Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Grow Omaha, the only radio show that talks
about economic development, construction, business expansion, and all of those
things that make Omaha a great place to live or visit.
Grow Omaha on News Radio eleven ten.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Ka Baby, Well, good morning, and welcome to the show.
Jeff Beils here at your service. Glad that you have
joined us on this post apocalyptic storm morning. If you're listening,
you survived, congratulations, and we're glad you're with us, and
we're glad you're hopefully safe and hopefully didn't suffer any
sort of property damage.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Help.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
The show is the only one in the metro area
that is focused on the growth and development of said
metro area. We talk about business, construction, real estate, economic development,
really anything related to Omaha becoming more vibrant, more prosperous,
and maybe even a more profitable place to do some business.
We want to thank our sponsors. They are Cheer Athletics,
the nation's number one all star Cheer Jim along with
(00:56):
Dingman's Collision Center Best of Omaha Award winner for your
autobody and mechanic needs. Without any further ado, time to
bring on my co host, a man who is a
legendary real estate deal maker from nai NP Dodge, Trenton Maggot.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Good morning, Jeff, Good morning everyone. Hope you're you survived
and not too much damage, not too many branches and
hopefully no large trees that need to be hauled away.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, my house we had I noticed when I was leaving,
like maybe a two inch diameter branch, So I can
take care of that pretty easily after I get back
from from the radio show. Nothing compared to that big
storm we had at the end of July last year,
or an entire side of my fence blew down, So
fortunately it wasn't so bad today.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Yeah, it's Bessie out there, and when you're in the
middle of the night and a sudden the sirens are
going off and you don't know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I think there are a lot of people that are
rude awakening this morning. But at any rate, we are
glad that you are awake and you're with us here today.
We don't have a grow Omaha Eats restaurant review from
Chris Corey this week. We do them every two weeks
and this is an off week, but there will be
one next week and you can read all of the
reviews Chris has ever done, going back to the very
(02:13):
first review simply by going to grow Omaha dot com
and clicking on reviews on the navigation bar, and then
there's a drop down you have eats for restaurants and
flicks for movies.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
You can see all of the restaurant movie reviews.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Chris just reviewed the Naked Gun sequel that came out
and three point five out of four stars, so I
think I might have to go see it.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
I loved the original. I'm having a hard time with
the movies that are out today. I'd love me some
Bill Barstow at ACX twelve plus and examine, but I
don't see a lot of movies that fit my genres.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Well. You can go see Naked Gun with me if you.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
Want, okay, but we might have a seat between us.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Okay, either that we can bring someone with us at
either rate, at any rate. Either way, we are going
to waste no time going into our News of the week,
the development news of the Week that is sponsored by
Eagle Mortgage. We love Eagle Mortgage. They have been a
big part of this show for the last decade. We
know them very well. Holly Schneidewin is in charge of
(03:16):
things over there, outstanding mortgage broker and a really good leader.
She's got a team that really is responsive to their
client's needs. You know, for most people, buying a house
is about the biggest thing they do, and you want
to make sure the financing is taking care of. Eagle
Mortgage does just that. They're a mortgage broker, which means
they can shop a variety of banks and find the
(03:37):
best lending solution for you, regardless of what type of
loan you're going to do. The best thing is, if
you're thinking about buying a house, just go meet with
Eagle Mortgage, talk to one of their mortgage brokers, and
they will help you through that process. Eagle Mortgage Company
dot com, Well Trenton a little bit of retail news today.
(03:58):
This week, the Omaha Council approved plans to expand the
former Yonker store at West Rhodes Mall. There has not
been an official announcement yet as to what store is
going in there, but it is Dillard's. Dillards has not
confirmed that, but the city building permit indicates that it's
(04:19):
Dillard's department store. Some would say it's been the worst
kept secret in Omaha retail history. They've been working on
this deal for a few years now, and we don't
know for one hundred percent certain whether Dillards will be
closing its Oakview Mall store. We hear that they might be,
but we don't know that for certain. It's going to
(04:40):
be a thirty two thousand square foot expansion. The expansion
will be two stories. It will bring that entire anchor
store space to nearly two hundred and eight thousand square feet.
As part of the project, the Granite City building will
be demolished because they want some more parking having a
big department store there. Space has been vacant since twenty eighteen,
(05:04):
and it'll be a big shot in the arm for
West Roads Mall.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Yeah. And at the same time, assuming the close Dillards,
which I'd be shocked if they didn't. Oakview is on
everybody's mind, and I hear it all the time that
the location is a great location, the tenant mix, the
type of structure, it is so complicated to take. I
(05:27):
think it was like seven million dollars or something to
tear down Crossroads and here you got a bunch of
different owners of the boxes. You've got an absentee owner
who's out of Florida that has the main part and
the physical plant. You've got easements, You've got all kinds
of agreements, so you can't just go and take you know,
(05:49):
I'd love to go take Seears and turn it into
storage mart or something like that, but some people might
not like that. But so the question is is how
do you revive that thing. I've heard everything from like
a kind of a ethnic kind of a market where
you have a bunch of different booths and things like that.
(06:09):
But it's gonna be an expensive transformation. The building unfortunately,
probably has to come down for it to really fill
up and get people excited. And the Ring Road is
kind of a mishmash use as well. So my prediction
is that Dillards will be out. It'll be interesting to
see if J. C. Penny is going to be the
(06:30):
last retail box standing there or not.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
So I'll be surprised if Dillards leaves. I'll be surprised
if J. C. Penny stays open very long.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Right, And it's a when you tear a building down,
all that structured and everything else, it becomes part an expense, right,
you have to tear down and it costs millions of
dollars to tear that thing down and have a clean slate,
and then what are you going to put their apartments?
Speaker 3 (06:53):
And you know, my prediction is oak few stays.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Partly because of that reason, you don't have unless there's
something I don't know about. I don't see how there's
a big demand for some other user to go there
that would need that space, especially with the cost you
would have to absorb to get rid of them. All
my predictions, it stays, it limps along until, as I've
said before, we get to that point sometime between ten
(07:18):
and twenty five years from now where there's a massive
nostalgic resurgence of indoor malls and it'll become one of
the hottest things in the world. And like I said,
mark my words people, because this will happen ten to
twenty five years from now, people will say, I can't
believe they tore down these awesome malls back in the day.
Those people were so short sighted and stupid.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Well, it's not going to be your father's indoor wall.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I can tell you that probably be a little more
exciting than the West Roads Mall circa nineteen mid eighties,
when you and I would hang out there as.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Some mom cats drive viewers can pick up.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
But with that, we are anxious to see what it
will do to West Roads to have that big space
filled nothing but positive happening to that area, all right.
People who joy listening to grow Omaha are people who
like buildings and they're proud of their town and they
want to know what's happening. If you are that kind
of person, there is an event taking place today that
(08:11):
was designed with you in mind. It's called Open Omaha.
It's a free metro wide open house celebrating some of
the city's most fascinating buildings, whether they're cultural buildings, arn't building,
sports buildings, whatever the case may be. It's a fourth
annual one. It's today starting at eleven am. There are
forty four different venues or buildings that they're open and
(08:35):
you can go in and and it's kind of like
a behind the scenes tour or inside access. And some
of the venues that are going to be on displaying
open for you to see today are the Connagra Brand's offices,
Joslyn Castle, the Hardy Coffee Company, Roasting Lab, the infamous
(08:55):
Squirrel Gauge, Jello jail in Council blos Unos Mallory Kon's Planetariums.
You can go see Steelhouse, Oma. A lot of people
haven't been to Steelhouse yet. You can see what it's
really like in there. Get a behind the scenes tour
of Rails West History Museum. Don't canast nothing. You can
even get a tour of Central High School. Now, Central
(09:18):
grads are probably like, why would I go back? But
maybe you want to see how it's changed since you
were at Central High. So if you want to participate
in this today, actually it's I set eleven. It's actually
ten am and it goes to four pm. There is
an app, but the best thing to do to get
started just go to Openomaha dot org and they'll have
(09:41):
all forty four venues there and you can choose which
ones you want to visit and pop in and take
a look.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Get to know your city ladies and gentlemen. It's so funny.
And people say, oh, there's nothing to do in Omaha.
I guarantee you if if you're bored in Omaha, you're
gonna be bored in Los Angeles, New York all over
the world. So there's a lot of great amenities and
here you have a chance to experience them for free.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
If you're bored in Omha, you're a boring person. West Development,
the developer of the recently opened Parallel apartments that were
part of MH landing the old Cocoa Key redevelopment site
northeast of seventy second and Grover, presented a plan to
the city Planning Board this week to build a thirty
million dollar assisted living and memory care facility right there
(10:28):
in the one open remaining development lot. It's a proposed
three story building. It would be immediately south of the
new Parallel apartments, and this memory care assisted living place
would have one hundred units, twenty of which would be
for memory care, three point three million in requested tax
increment financing.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Great developers, Brett West and Partners, and we actually have
about an acre and a half listed right next to there.
So if you want to be close to your loved
ones that are in that place, let's talk.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
A local developer has broken ground on Blair Crossing Apartments
and apartment project in Blair right at the conjunction of
Highways thirty and one thirty three. It'll be a one
hundred and thirty three unit apartment project. What's interesting about
this Blair's first major multifamily development in more than twenty years.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
That's surprising.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Yeah, I too.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Blair has been growing and it's an important Omaha bedroom community.
But I've got a feeling you're going to see the
growth in that community accelerate get a little bit faster.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Girls Inc.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Unveiled plans for a new building to replace its Mlosier
Center in South Omaha. The address is twenty one oh
eight L Street. The new building will also be called
Mlosier Center, but it's going to be five times the
size of the existing one. It'll be able to accommodate
(11:57):
three hundred girls for pros and events, and it'll be
somewhat similar to Girls Incs new center in North Omaha.
So it'll have a full sized gym, maker space, instructional
kitchen like the north Omaha Center. It'll also have a
fleet of vans for after school and field trip transportation.
(12:19):
It's going to be a thirty five million dollar project,
or at least up to thirty five million dollar project,
and groundbreaking is scheduled for October.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Loll's your foundation. I asked somebody from North Omha that's
been in politics forever, and I said, what is the
most successful effective north Omaha of what's foundation for north
Oma And they said, without a doubt, it's the lows
Yer Foundation and the gentleman that runs it does an
amazing job and they're prolific and it's not just there,
(12:48):
but it's all over Omaha as well.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, they do great work and we are so fortunate
to have a very generous and very big philanthropic community
in our city. And that, ladies and gentlemen concludes. You'll
News of the Week, which is brought to you by
Eagle Mortgage EGO Mortgage Company dot Com. We're going to
take our first break of the hour and when we
come back, we're going to bring on Jason Lanaha ahead
of Lanaha Real Estate and Development Company, and we're going
(13:13):
to talk about some of their cool projects, not the
least of which is the Union Pacific Headquarters skyscraper under
construction downtown, but we're going to talk about other things
that they have going on, like the potentially the old
Mutual of Omaha Campus Heartwood Preserve in West Omaha.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Got to be a great interview. Stay with us.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
You are listening to Grow Omaha is brought to you
by Dingman's Collision Center along with Cheer Athletics on News
Radio eleven ten KFAB and welcome back to the show.
Jeff Beal's here sitting next to Trenton Maggot. We are
brought to you by Dingman's Collision Center and Cheer Athletics,
the nation's number one All Star cheer Jim, we love
(13:52):
All Star Chair. Why because it's such a great way
for kids to get involved and it's going to be
an Olympic sport in twenty twenty eight. The only Cheer
Athletics in this region of the country is here in
the Omaha area, just southwest of Highways fifty and three
seventy in beautiful Papilion. Can find out more at Caomaha
(14:12):
dot com. Well, I understand that I got my fortune
five hundred companies mixed up. Before the break, I said,
we're going to talk about the Union Pacific Headquarters skyscraper. Sorry,
that's only nineteen stories and it's been around since twenty
or actually two thousand and four.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
We're going to talk about the mutual of Omaha.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Skyscraper, is what I meant to say, and a few
other projects we have with us here today. Jason Lanaha
head of Lanaha, which is a real estate development company.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Jason, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
It's quite an honor.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Well, it's an honor to have you here. And we
hear you've been a little bit busy lately. We're trying
to stay busy. We're trying to match your all's efforts
to grow Omaha. Well, and if you're not sure what
we're talking about, Folks is the developer of the forty
four story Mutual of Omaha Future Headquarters tower, and Jason,
(15:08):
we want to spend a little bit of time on
that project, certainly redefining the look of the city. Maybe
maybe we could start with where are we with it
right now and give us kind of a progress report.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Sure, So where we're at now is the tallest piece
we'll see of it is the sheer core, which will
be topping out here in September. Steels chasing it up
that will finish out by the end of the year,
and enclosures chasing that.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Up as well.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
You're the forty second floor and you're going to be
forty four.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
It's forty four our floor, our Florida floors.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
It's deceiving because our Florida floors are very big, so
they're fifteen feet. Our top floor is a double height floor,
and then the canopy or the enclosure wraps up taller.
So it's yes, it's forty four levels, but it's taller
than the.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Most towers are around twelve foot of floor maybe yep.
And so why did they choose to go fifteen just
because they're well.
Speaker 5 (15:59):
We did a couple things. One, we're big believers, and
there's certain things you can change in a building, right.
You can change out carpet and all these things, changing
the floor to floor height it can't happen, and doing
the proper enclosure right. So those things are important to
get natural light. And also what is very interesting about
this building that doesn't exist around here is on most
(16:20):
of the workplace floors we have an underfloor air system.
So instead of all your duct work, you know, the
saying is, don't share your air. And we remember we
were designing this post COVID. It's the first major post
COVID office building in Omaha. But it allows you have
a twelve inch platform that everyone works on top of basically,
and it's pressurized and so it's very flexible for future space.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
And so people.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
Yeah, it's literally a little diffuser. But what's great about
it too is it's super flexible. Right, So if you
have a floor that's open airspace or open offices, and
then in five years you want to put the legal
team there and build a bunch of offices, you're not
redoing any of the duct work or anything.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
So keeps everything nice and clean.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
But yeah, oh was I saying, well, I'm gonna ask
a couple of specifics about where we are with the
building right now. So we talked about floors. Any estimate
as to how many feet tall the sheer tower is
right now and how much we have to go before
it reaches maximum height.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Yeah, so we will reach maximum height on that in September.
Oh okay, just we're a month out from that. So
it will it will finish out. You know, the building
finished out six seventy seven. I should know where the
core finishes out. It's a little below that. I just
don't know that answer. And the you know what's fun
is that tower crane builds itself up. It's a self
jumping tower crane, and then it will actually take itself
(17:40):
back down at the end of the project. But that's
got one more major jump to go. But what's cool
about that is that will.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Finish out at seven hundred and fifty feet high.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
Oh wow, what's it right now? About seven hundred? Yeah,
i'd be yeah, about seven hundred. We're talking about the
tower crane.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
The building will be six hundred and seventy seven yep
if you high yep.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Okay, so and then so you mentioned h you got
a couple more floor floors to go, and the top
floor will be a double height floor. But there's a
little is called it like a crown or something, so
it'll actually be even a little taller than the top
floor than when it's all said, absolutely, a little bit,
quite a bit, and so one that's architectural feature right
to continue to because the building somewhat tapers, But it's
(18:19):
also a very nice way of hiding all the air
handling mechanical.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
What's their plan for signage in this thing? It's all glass,
So will there be a big mutual Yes.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Yeah, we we've gone through and got that all approved
at the city, So there will be some signage up there,
I suppose. Uh, there'll be some nice shots from the
CWS and ESPN every year of their the Lion and
uh in the building.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Our own Brad Williams love that has made friends with
the crane operators and stuff. But he's takes some amazing
photos that you've probably see it on our channel.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I think we're going to start charging the royalties, starts
charging us.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, So, Jason, any surprises, I mean, it's not very
often we get a skyscraper at Olbaha. What has surprised
you about the project or anything unexpected that people might
find interesting.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Here well, as you have probably paid attention to since
COVID occurred, the markets for labor, material and pricing and
now tariffs and it's just so it's been a lot
to navigate, and I'm very thankful we got a great
team and a proactive team that we're able. We're out
there buying like raw steel in advance to hedge and
(19:34):
do all these other things.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
So that was challenging.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
I'll tell you the other part that's challenging about building
a skyscraper like that in a city like Omaha's. As
you mentioned, Jeff, we don't build many of them, so
the pool of tradesmen trades people that build these are
not necessarily in Omaha. Now at the same time, though,
we all collectively between Landaha and the design team and
most importantly Mutual of Omaha, we wanted to keep as
(19:57):
many of these dollars here locally, so we really thought hard.
That was probably the biggest challenge. We kept about seventy
five percent of the dollars. I think it's seventy three percent.
Seventy three percent that is building. The dollars are spent
with local folks and which is huge, right, That's how
you keep those tax revenues here and flowing.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
So that was probably the biggest challenge.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
Where you have a deeper sub base that builds towers
and fill in the blank Chicago, let's say. But we
have a great team. We were able to navigate it
and I'd say we're very happy.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
We're right. Everything's on track.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Everything's on track absolutely.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
And so Landaha is the developer, Mutual of Omaha is
the client. How does that relationship work? You know, obviously
you and Mutual have to work pretty hand in glove
on a project.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
How do you work with Mutual.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Well, one, you have the sponsors of the project, the
leadership James Black, legend Rick rab Checks see on CFO,
and then they have a wonderful core team assigned to it,
and our job essentially is to deliver them everything they
wanted the best value.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
So it's.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Let's say we've all been together every day for about
five years. Now, you know each other well, We know
each other well, and Jason's over insured with his life insurance,
well his whole neighborhood. My wife ensured that.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
We're talking with Jason Lanaha from Lanaha, which is developing
the Mutual of Omaha Tower, but they have some other
projects up their sleeve as well, and we're going to
take our middle of the show break for the news,
but when we come back, we're going to ask Jason
about plans for the existing soon to be old Mutual
of Omaha campus, and we'll also talk about Heartwood Preserve
(21:40):
out in West Omaha.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
So stay with us.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
You're listening to Grow Omaha, brought to you by Cheer
Athletics and Dingman's Collision Center on News radio eleven ten
KFAB and welcome back to the show. Jeff Biel's and
Trenton Maggot here broadcasting live from the KFA B Penthouse
studio high above Underwood Avenue and beautiful downtown Dundee this
is the only show dedicated to the growth and development
of your favorite city. We want to thank our sponsors.
(22:03):
They are Cheer Athletics and Dingman's Collision Center, which has
four Metro area locations. Take very good care of your
car if you get into an accident door Ding's. Well,
that happened I think a lot this morning. So there
are probably a lot of people that are going to
be going to Dingman's and saying, give fix this damage
for the damn tree that fell on the car. But
(22:25):
you can find them and they'll do a great job
for you. But before we get back to our interview
with Jason Landaha, we do want to have our No
All Companies Commercial Real Estate Development Spotlight Oh the Week,
in which we talk about things happening in or around
one of not Ale companies many local projects. You know
they're a national developer, but here in Omaha, I have
(22:45):
Axarbon Village and the Builders District and so many other
great projects and not All Companies under the leadership of
j Nodel, a big community philanthropists and volunteer.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Good team of people there.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
And you can learn more about Nodle Companies by going
to appropriately Enough No alcmpanies dot com at any rate.
This week we wanted to kind of elaborate a little
bit more about Village Point West. Last week Brad Williams
and lu Shaganos were in substitute for trent Me and
they mentioned some things going on at one hundred and
eightieth and Burke, just west of Village Point. We have
(23:19):
a Kia dealership going in there, as well as hyper
Energy bar drive through business out of Central Iowa and
then Trenton also not part of that Novel Companies project,
but just a little bit to the north. A lot
of people in that area have said, what's being built there?
It's going to be a Twin Peaks restaurant.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
I had something to do with that. I'm their casting agent. No,
I represented them on a he's a human resources nightmare,
Ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, you can't press the button for
that one. He could, But no, Twin Peaks. It's going
to be a real Twin Peaks, not the converted, not
a drive through famous stag Twin Peaks out on West
(24:00):
Center Road. It's eight thousand square free, big patio and
their food is good at Briskett and all kinds of
good stuff.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
And the developed.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
The owners have about nine of them, so that'll be
good and that'll be complimentary to everything that's going on
over there.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
It's funny how people say, well, why are.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
We getting another KEYA dealership? Well, the key Dealership that
was over on eighty fourth and F is now way
out on three seventy by the Interstate. Steve Hinchcliffe and
H and H does an amazing job and that'll be
a nice addition to Village Point West and they build
a quality product.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
And that is your Nodle Companies Commercial real Estate Development
of the Week, brought to you by not All Companies. Well,
we're going to go back to our interview with Jason
Lanaha Lanaha real Estate Development Company, and we talked a
little bit about the Mutual of Omaha Tower, which Lantaha
is developing for Mutual of Omaha. But Jason, let's go
(24:56):
just a little bit west, and when Mutual moves in
the tower, they're going to be leaving behind a pretty
big complex in midtown right along the streetcar line. What
are your thoughts and plans so far, at least as
far as you can say about the old Mutual campus.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
And you're the master developer the developer obviously yep. And
are you gonna do the whole thing or are you
gonna piece it off?
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yeah, we will acquire all the ground from Mutual Bull.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
How big is that campus?
Speaker 3 (25:24):
That's a heck of a question.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Big huge, We'll take it. Well, So Jeff and gent
and quick little background. So when we started this whole project,
we call Project Beacon, which most people know is the
Tower Downtown, but there was a there are three legs
to that that made the whole thing happen. One was
obviously the Tower downtown, Two is what can happen in
(25:45):
this midtown campus? And then three was you know we
were adjacent to but big proponents of the street car
connecting all of it. So so yeah, so what we
are calling Midtown Forward, and that's just it's not a
name of a project, it's just our internal efforts. We
are master planning out everything essentially from four to eighty
to thirty sixth Street, so that will include there are
(26:08):
quite a few vacant parking lots. There are three parking
structures that the City of Omaha just acquired that will
serve as essentially the main parking right up along the
street car and will allow us to build more density
in there. But so we're really thinking forward what we
can do there, and our main goal, as we were
talking before the show, is there aren't many places in
(26:29):
Omaha where you can really strive to add real new
jobs to the market. Taking a swath of land and
I called some of the best dirt in the state.
With now some public transportation being built along along at
all the major employers, we think this is our shot
to do that, we think it's our duty to do it,
and so it might take a little longer, but we
(26:50):
are we're very focused on getting together all the right
private and public folks together to help actually.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Bring new jobs and companies to Omaha.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
Well, most of the structures stay, yeah, yeah, so there
there are obviously a number of parking structures, but the
two main structures I'm assuming you're referring to or Mutual's
current office buildings. So the building south along Farnum Street
is still a wonderful office building. I foresee that being
an office building for a long long time. It is,
it is, but it's a good it's a really good building.
(27:22):
It'll fit a nice slice of the market of will
the Domesday. Yeah, and then so if we're jumping on
the north side of Farnham.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
You know, the the current HQ is is huge.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
Well, as we said, it's huge, and it's been you know,
built on for over one hundred years I believe five times,
so technically four buildings, but one of them.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Is built the tower pieces built in two phases. That's
a more challenging building. That's never going to be an
office building again. We all know that.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
But what we think though is that it's too important
of a building for it to go away. And so
you know, we firmly believe it. It needs to stay
and it will stay. We are going through and I'm
gonna be I'm gonna leave out a few details because
I don't want to get ahead of other folks, but
we are actively master planning out, underwriting, budgeting what's going
to happen in that building, including the dome, and so
(28:13):
we're excited to announce some stuff.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Later this year.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
And that a lot of people don't realize that there's
office space and storage space under Dodge Street.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
Yeah, it's just it's a huge building. I mean tunnels,
multiple cores. It goes two levels below the dome, so
three total levels below the Dome.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
There's a lot of space.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I want to We only have a few minutes left
with Jason Lanhan and I do want to go out
west to the row at Hartwood Preserve. You got to
give us a little update about what's happening there.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:42):
So, so we broke ground on our first building, one
hundred and twenty thousand square foot mixed use building, Olsen
or Olson Associates, the old name. Olsen has been both
a great partner and anchor tenant for the building, so
that thing screaming forward are going to be in there
in the first half of next year. And actually on
(29:04):
Thursday or Friday, we started standing in the first pre
cast panels for the first parking structure out there. We
recently announced one hundred and sixty key Marriott Autograph brand
hotel right adjacent to it, which we're very excited about
their name for it. You know, I'm great with names.
Any suggestions, no, no, that will not happen. We're down
(29:30):
to there you go back. It's like things urban there
you go. We're down to a few names, and we're
working through some trademark things to make sure we can
actually have those names.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
But our goal there is to have it be the
best hotel in Omhon. I really mean that.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
So we have a sixth floor rooftop bar, a second
floor outdoor pool. So we're really trying to bring some
of the things that you see in larger markets to Omaha.
You think it'll be open in two years or well,
that is quite a debate right now with Aubur consultants.
They will and take more time than we want to
give them.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
So they yeah, funny how that happens. Yes, Yeah, that's
a pretty good target.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Yes, So when we're talking about the row, we're talking
about the middle of Heartweed Preserve because Heartwood Preserve itself
is five hundred acres that goes from Applied Underwriters headquarters
to Dodge yep. And so this is I understand it, Jason,
will be a very walkable mixed use development right in
the middle.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
So yeah, to your point, five hundred and fifty acres
spearheaded and the vision of Applied Underwriters, which have been
wonderful partners to us, and I think of the city
and then yes, we're building what's called the downtown of
it so parking structures, walkable community, trying to build something
that doesn't exist in Omaha.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
Parking structures are.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
They are cars are expensive in general. When can we
get away from these things? It might be coming.
Speaker 5 (30:48):
I hope you're right, because parking structures are expensive. We
all talk about we want these great walkable cities, but
meanwhile we need to take every other block and put
parking on it.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
It just doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Yeah, well, and that is one of the reasons we're
so excited about what you guys are doing downtown Midtown
street cars and Jason, I'm afraid we're gonna have to
cut this off today, but we need to have you back.
Maybe we could have you on, you know, in a
few months, and you can give us kind of an
update and maybe we'll even know even more about the
Midtown Mutual campus.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
I'm in. I would love to do it. I appreciate
it all right.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
That's Jason Lanaha, head of Lanaha Development and Real Estate Company,
talking about the two mutuals and Heartwood Preserve. So we're
going to take our final break of the morning, and
you know what that means. When we come back, it'll
be your Perkins Chritser construction lightning rounds.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
To stay with us.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
You're listening to grow Omaha brought to you by Cheer Athletics,
Dingman's Collision Center, and Perkins Chritser Construction on news radio
eleven ten kfab It's the Perkins Chritzer Construction, the Lightning
Round in which we talk about a lot of things
really fast. Thank you to Perkins Chritzer Construction for making
this possible. It is under the steady hand and highly
(31:59):
qualified leadership of one Dave Kreutzer, a good friend of
the show. And I talked to Dave Kreizer not too
long ago. I said, Dave, you've got all these cool
projects that you have going on, give me, give me
a little bit of intel.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
So he did.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
He answered one of those what's happening at questions? You
know see at Gromaha, we are peppered with questions. We
can't answer all of them because there are so many
of them. What's going on here? What's going on there?
A lot of people were saying, what's going on with
that Popeyes that is under construction southeast of one hundred
and sixty eighth and West Maple Road. And Dave Kreutzer,
(32:33):
let me know, because Perkins Chreisler Construction is building that
it is now looking like a September opening for that restaurant.
It had been delayed because apparently during construction, Popeye's corporate
had a bunch of changes that they wanted to have happen,
and the local owner kind of has to work with that.
So Popeye's construction coming to a close soon and the
(32:55):
restaurant opening in September. So not only do you get
a Perkins Chrisler construction lightning, you get a Perkins Kretzer
project updates.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Are they going to change the friar oil twice a
year instead of once a year?
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Trenton, don't say not nice things about a place that
you and I both know we love. And when we
were in college, we used to go there all the
time because when we were in college, Omaha didn't have
a Popeyes, but there was one in a Lincoln and
in the summer break, we would drive all the way
to forty eighth and Vine Street, Lincoln just to have
that Popeye's chicken, red beans and all right. Draft Kade,
(33:27):
a retro arcade bar and restaurant, has opened in Miracle Hills,
west side of one hundred and fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
It is attached to the recently relocated recently relocated Funny
Bone Comedy Club. O'll ei there tonight or early what
do you have?
Speaker 4 (33:41):
Christopher Titus, one crazy guy and his wife opens for
him and kyleeen Quatter's the managing partner of the Funny Bone.
And this is the first time I've been to the
new one in the in the arcade.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Africa on a Plate plans to open around September first,
and the former Panda House Chinese restaurant down Town sixteenth
in Farnham. It has a lot of African cuisine but
specializes in South Sudanese culture. And like I said, they're
hoping for a September first, but they might.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Be a little bit later.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
In the Mom is glad the' using plates.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
The fox Den will open soon at forty nine sixteen
Underwood Avenue in Dundee. It replaces La Beaux, which is
a bodega that closed July twenty sixth after being open
for only about a year. It's underneath U de Lali,
which is which is a restaurant our own Chris Corey
reviewed a while back, a very popular place, but similar
(34:38):
you know, you know, ownership and all that sort of thing.
And the fox Den will share Oo de Lalai's mission
with re entry, getting former prisoners into the work world.
The tenant, which was a rooftop bar that opened last
August at sixty second in Maple Inn Benson, has rebranded
(34:59):
to Little Riot.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Little Riot. I know that's a dangerous name.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
And they already kept the tenant, but at any rate,
it is now a Little Riot, despite Trenton's opposition to
the name.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
You can check it out in downtown Dundee.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
The Beanery is taking over the former Rally Coffee space
at a one hundred and seventy eighth and Highway three
seventy in Gretna. It just opened a couple days ago.
It is northeast. I already said the location, but the
Beanery has a bunch of existing locations, primarily in Sarpy County.
It looks like and the Rally coffee business is still open.
(35:38):
They just are focusing on their north downtown location. We
have Unity Seafoods opened at seventy sixth then cass And
when you drive by, it's one of the few times
a restaurant, well, it took over a former outback steakhouse.
It's one of the few times a restaurant takes over
a chain prototype building and it doesn't totally look like
the old chain.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
It's nice to do that. I'm still Arcadia Grill. Arcadian
Grill is where I'm at when it comes to seafood,
but yeah, or.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Especially Cajun food.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
The Cake Gallery has reopened in bel Air Plaza one
hundred and twentieth and West Center Road. You'll recall they
were in Westgate Plaza for sixty years and there was
some controversy with them being pushed out of there after
their lease expired to make way for a Westlake Ace
hardware store. That hardware store is now open. The Cake
Gallery is in bel Air Plaza and folks, can we
(36:32):
please live happily ever after?
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Now we'll see the videos and the find out.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Burger Detour has permanently closed both of its locations two
hundred and fourth in Pacific as well as West Maple.
We also have the City Pub closed recently in La
Vista City Center.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
How depressing is this. We've got four closings.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Matilda Flower Shop in the Old Market it's closed, but
there rest of its business, the non retail side of
its business stays opened. And CBS Pharmacy has closed a
store at eighty three point fifteen West Center Road.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
It's called commercial vacancy soon.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
That's just what their competitors at Walgreens like to call it, right,
They don't have much room to talk, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Well yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
You know, there's a share, there's a share of these
Walgreens that have been closing late. I can't figure that
out why these drug stores close. I mean, there's something
beyond my pay grade. And thank god the music is
playing so I don't have to come up with something absolutely.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
At any rate.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
We hope everyone has enjoyed the show, and we also
hope that you have a great, happy, healthy, and safe weekend.
We want to thank our sponsors. They are Perkins, Chritzer Construction,
Cheer Athletics, and Dingman's Collision Center. We'll chat with you
next week at nine o'clock. I'm Jeff Beals and I'm
Trented Megan. You've been listening to grow Omaha on news
(37:54):
radio eleven ten KFAB
This is Grow Omaha, the only radio show that talks
about economic development, construction, business expansion, and all of those
things that make Omaha a great place to live or visit.
Grow Omaha on News Radio eleven ten.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Ka Baby, Well, good morning, and welcome to the show.
Jeff Beils here at your service. Glad that you have
joined us on this post apocalyptic storm morning. If you're listening,
you survived, congratulations, and we're glad you're with us, and
we're glad you're hopefully safe and hopefully didn't suffer any
sort of property damage.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Help.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
The show is the only one in the metro area
that is focused on the growth and development of said
metro area. We talk about business, construction, real estate, economic development,
really anything related to Omaha becoming more vibrant, more prosperous,
and maybe even a more profitable place to do some business.
We want to thank our sponsors. They are Cheer Athletics,
the nation's number one all star Cheer Jim along with
(00:56):
Dingman's Collision Center Best of Omaha Award winner for your
autobody and mechanic needs. Without any further ado, time to
bring on my co host, a man who is a
legendary real estate deal maker from nai NP Dodge, Trenton Maggot.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Good morning, Jeff, Good morning everyone. Hope you're you survived
and not too much damage, not too many branches and
hopefully no large trees that need to be hauled away.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, my house we had I noticed when I was leaving,
like maybe a two inch diameter branch, So I can
take care of that pretty easily after I get back
from from the radio show. Nothing compared to that big
storm we had at the end of July last year,
or an entire side of my fence blew down, So
fortunately it wasn't so bad today.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Yeah, it's Bessie out there, and when you're in the
middle of the night and a sudden the sirens are
going off and you don't know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I think there are a lot of people that are
rude awakening this morning. But at any rate, we are
glad that you are awake and you're with us here today.
We don't have a grow Omaha Eats restaurant review from
Chris Corey this week. We do them every two weeks
and this is an off week, but there will be
one next week and you can read all of the
reviews Chris has ever done, going back to the very
(02:13):
first review simply by going to grow Omaha dot com
and clicking on reviews on the navigation bar, and then
there's a drop down you have eats for restaurants and
flicks for movies.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
You can see all of the restaurant movie reviews.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Chris just reviewed the Naked Gun sequel that came out
and three point five out of four stars, so I
think I might have to go see it.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
I loved the original. I'm having a hard time with
the movies that are out today. I'd love me some
Bill Barstow at ACX twelve plus and examine, but I
don't see a lot of movies that fit my genres.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Well. You can go see Naked Gun with me if you.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
Want, okay, but we might have a seat between us.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Okay, either that we can bring someone with us at
either rate, at any rate. Either way, we are going
to waste no time going into our News of the week,
the development news of the Week that is sponsored by
Eagle Mortgage. We love Eagle Mortgage. They have been a
big part of this show for the last decade. We
know them very well. Holly Schneidewin is in charge of
(03:16):
things over there, outstanding mortgage broker and a really good leader.
She's got a team that really is responsive to their
client's needs. You know, for most people, buying a house
is about the biggest thing they do, and you want
to make sure the financing is taking care of. Eagle
Mortgage does just that. They're a mortgage broker, which means
they can shop a variety of banks and find the
(03:37):
best lending solution for you, regardless of what type of
loan you're going to do. The best thing is, if
you're thinking about buying a house, just go meet with
Eagle Mortgage, talk to one of their mortgage brokers, and
they will help you through that process. Eagle Mortgage Company
dot com, Well Trenton a little bit of retail news today.
(03:58):
This week, the Omaha Council approved plans to expand the
former Yonker store at West Rhodes Mall. There has not
been an official announcement yet as to what store is
going in there, but it is Dillard's. Dillards has not
confirmed that, but the city building permit indicates that it's
(04:19):
Dillard's department store. Some would say it's been the worst
kept secret in Omaha retail history. They've been working on
this deal for a few years now, and we don't
know for one hundred percent certain whether Dillards will be
closing its Oakview Mall store. We hear that they might be,
but we don't know that for certain. It's going to
(04:40):
be a thirty two thousand square foot expansion. The expansion
will be two stories. It will bring that entire anchor
store space to nearly two hundred and eight thousand square feet.
As part of the project, the Granite City building will
be demolished because they want some more parking having a
big department store there. Space has been vacant since twenty eighteen,
(05:04):
and it'll be a big shot in the arm for
West Roads Mall.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Yeah. And at the same time, assuming the close Dillards,
which I'd be shocked if they didn't. Oakview is on
everybody's mind, and I hear it all the time that
the location is a great location, the tenant mix, the
type of structure, it is so complicated to take. I
(05:27):
think it was like seven million dollars or something to
tear down Crossroads and here you got a bunch of
different owners of the boxes. You've got an absentee owner
who's out of Florida that has the main part and
the physical plant. You've got easements, You've got all kinds
of agreements, so you can't just go and take you know,
(05:49):
I'd love to go take Seears and turn it into
storage mart or something like that, but some people might
not like that. But so the question is is how
do you revive that thing. I've heard everything from like
a kind of a ethnic kind of a market where
you have a bunch of different booths and things like that.
(06:09):
But it's gonna be an expensive transformation. The building unfortunately,
probably has to come down for it to really fill
up and get people excited. And the Ring Road is
kind of a mishmash use as well. So my prediction
is that Dillards will be out. It'll be interesting to
see if J. C. Penny is going to be the
(06:30):
last retail box standing there or not.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
So I'll be surprised if Dillards leaves. I'll be surprised
if J. C. Penny stays open very long.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Right, And it's a when you tear a building down,
all that structured and everything else, it becomes part an expense, right,
you have to tear down and it costs millions of
dollars to tear that thing down and have a clean slate,
and then what are you going to put their apartments?
Speaker 3 (06:53):
And you know, my prediction is oak few stays.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Partly because of that reason, you don't have unless there's
something I don't know about. I don't see how there's
a big demand for some other user to go there
that would need that space, especially with the cost you
would have to absorb to get rid of them. All
my predictions, it stays, it limps along until, as I've
said before, we get to that point sometime between ten
(07:18):
and twenty five years from now where there's a massive
nostalgic resurgence of indoor malls and it'll become one of
the hottest things in the world. And like I said,
mark my words people, because this will happen ten to
twenty five years from now, people will say, I can't
believe they tore down these awesome malls back in the day.
Those people were so short sighted and stupid.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Well, it's not going to be your father's indoor wall.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I can tell you that probably be a little more
exciting than the West Roads Mall circa nineteen mid eighties,
when you and I would hang out there as.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Some mom cats drive viewers can pick up.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
But with that, we are anxious to see what it
will do to West Roads to have that big space
filled nothing but positive happening to that area, all right.
People who joy listening to grow Omaha are people who
like buildings and they're proud of their town and they
want to know what's happening. If you are that kind
of person, there is an event taking place today that
(08:11):
was designed with you in mind. It's called Open Omaha.
It's a free metro wide open house celebrating some of
the city's most fascinating buildings, whether they're cultural buildings, arn't building,
sports buildings, whatever the case may be. It's a fourth
annual one. It's today starting at eleven am. There are
forty four different venues or buildings that they're open and
(08:35):
you can go in and and it's kind of like
a behind the scenes tour or inside access. And some
of the venues that are going to be on displaying
open for you to see today are the Connagra Brand's offices,
Joslyn Castle, the Hardy Coffee Company, Roasting Lab, the infamous
(08:55):
Squirrel Gauge, Jello jail in Council blos Unos Mallory Kon's Planetariums.
You can go see Steelhouse, Oma. A lot of people
haven't been to Steelhouse yet. You can see what it's
really like in there. Get a behind the scenes tour
of Rails West History Museum. Don't canast nothing. You can
even get a tour of Central High School. Now, Central
(09:18):
grads are probably like, why would I go back? But
maybe you want to see how it's changed since you
were at Central High. So if you want to participate
in this today, actually it's I set eleven. It's actually
ten am and it goes to four pm. There is
an app, but the best thing to do to get
started just go to Openomaha dot org and they'll have
(09:41):
all forty four venues there and you can choose which
ones you want to visit and pop in and take
a look.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Get to know your city ladies and gentlemen. It's so funny.
And people say, oh, there's nothing to do in Omaha.
I guarantee you if if you're bored in Omaha, you're
gonna be bored in Los Angeles, New York all over
the world. So there's a lot of great amenities and
here you have a chance to experience them for free.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
If you're bored in Omha, you're a boring person. West Development,
the developer of the recently opened Parallel apartments that were
part of MH landing the old Cocoa Key redevelopment site
northeast of seventy second and Grover, presented a plan to
the city Planning Board this week to build a thirty
million dollar assisted living and memory care facility right there
(10:28):
in the one open remaining development lot. It's a proposed
three story building. It would be immediately south of the
new Parallel apartments, and this memory care assisted living place
would have one hundred units, twenty of which would be
for memory care, three point three million in requested tax
increment financing.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Great developers, Brett West and Partners, and we actually have
about an acre and a half listed right next to there.
So if you want to be close to your loved
ones that are in that place, let's talk.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
A local developer has broken ground on Blair Crossing Apartments
and apartment project in Blair right at the conjunction of
Highways thirty and one thirty three. It'll be a one
hundred and thirty three unit apartment project. What's interesting about
this Blair's first major multifamily development in more than twenty years.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
That's surprising.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Yeah, I too.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Blair has been growing and it's an important Omaha bedroom community.
But I've got a feeling you're going to see the
growth in that community accelerate get a little bit faster.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Girls Inc.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Unveiled plans for a new building to replace its Mlosier
Center in South Omaha. The address is twenty one oh
eight L Street. The new building will also be called
Mlosier Center, but it's going to be five times the
size of the existing one. It'll be able to accommodate
(11:57):
three hundred girls for pros and events, and it'll be
somewhat similar to Girls Incs new center in North Omaha.
So it'll have a full sized gym, maker space, instructional
kitchen like the north Omaha Center. It'll also have a
fleet of vans for after school and field trip transportation.
(12:19):
It's going to be a thirty five million dollar project,
or at least up to thirty five million dollar project,
and groundbreaking is scheduled for October.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Loll's your foundation. I asked somebody from North Omha that's
been in politics forever, and I said, what is the
most successful effective north Omaha of what's foundation for north
Oma And they said, without a doubt, it's the lows
Yer Foundation and the gentleman that runs it does an
amazing job and they're prolific and it's not just there,
(12:48):
but it's all over Omaha as well.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, they do great work and we are so fortunate
to have a very generous and very big philanthropic community
in our city. And that, ladies and gentlemen concludes. You'll
News of the Week, which is brought to you by
Eagle Mortgage EGO Mortgage Company dot Com. We're going to
take our first break of the hour and when we
come back, we're going to bring on Jason Lanaha ahead
of Lanaha Real Estate and Development Company, and we're going
(13:13):
to talk about some of their cool projects, not the
least of which is the Union Pacific Headquarters skyscraper under
construction downtown, but we're going to talk about other things
that they have going on, like the potentially the old
Mutual of Omaha Campus Heartwood Preserve in West Omaha.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Got to be a great interview. Stay with us.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
You are listening to Grow Omaha is brought to you
by Dingman's Collision Center along with Cheer Athletics on News
Radio eleven ten KFAB and welcome back to the show.
Jeff Beal's here sitting next to Trenton Maggot. We are
brought to you by Dingman's Collision Center and Cheer Athletics,
the nation's number one All Star cheer Jim, we love
(13:52):
All Star Chair. Why because it's such a great way
for kids to get involved and it's going to be
an Olympic sport in twenty twenty eight. The only Cheer
Athletics in this region of the country is here in
the Omaha area, just southwest of Highways fifty and three
seventy in beautiful Papilion. Can find out more at Caomaha
(14:12):
dot com. Well, I understand that I got my fortune
five hundred companies mixed up. Before the break, I said,
we're going to talk about the Union Pacific Headquarters skyscraper. Sorry,
that's only nineteen stories and it's been around since twenty
or actually two thousand and four.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
We're going to talk about the mutual of Omaha.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Skyscraper, is what I meant to say, and a few
other projects we have with us here today. Jason Lanaha
head of Lanaha, which is a real estate development company.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Jason, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
It's quite an honor.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Well, it's an honor to have you here. And we
hear you've been a little bit busy lately. We're trying
to stay busy. We're trying to match your all's efforts
to grow Omaha. Well, and if you're not sure what
we're talking about, Folks is the developer of the forty
four story Mutual of Omaha Future Headquarters tower, and Jason,
(15:08):
we want to spend a little bit of time on
that project, certainly redefining the look of the city. Maybe
maybe we could start with where are we with it
right now and give us kind of a progress report.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Sure, So where we're at now is the tallest piece
we'll see of it is the sheer core, which will
be topping out here in September. Steels chasing it up
that will finish out by the end of the year,
and enclosures chasing that.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Up as well.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
You're the forty second floor and you're going to be
forty four.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
It's forty four our floor, our Florida floors.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
It's deceiving because our Florida floors are very big, so
they're fifteen feet. Our top floor is a double height floor,
and then the canopy or the enclosure wraps up taller.
So it's yes, it's forty four levels, but it's taller
than the.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Most towers are around twelve foot of floor maybe yep.
And so why did they choose to go fifteen just
because they're well.
Speaker 5 (15:59):
We did a couple things. One, we're big believers, and
there's certain things you can change in a building, right.
You can change out carpet and all these things, changing
the floor to floor height it can't happen, and doing
the proper enclosure right. So those things are important to
get natural light. And also what is very interesting about
this building that doesn't exist around here is on most
(16:20):
of the workplace floors we have an underfloor air system.
So instead of all your duct work, you know, the
saying is, don't share your air. And we remember we
were designing this post COVID. It's the first major post
COVID office building in Omaha. But it allows you have
a twelve inch platform that everyone works on top of basically,
and it's pressurized and so it's very flexible for future space.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
And so people.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
Yeah, it's literally a little diffuser. But what's great about
it too is it's super flexible. Right, So if you
have a floor that's open airspace or open offices, and
then in five years you want to put the legal
team there and build a bunch of offices, you're not
redoing any of the duct work or anything.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
So keeps everything nice and clean.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
But yeah, oh was I saying, well, I'm gonna ask
a couple of specifics about where we are with the
building right now. So we talked about floors. Any estimate
as to how many feet tall the sheer tower is
right now and how much we have to go before
it reaches maximum height.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Yeah, so we will reach maximum height on that in September.
Oh okay, just we're a month out from that. So
it will it will finish out. You know, the building
finished out six seventy seven. I should know where the
core finishes out. It's a little below that. I just
don't know that answer. And the you know what's fun
is that tower crane builds itself up. It's a self
jumping tower crane, and then it will actually take itself
(17:40):
back down at the end of the project. But that's
got one more major jump to go. But what's cool
about that is that will.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Finish out at seven hundred and fifty feet high.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
Oh wow, what's it right now? About seven hundred? Yeah,
i'd be yeah, about seven hundred. We're talking about the
tower crane.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
The building will be six hundred and seventy seven yep
if you high yep.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Okay, so and then so you mentioned h you got
a couple more floor floors to go, and the top
floor will be a double height floor. But there's a
little is called it like a crown or something, so
it'll actually be even a little taller than the top
floor than when it's all said, absolutely, a little bit,
quite a bit, and so one that's architectural feature right
to continue to because the building somewhat tapers, But it's
(18:19):
also a very nice way of hiding all the air
handling mechanical.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
What's their plan for signage in this thing? It's all glass,
So will there be a big mutual Yes.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Yeah, we we've gone through and got that all approved
at the city, So there will be some signage up there,
I suppose. Uh, there'll be some nice shots from the
CWS and ESPN every year of their the Lion and
uh in the building.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Our own Brad Williams love that has made friends with
the crane operators and stuff. But he's takes some amazing
photos that you've probably see it on our channel.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I think we're going to start charging the royalties, starts
charging us.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, So, Jason, any surprises, I mean, it's not very
often we get a skyscraper at Olbaha. What has surprised
you about the project or anything unexpected that people might
find interesting.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Here well, as you have probably paid attention to since
COVID occurred, the markets for labor, material and pricing and
now tariffs and it's just so it's been a lot
to navigate, and I'm very thankful we got a great
team and a proactive team that we're able. We're out
there buying like raw steel in advance to hedge and
(19:34):
do all these other things.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
So that was challenging.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
I'll tell you the other part that's challenging about building
a skyscraper like that in a city like Omaha's. As
you mentioned, Jeff, we don't build many of them, so
the pool of tradesmen trades people that build these are
not necessarily in Omaha. Now at the same time, though,
we all collectively between Landaha and the design team and
most importantly Mutual of Omaha, we wanted to keep as
(19:57):
many of these dollars here locally, so we really thought hard.
That was probably the biggest challenge. We kept about seventy
five percent of the dollars. I think it's seventy three percent.
Seventy three percent that is building. The dollars are spent
with local folks and which is huge, right, That's how
you keep those tax revenues here and flowing.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
So that was probably the biggest challenge.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
Where you have a deeper sub base that builds towers
and fill in the blank Chicago, let's say. But we
have a great team. We were able to navigate it
and I'd say we're very happy.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
We're right. Everything's on track.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Everything's on track absolutely.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
And so Landaha is the developer, Mutual of Omaha is
the client. How does that relationship work? You know, obviously
you and Mutual have to work pretty hand in glove
on a project.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
How do you work with Mutual.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Well, one, you have the sponsors of the project, the
leadership James Black, legend Rick rab Checks see on CFO,
and then they have a wonderful core team assigned to it,
and our job essentially is to deliver them everything they
wanted the best value.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
So it's.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Let's say we've all been together every day for about
five years. Now, you know each other well, We know
each other well, and Jason's over insured with his life insurance,
well his whole neighborhood. My wife ensured that.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
We're talking with Jason Lanaha from Lanaha, which is developing
the Mutual of Omaha Tower, but they have some other
projects up their sleeve as well, and we're going to
take our middle of the show break for the news,
but when we come back, we're going to ask Jason
about plans for the existing soon to be old Mutual
of Omaha campus, and we'll also talk about Heartwood Preserve
(21:40):
out in West Omaha.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
So stay with us.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
You're listening to Grow Omaha, brought to you by Cheer
Athletics and Dingman's Collision Center on News radio eleven ten
KFAB and welcome back to the show. Jeff Biel's and
Trenton Maggot here broadcasting live from the KFA B Penthouse
studio high above Underwood Avenue and beautiful downtown Dundee this
is the only show dedicated to the growth and development
of your favorite city. We want to thank our sponsors.
(22:03):
They are Cheer Athletics and Dingman's Collision Center, which has
four Metro area locations. Take very good care of your
car if you get into an accident door Ding's. Well,
that happened I think a lot this morning. So there
are probably a lot of people that are going to
be going to Dingman's and saying, give fix this damage
for the damn tree that fell on the car. But
(22:25):
you can find them and they'll do a great job
for you. But before we get back to our interview
with Jason Landaha, we do want to have our No
All Companies Commercial Real Estate Development Spotlight Oh the Week,
in which we talk about things happening in or around
one of not Ale companies many local projects. You know
they're a national developer, but here in Omaha, I have
(22:45):
Axarbon Village and the Builders District and so many other
great projects and not All Companies under the leadership of
j Nodel, a big community philanthropists and volunteer.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Good team of people there.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
And you can learn more about Nodle Companies by going
to appropriately Enough No alcmpanies dot com at any rate.
This week we wanted to kind of elaborate a little
bit more about Village Point West. Last week Brad Williams
and lu Shaganos were in substitute for trent Me and
they mentioned some things going on at one hundred and
eightieth and Burke, just west of Village Point. We have
(23:19):
a Kia dealership going in there, as well as hyper
Energy bar drive through business out of Central Iowa and
then Trenton also not part of that Novel Companies project,
but just a little bit to the north. A lot
of people in that area have said, what's being built there?
It's going to be a Twin Peaks restaurant.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
I had something to do with that. I'm their casting agent. No,
I represented them on a he's a human resources nightmare,
Ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, you can't press the button for
that one. He could, But no, Twin Peaks. It's going
to be a real Twin Peaks, not the converted, not
a drive through famous stag Twin Peaks out on West
(24:00):
Center Road. It's eight thousand square free, big patio and
their food is good at Briskett and all kinds of
good stuff.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
And the developed.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
The owners have about nine of them, so that'll be
good and that'll be complimentary to everything that's going on
over there.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
It's funny how people say, well, why are.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
We getting another KEYA dealership? Well, the key Dealership that
was over on eighty fourth and F is now way
out on three seventy by the Interstate. Steve Hinchcliffe and
H and H does an amazing job and that'll be
a nice addition to Village Point West and they build
a quality product.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
And that is your Nodle Companies Commercial real Estate Development
of the Week, brought to you by not All Companies. Well,
we're going to go back to our interview with Jason
Lanaha Lanaha real Estate Development Company, and we talked a
little bit about the Mutual of Omaha Tower, which Lantaha
is developing for Mutual of Omaha. But Jason, let's go
(24:56):
just a little bit west, and when Mutual moves in
the tower, they're going to be leaving behind a pretty
big complex in midtown right along the streetcar line. What
are your thoughts and plans so far, at least as
far as you can say about the old Mutual campus.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
And you're the master developer the developer obviously yep. And
are you gonna do the whole thing or are you
gonna piece it off?
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yeah, we will acquire all the ground from Mutual Bull.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
How big is that campus?
Speaker 3 (25:24):
That's a heck of a question.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Big huge, We'll take it. Well, So Jeff and gent
and quick little background. So when we started this whole project,
we call Project Beacon, which most people know is the
Tower Downtown, but there was a there are three legs
to that that made the whole thing happen. One was
obviously the Tower downtown, Two is what can happen in
(25:45):
this midtown campus? And then three was you know we
were adjacent to but big proponents of the street car
connecting all of it. So so yeah, so what we
are calling Midtown Forward, and that's just it's not a
name of a project, it's just our internal efforts. We
are master planning out everything essentially from four to eighty
to thirty sixth Street, so that will include there are
(26:08):
quite a few vacant parking lots. There are three parking
structures that the City of Omaha just acquired that will
serve as essentially the main parking right up along the
street car and will allow us to build more density
in there. But so we're really thinking forward what we
can do there, and our main goal, as we were
talking before the show, is there aren't many places in
(26:29):
Omaha where you can really strive to add real new
jobs to the market. Taking a swath of land and
I called some of the best dirt in the state.
With now some public transportation being built along along at
all the major employers, we think this is our shot
to do that, we think it's our duty to do it,
and so it might take a little longer, but we
(26:50):
are we're very focused on getting together all the right
private and public folks together to help actually.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Bring new jobs and companies to Omaha.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
Well, most of the structures stay, yeah, yeah, so there
there are obviously a number of parking structures, but the
two main structures I'm assuming you're referring to or Mutual's
current office buildings. So the building south along Farnum Street
is still a wonderful office building. I foresee that being
an office building for a long long time. It is,
it is, but it's a good it's a really good building.
(27:22):
It'll fit a nice slice of the market of will
the Domesday. Yeah, and then so if we're jumping on
the north side of Farnham.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
You know, the the current HQ is is huge.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
Well, as we said, it's huge, and it's been you know,
built on for over one hundred years I believe five times,
so technically four buildings, but one of them.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Is built the tower pieces built in two phases. That's
a more challenging building. That's never going to be an
office building again. We all know that.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
But what we think though is that it's too important
of a building for it to go away. And so
you know, we firmly believe it. It needs to stay
and it will stay. We are going through and I'm
gonna be I'm gonna leave out a few details because
I don't want to get ahead of other folks, but
we are actively master planning out, underwriting, budgeting what's going
to happen in that building, including the dome, and so
(28:13):
we're excited to announce some stuff.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Later this year.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
And that a lot of people don't realize that there's
office space and storage space under Dodge Street.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
Yeah, it's just it's a huge building. I mean tunnels,
multiple cores. It goes two levels below the dome, so
three total levels below the Dome.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
There's a lot of space.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I want to We only have a few minutes left
with Jason Lanhan and I do want to go out
west to the row at Hartwood Preserve. You got to
give us a little update about what's happening there.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:42):
So, so we broke ground on our first building, one
hundred and twenty thousand square foot mixed use building, Olsen
or Olson Associates, the old name. Olsen has been both
a great partner and anchor tenant for the building, so
that thing screaming forward are going to be in there
in the first half of next year. And actually on
(29:04):
Thursday or Friday, we started standing in the first pre
cast panels for the first parking structure out there. We
recently announced one hundred and sixty key Marriott Autograph brand
hotel right adjacent to it, which we're very excited about
their name for it. You know, I'm great with names.
Any suggestions, no, no, that will not happen. We're down
(29:30):
to there you go back. It's like things urban there
you go. We're down to a few names, and we're
working through some trademark things to make sure we can
actually have those names.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
But our goal there is to have it be the
best hotel in Omhon. I really mean that.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
So we have a sixth floor rooftop bar, a second
floor outdoor pool. So we're really trying to bring some
of the things that you see in larger markets to Omaha.
You think it'll be open in two years or well,
that is quite a debate right now with Aubur consultants.
They will and take more time than we want to
give them.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
So they yeah, funny how that happens. Yes, Yeah, that's
a pretty good target.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Yes, So when we're talking about the row, we're talking
about the middle of Heartweed Preserve because Heartwood Preserve itself
is five hundred acres that goes from Applied Underwriters headquarters
to Dodge yep. And so this is I understand it, Jason,
will be a very walkable mixed use development right in
the middle.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
So yeah, to your point, five hundred and fifty acres
spearheaded and the vision of Applied Underwriters, which have been
wonderful partners to us, and I think of the city
and then yes, we're building what's called the downtown of
it so parking structures, walkable community, trying to build something
that doesn't exist in Omaha.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
Parking structures are.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
They are cars are expensive in general. When can we
get away from these things? It might be coming.
Speaker 5 (30:48):
I hope you're right, because parking structures are expensive. We
all talk about we want these great walkable cities, but
meanwhile we need to take every other block and put
parking on it.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
It just doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Yeah, well, and that is one of the reasons we're
so excited about what you guys are doing downtown Midtown
street cars and Jason, I'm afraid we're gonna have to
cut this off today, but we need to have you back.
Maybe we could have you on, you know, in a
few months, and you can give us kind of an
update and maybe we'll even know even more about the
Midtown Mutual campus.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
I'm in. I would love to do it. I appreciate
it all right.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
That's Jason Lanaha, head of Lanaha Development and Real Estate Company,
talking about the two mutuals and Heartwood Preserve. So we're
going to take our final break of the morning, and
you know what that means. When we come back, it'll
be your Perkins Chritser construction lightning rounds.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
To stay with us.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
You're listening to grow Omaha brought to you by Cheer Athletics,
Dingman's Collision Center, and Perkins Chritser Construction on news radio
eleven ten kfab It's the Perkins Chritzer Construction, the Lightning
Round in which we talk about a lot of things
really fast. Thank you to Perkins Chritzer Construction for making
this possible. It is under the steady hand and highly
(31:59):
qualified leadership of one Dave Kreutzer, a good friend of
the show. And I talked to Dave Kreizer not too
long ago. I said, Dave, you've got all these cool
projects that you have going on, give me, give me
a little bit of intel.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
So he did.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
He answered one of those what's happening at questions? You
know see at Gromaha, we are peppered with questions. We
can't answer all of them because there are so many
of them. What's going on here? What's going on there?
A lot of people were saying, what's going on with
that Popeyes that is under construction southeast of one hundred
and sixty eighth and West Maple Road. And Dave Kreutzer,
(32:33):
let me know, because Perkins Chreisler Construction is building that
it is now looking like a September opening for that restaurant.
It had been delayed because apparently during construction, Popeye's corporate
had a bunch of changes that they wanted to have happen,
and the local owner kind of has to work with that.
So Popeye's construction coming to a close soon and the
(32:55):
restaurant opening in September. So not only do you get
a Perkins Chrisler construction lightning, you get a Perkins Kretzer
project updates.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Are they going to change the friar oil twice a
year instead of once a year?
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Trenton, don't say not nice things about a place that
you and I both know we love. And when we
were in college, we used to go there all the
time because when we were in college, Omaha didn't have
a Popeyes, but there was one in a Lincoln and
in the summer break, we would drive all the way
to forty eighth and Vine Street, Lincoln just to have
that Popeye's chicken, red beans and all right. Draft Kade,
(33:27):
a retro arcade bar and restaurant, has opened in Miracle Hills,
west side of one hundred and fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
It is attached to the recently relocated recently relocated Funny
Bone Comedy Club. O'll ei there tonight or early what
do you have?
Speaker 4 (33:41):
Christopher Titus, one crazy guy and his wife opens for
him and kyleeen Quatter's the managing partner of the Funny Bone.
And this is the first time I've been to the
new one in the in the arcade.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Africa on a Plate plans to open around September first,
and the former Panda House Chinese restaurant down Town sixteenth
in Farnham. It has a lot of African cuisine but
specializes in South Sudanese culture. And like I said, they're
hoping for a September first, but they might.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Be a little bit later.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
In the Mom is glad the' using plates.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
The fox Den will open soon at forty nine sixteen
Underwood Avenue in Dundee. It replaces La Beaux, which is
a bodega that closed July twenty sixth after being open
for only about a year. It's underneath U de Lali,
which is which is a restaurant our own Chris Corey
reviewed a while back, a very popular place, but similar
(34:38):
you know, you know, ownership and all that sort of thing.
And the fox Den will share Oo de Lalai's mission
with re entry, getting former prisoners into the work world.
The tenant, which was a rooftop bar that opened last
August at sixty second in Maple Inn Benson, has rebranded
(34:59):
to Little Riot.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Little Riot. I know that's a dangerous name.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
And they already kept the tenant, but at any rate,
it is now a Little Riot, despite Trenton's opposition to
the name.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
You can check it out in downtown Dundee.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
The Beanery is taking over the former Rally Coffee space
at a one hundred and seventy eighth and Highway three
seventy in Gretna. It just opened a couple days ago.
It is northeast. I already said the location, but the
Beanery has a bunch of existing locations, primarily in Sarpy County.
It looks like and the Rally coffee business is still open.
(35:38):
They just are focusing on their north downtown location. We
have Unity Seafoods opened at seventy sixth then cass And
when you drive by, it's one of the few times
a restaurant, well, it took over a former outback steakhouse.
It's one of the few times a restaurant takes over
a chain prototype building and it doesn't totally look like
the old chain.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
It's nice to do that. I'm still Arcadia Grill. Arcadian
Grill is where I'm at when it comes to seafood,
but yeah, or.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Especially Cajun food.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
The Cake Gallery has reopened in bel Air Plaza one
hundred and twentieth and West Center Road. You'll recall they
were in Westgate Plaza for sixty years and there was
some controversy with them being pushed out of there after
their lease expired to make way for a Westlake Ace
hardware store. That hardware store is now open. The Cake
Gallery is in bel Air Plaza and folks, can we
(36:32):
please live happily ever after?
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Now we'll see the videos and the find out.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Burger Detour has permanently closed both of its locations two
hundred and fourth in Pacific as well as West Maple.
We also have the City Pub closed recently in La
Vista City Center.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
How depressing is this. We've got four closings.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Matilda Flower Shop in the Old Market it's closed, but
there rest of its business, the non retail side of
its business stays opened. And CBS Pharmacy has closed a
store at eighty three point fifteen West Center Road.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
It's called commercial vacancy soon.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
That's just what their competitors at Walgreens like to call it, right,
They don't have much room to talk, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Well yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
You know, there's a share, there's a share of these
Walgreens that have been closing late. I can't figure that
out why these drug stores close. I mean, there's something
beyond my pay grade. And thank god the music is
playing so I don't have to come up with something absolutely.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
At any rate.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
We hope everyone has enjoyed the show, and we also
hope that you have a great, happy, healthy, and safe weekend.
We want to thank our sponsors. They are Perkins, Chritzer Construction,
Cheer Athletics, and Dingman's Collision Center. We'll chat with you
next week at nine o'clock. I'm Jeff Beals and I'm
Trented Megan. You've been listening to grow Omaha on news
(37:54):
radio eleven ten KFAB
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