Village

BlueCross Centre at Aksarben Village would be the name of a proposed new headquarters for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, a $99 million, 10-story structure to open in 2010.

Blue Cross would sign a long-term lease on the building, which would be the tallest corporate headquarters built in Omaha since the 19-story Union Pacific Corp. headquarters was announced in 2001 and opened in 2004.

Steve Martin, chief executive of Blue Cross, said today signs are good that the company’s board of directors will approve the project.

City approval also is needed, because the building would be taller than Aksarben Village’s current limits,

"It’s got to cost us less to operate than our current facilities. We’re very optimistic. We hope all the numbers come in as anticipated," Martin said.

The key will be the cost of leasing a new building compared with the expense of owning and operating Blue Cross’ three current office buildings at 72nd Street and Mercy Road, he said.

Blue Cross would sell those buildings, valued at about $50 million, and invest that money in core computer systems and other efficiencies, he said.

Blue Cross’s board of directors has supported the headquarters review process, Martin said, and may have final details to consider by the end of October.

"Our members don’t use buildings," he said. "It appears we can lease a building long-term at a lower cost than ownership. Sinking capital into buildings is not a great investment, in terms of our members’ best interests."

The structure would be built and owned by Tetrad Development Corp., a subsidiary of Tetrad Corp.

Don Mohlman, president of Tetrad Development, said the company is seeking government approval and lining up financing.

"Everybody’s pretty excited about the project," he said.

Janet Richardson, senior vice president for Blue Cross, said the company was encouraged by city officials’ support for the project.

City economic development manager Ken Johnson said the plan meets all city requirements to be part of Aksarben Village, even though the building would be taller than initially anticipated for that area.

"It is a state-of-the-art modern design that will blend in, in terms of what’s being done at Aksarben Village," he said. "It’s a significant accomplishment in terms of the scope and scale of the project."

Tetrad Corp., the new name for Magnum Development Corp., is owned by W. David Scott. He is the son of Walter Scott Jr., chairman emeritus of Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc. Kiewit Building Group is listed as the contractor for the proposed project.

Magnum has developed retail buildings and other parts of the mixed-used Aksarben Village.

Mohlman said Tetrad acquired the vacant 10.3-acre site from Ak-Sar-Ben Future Trust, the non-profit group that took possession of the former Ak-Sar-Ben race track and auditorium property.

Tetrad is asking city government to raise Aksarben Village’s present building height limit from 100 feet, or about six stories, to allow the 164-foot-tall BlueCross Centre. The city also must designate the site for an office structure.

"We have not sensed any reluctance from anyone," Mohlman said. "We have appreciated the cooperation from the city and Ak-Sar-Ben Future Trust."

Leo A. Daly Co. of Omaha designed the proposed BlueCross Centre, which would have metal panels, an aluminum "curtain wall" and a plaza in the back near an employee-only food service area.

Blue Cross would move 1,200 employees there and add 150 jobs, according to Tetrad’s request to use $12 million in tax incentives for infrastructure improvements.

Site preparation on the northeast corner of what will be Aksarben Drive and Frances Street will begin later this year and would be necessary for any building constructed there, Mohlman said.

The building would be about 100 feet deep and 450 feet wide, with 315,000 square feet of space. The project would include a 1,200-stall, three- or four-story parking garage and 240 surface parking spots. Blue Cross’ present headquarters includes a customer service office.

According to preliminary plans, the main entrance would be on the north side. The south wall would be curved and face the newly built Frances Street and outside plaza.

Mohlman said Daly designed the building based on Blue Cross’s requirements.

"It will be considered a Class A building, certainly," he said.

[DMRyan]

Blue Cross must be on a building spree across the country. A huge new office complex is also underway or near completion in Chattanooga, TN as well.

Too bad the downtown DSM HQ under construction couldn't have eeked out more height like this addition in Omaha. Kind of a surprising location for such a large corporate project, but the investment in redeveloping the old Aksarben ground has already paid dividends with this decision. What office park is Blue Cross located in currently?

[jhuston]

Blue Cross won't have far to move, today they're located at 72nd and Mercy.



There's actually a pretty sizeable corporate presence in/around this area. Blue Cross joins architecture firm DLR Group as corporate tenants in Aksarben Village. A large First Data presence is immediately to the northwest of Aksarben Village, and immediately adjacent is the Kiewit Institude business incubator center, which houses a large number of corporate/academic partnerships, many drawn to the Holland Computing Center which is next door as well.


Here's a nice 3D video highlighting the 'Zone 5' portion of Aksarben Village

http://www.magnumcompanies.com/index.php?q=project&id=9

Construction progress photos from eOmaha's Steve Adams..
'Zone 5' district (on which video above is centered)


Hotel


Residential

[DMRyan]

Hard telling by looking at those renderings that the Des Moines version will be twice the size and twice the cost of the building in Omaha. I think there's a little more thought going into the design of Wellmark Des Moines, but it's still a horizontal campus taking up blocks and blocks downtown. The architecture may be plain on the Omaha building, but there's not hiding that the height/building density would be appreciated in our downtown.

Blue Cross Blue Shield must be telling their member offices to go on a building spree. New offices for this company are popping up all over the country right now.

[jhuston]

Construction update from January... BCBS headquarters getting glass... 'Zone 5' entertainment district under construction in foreground.

[UrbanNebraska]

Omaha got some big news about Aksarben Village this week.

BCBS Nebraska


Office above w/ retail below. The retail includes Jones Bros Cupcakes which has won on the show Cupcake Wars, if that means anything. They are quite good.


Aksarben Cinema 10 screen movie theater with fitness center in shared building.



DLR Group


Courtyard Marriott


~500 Apartments are completed with another ~200 u/c right now



Stinson Park


B-Cycle Omaha is centered around this development. Only 5 stations right now, but there are rumors of 100 new bikes and 20 stations across the city next year. We will see though, I am not exactly confident on that one.


University Nebraska-Omaha has their secondary campus right next door as well.

Mammel Hall UNO College of Business.


Scott Court dorms.


The announcements the past few days say the entire development should be finished by 2015. They include:

Gordmans department stores are HQed in Omaha and they will move their offices to a new building w/ ground floor retail.


21 Live/Work condo units.



Apartments


And then announced buildings w/o major tenants, but have said to have "high interest" from other local companies looking for new office space/retail space. A 119-room Marriott Residence Inn, next door to the Marriott Courtyard already in the development. More than 230 new residential units, ranging from apartments to town houses to luxury condos. A 60,000-square-foot retail building that could hold about 10 shops and restaurants. A 150,000-square-foot office building, which will include 40,000 square feet of retail space on the ground level.

Here is a current map of what is already built.


Gordmans is going in the skinny green space by P2. The new hotel will go where the N^ sign is. The 60,000 sq foot retail building should go in the green space by 6. And I assume the 150,000 sq ft office and more apartments will be where the large A/V symbol is.

[skinzfan23]

Great to see all the new developments announced for AV.

[DMRyan]

Just so the Omaha contingent knows, I was so impressed with what I saw on this thread, I forwarded it to our urban planners and economic development folks as a possible model to emulate in our Gray's Landing and Riverpoint West redevelopment areas just south of downtown. Unfortunately, I question whether our local development community has the creativity and guts to get something of this caliber accomplished. We lost a lot of developers over the economic events of the past few years years. I fear large urban redevelopment tracts that could support something like this will end up diluted by a more suburban type of development that is easier and less risky to build.

I remember a time in the early to mid 2000's when Omaha's and Des Moines' urban development projects were quite comparible. That isn't the case anymore. Omaha is doing big city things.

Thank you for sharing!

[UrbanNebraska]

It has been a bit of a process done in phases. The earliest buildings opened in 2007 with this latest announcement saying it should be about 90% complete in 2015. The most impressive feat in all of this is that four separate development companies agreed to follow a plan and stuck to it. Now all four are benefiting from some legit foresight in the mid-2000s.

The biggest thing A/V had going for it though is the willingness to relocate offices to the development by other companies and the surrounding neighborhood embracing it. This park hosts tons of scheduled events. Every thing from farmers markets, to a concert series, to a ribfest, a wine festival and even playing home to Maha Music Festival(it is no 80/35, but still a great indie show) which I am actually headed to later today!


I think Des Moines could pretty easily support a similar project, especially if it were located downtown adjacent and near the river. Talk about major potential right there. I saw the No Place to Rent thread and have been thinking that DSM could be set for an apartment boom pretty soon too. Heck, Des Moines is due for a large scale mixed use development. I can see it now, between MLK, 9th, Dart Way, and 11th. A new park, smaller office buildings with one or two larger anchor companies, 500 apartments some local restaurants and shops. Parking garages located on the inside of the blocks. Do it in phases 2014 break ground, 2018 break ground on second major part all finished up by 2020.

If only development were so easy! I definitely think the potential is there, just takes a creative development team.

[iowacountyite]

I remember a time in the early to mid 2000's when Omaha's and Des Moines' urban development projects were quite comparible. That isn't the case anymore. Omaha is doing big city things.

Thank you for sharing!

With projects landing in Omaha like this then I would say its probably accurate that we will never be comparable again. But it doesnt bother me that noone has touched Greys/Riverpoint yet. If they had by now we would probably see a few vinyl garages facing the street.

[hawk61401]

I remember a time in the early to mid 2000's when Omaha's and Des Moines' urban development projects were quite comparible. That isn't the case anymore. Omaha is doing big city things.

Thank you for sharing!

With projects landing in Omaha like this then I would say its probably accurate that we will never be comparable again. But it doesnt bother me that noone has touched Greys/Riverpoint yet. If they had by now we would probably see a few vinyl garages facing the street.

We do a lot of talking and waiting in Des Moines. Good grief, I can't believe it was waaaay baaaack in 2006 when I posted this:

Des Moines will have an Events Center Hotel. It might take 5 years but someday, eventually, it will happen.

Hold that thought! Maybe in another 5 years?

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