Wellmark's New Downtown Headquarters

[Des Moineser]

They don't have to, but they are asking the city for one because they can. They Des Moines wants this new headquarters badly, so Wellmark will squeeze every cent they can out of the city.

[hawk61401]

Wellmark's Naming Offer
Dean Says Compromise Could Be Made

POSTED: 11:58 am CDT July 6, 2007
UPDATED: 12:31 pm CDT July 6, 2007

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DES MOINES, Iowa -- University of Iowa's faculty said no this week to a name change for its College of Public Health.

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield offered to make a $15 million donation, if the health college was named after their business.

University of Iowa staff members said it could be a conflict of interest to name the school after an insurance company.


Iowa's dean said a compromise between the college and the company could still be reached if the company is allowed to name the school after someone of its own choice.

Changing the college's name would still require the Iowa Board of Regents' approval.

[BriGuy]

Although the faculty said no, can the Board of Regents overrule and say yes? What a precedent that would be if Wellmark got its name tied in with the department. I can think of a host of reasons why that would not be a good idea. Not a U. Iowa alum here, but I would not like to see its good academic image and reputation become tarnished all because of one private corporation's greed to find ways to market itself with its name anyway it can.

[Des Moineser]

was built by Norwest at the time

Silly me. Norwest was much more respectable.

Norwest in Minneapolis:



Norwest in Des Moines:



---

Wells Fargo in San Francisco:



Wells Fargo in Salt Lake City:



Wells Fargo in Des Moines:

[dmluvr]

I complete agree desmoineser---it's a total respect factor and I'm still pissed at local leaders--both des moines and west des moines for not standing tall and challenging Wells Fargo to build something of some grandeur.

Anyways---it's all irrelevant now-----

this is what I want to know------

Construction on the $40 million College of Public Health building is expected to begin this fall.

is this for their downtown dsm campus? have they even released renderings??

[DMRyan]

Hey, I'm all for Wells Fargo building taller buildings that have a more dramatic impact, but keep in mind, many of the taller buildings they occupy in the western cities have a mix of spec tenants rather than completely occupied by just Wells Fargo employees. The 1980's and 1990's were just a different time for highrises in terms of getting financing to build them.

That's not to say that they couldn't have built something with spec space here, but maybe the market would've had a hard time supporting it. Salt Lake City and Minneapolis have more demand for spec office space because of their size.

[Philby]

I think its a combination of lack of spec space in DM, and a business "safeguard" because its easier to sell/rent smaller buildings if they do ever need to get out.

I'm not saying I think Wells is going anywhere (if anything I think they'll be moving more TO the DM metro area) - but just as a general rule of thumb I don't think they want to be in the landlord business (at least not in DM).

Although the new skyview building does have a floor and a half rented to the federal home loan bank, so who knows...

[Norwalker]

I happened to chat with a friend this past weekend who contracts for Wellmark. FWIW, he told me the internal rumblings were that there was a decent chance for an announcement on their eventual location sometime about two weeks after the 4th of July holiday. Time will tell if that rumor is credible, but I'm curious as heck to see which way the dominoes are going to fall here.

On a possibly related issue, the paper this morning mentioned that Wellmark had rescinded its $15 million offer to the U of I. I checked, but at the time of this post, there was no article online to link to.

[Better Life dude]

The U. of Iowa rejected Wellmark's money because the University did not want to start the precedent of naming buildings on campus after corporations.

[Mastermind]

Actually you are both right...

Wellmark withdraws offer to U of I
By ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU

July 9, 2007
22 Comments


REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
Iowa City, Ia. -- The Wellmark Foundation has withdrawn its offer of $15 million to the University of Iowa College of Public Health after the faculty and administration rejected a plan to rename the college after Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

“We are not prepared to allow the college to be named after a commercial enterprise,” said James Merchant, public health dean.

Merchant said he received a letter Friday from Wellmark CEO John Forsyth withdrawing the offer of a $15 million gift to the college. The Wellmark letter was triggered by a faculty vote Thursday spurning the plan to rename the college after Iowa’s largest private insurance company, Merchant said.

Merchant said he agreed with the faculty who were concerned that naming the college after an insurance company would hurt research efforts and give the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Forsyth also sent the letter to U of I President Gary Fethke, Provost Michael Hogan and Iowa Board of Regents President Michael Gartner, among other people, according to an e-mail Gartner sent to other regents Sunday.

Gartner included this portion of Forsyth's letter in the e-mail: "...[O]n behalf of the Wellmark Foundation, I am withdrawing the offer of a $15 million gift to the University of Iowa Foundation for use by the College of Public Health. Unless and until there is unwavering support from both the College and University administrative leadership for a major gift as originally solicited by the College's Capital Campaign Committee Leadership,our gift will remain withdrawn."

The college, founded in 1999, brought in $35 million in grants and contracts in 2005-06 and leads the university in “per-capita” research funding with $750,000 per faculty member, Merchant said.

The $15 million gift would have virtually met the college’s total fundraising goals, Merchant said. Some of the money would have gone toward a new $44.7 million public health building. The state has promised $20.7 million and the U of I will contribute $18 million.

The plan would have made the U of I one of the first universities in the nation to rename a major academic unit after a corporation. Merchant said he suggested to Wellmark that the college could bear the name of the Wellmark Foundation or a person of the company’s chosing, but the foundation board did not approve those options.

“Could there be a change of heart? Could there be other forms or other gifts? Absolutely,” Merchant said. “We’ve enjoyed a very cordial relationship with Wellmark."

[Mastermind]

University of Iowa Considers Naming Health College after Wellmark
July 18, 2007

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The University of Iowa will reconsider a proposal to rename its health college after Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, school officials said Monday.

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The announcement follows an initial vote earlier this month in which college faculty rejected Wellmark's offer to donate $15 million to the university if the insurance company could put its name on the UI's College of Public Health. Faculty cited concerns about the perceived conflict of interest and the potential impact on research.

Wellmark withdrew its donation offer after the rejection, but the deal got new life Monday when faculty held an emergency meeting and voted to reconsider accepting Wellmark's gift.

"The faculty gratefully recognizes the unique and generous gift offer from the Wellmark Foundation,'' according to the resolution faculty passed Monday. "The faculty resolves to move forward and consider this naming gift at a collegiate faculty meeting early in the academic year.''

The resolution has been sent to Wellmark, the UI administration and state Board of Regents President Michael Gartner.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[casualobserver]

From what I hear, today is the day everyone has been waiting for......

[Mastermind]

any source you would like to tell us about?

[Norwalker]

Well, today Aviva finally put their cards on the table, so maybe what casualobserver had heard was actually about their announcement instead? Or, is there a chance that Wellmark's eventual destination is at least partially tied to Aviva's decision, and the dominoes are finally about to fall?

[Ingersoll1978]

I've heard we won't know about that until September.

[dmluvr]

Well, today Aviva finally put their cards on the table, so maybe what casualobserver had heard was actually about their announcement instead? Or, is there a chance that Wellmark's eventual destination is at least partially tied to Aviva's decision, and the dominoes are finally about to fall?

so what were the cards?? are they going downtown??

[Norwalker]

Aviva's headed to WDM.

Link to thread: http://www.absolutedsm.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2814

[MusicMan]

A memo to Wellmark employees last week indicated that the company is committed to remaining downtown, but that the city and Iowa Health Systems still needed to make it work for them. If things have not been negotiated by September 15 the company will move forward with a WDM location.

[DMRyan]

It doesn't get any more simply stated than that. I would agree that this is the whole truth to downtown landing Wellmark's new HQ.

[Ex-Chicago]

A memo to Wellmark employees last week indicated that the company is committed to remaining downtown, but that the city and Iowa Health Systems still needed to make it work for them.

Wasn't it Wellmark who shot down Iowa Health's bid to build in the western suburbs several years ago?

[speeder]

Wasn't it Wellmark who shot down Iowa Health's bid to build in the western suburbs several years ago?

A. I thought that was settled, lawsuits dropped.

A memo to Wellmark employees last week indicated that the company is committed to remaining downtown, but that the city and Iowa Health Systems still needed to make it work for them.

B. As a Des Moines (city) resident I'd be happy to support 'the city' in their responsibility to do whatever is reasonable to support the economic growth of downtown. What exactly is the holdup with the city? I understand this may be a little jab by Wellmark for some reason but I'd rather the City if Des Moines not get a black eye over it.

[butters]

A memo to Wellmark employees last week indicated that the company is committed to remaining downtown, but that the city and Iowa Health Systems still needed to make it work for them. If things have not been negotiated by September 15 the company will move forward with a WDM location.

This statement is a little cryptic. Anyone care to translate, for those of us who are not intimitely familiar witht the situation, what Wellmark may be trying to get from the City of Des Moines and Iowa Health?

[dogbo]

A memo to Wellmark employees last week indicated that the company is committed to remaining downtown, but that the city and Iowa Health Systems still needed to make it work for them.

Wasn't it Wellmark who shot down Iowa Health's bid to build in the western suburbs several years ago?

Yes, but it wasn't that long ago. Maybe a year or two? They also had one with Mercy, but that was just settled a month or so ago.

[MusicMan]

The biggest thing Wellmark needs is the land, which is currently owned by Iowa Health Systems. From the city they would be getting tax credits or some other incentive. Wellmark is also in a suit with IHS over a proposed hospital - I'm guessing that is somehow intertwined with this all.

[hawk61401]

When Wellmark dropped it's lawsuit against Mercy Medical back in June, I thought it would be a matter of days when it would be announced that Wellmark was also dropping the lawsuit against Iowa Health. Here we are over two months later and this thing is still being grinded out. Wellmark has missed two of it's own deadlines for an announcement in June and August.

It would be nice if Iowa Health would do what is best for Des Moines and downtown. If Wellmark moves to West Des Moines, we can't say that Wellmark didn't try and didn't want to stay downtown.

It might be petty and unfair, but if the land north of the Gateway remains as parking lots for years to come, I am going to blame Iowa Health.

[IntraIowa]

Wellmark serves nearly 1.8 million Iowans and South Dakotans. For a company that makes its profits from Iowans throughout the entire state you think they would want to be headquartered in a city that all Iowans have in common. I have great pride in Iowa’s Capital city – Des Moines. I have no connection or interest in West Des Moines. Wellmark is an Iowa company and should be in Iowa’s Capital city.

Iowa Health Systems is another company that makes its profits from throughout the entire state. They should not be making it more difficult for Wellmark to build in Iowa’s downtown. I understand the animosity between the two companies but they really need to cooperate to move Wellmark’s project forward.

[DMRyan]

I sure hope the City can provide a suitable backup option for land in the event that IHS doesn't cooperate in selling the land.

Rehashing on the Aviva turn of events, I would bet money that they had their minds made up about their new location long before the City had a chance to get throughly involved in finding them a new downtown location. Old hat by now I suppose...

[Mototail]

I wonder what kind of deals all these companies including Aviva are getting from the city of West Des Moines.

[Norwalker]

Any news or rumors about this? Speculation, anyone? Anyone? Buehler?

If the memo that MusicMan was kind enough to share with us is true, then we only have three days left to hear something. I've been a little cynical lately, so my fear is that good news would have been heard by now, and that the longer we hear nothing, the less we'll like what we hear when a decision is finally made.

By the way, I'm sorry if this post got people excited, but I just can't stand the sound of the wind blowing and crickets chirping in this thread . . .

[econboy]

If Wellmark chooses WDSM over DSM then Des Moines proper will know what it has to do to keep bringing large employers downtown: 'Make it less espensive.'

Bottom line is, the city of Des Moines is WAY too expensive to build in for a city it's size. Some will be willing to pay the costs, but some also won't and for good reason.

There's also no reason that Des Moines should be allowing companies to buy and sit on vacant buildings or parking lots just for the sheer matter of keeping out a competitor whom they are having a tiff with. (IHS)

Costs should be cut and laws should be enacted to force companies to make good use of the land or sell it to someone else. (IHS) That, combined with more competitive land/tax rates will help ensure that things like this don't (possibly) happen or keep them from happening.

We'll have to wait and see what happens. I still feel pretty good about all this in spite of what I said above. But if Wellmark moves west, I won't be surprised.