Downtown HDR Corporate Headquarters

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RNcyanide
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by RNcyanide »

iamjacobm wrote:
thenewguy wrote:I cannot seem to locate the tif proposal; could you post the link (again) if you have it?

Also: if it ends up at 255' tall, that would make it the 8th tallest building in Omaha, about 4 or 5 feet shorter than the AT&T building (according to the interwebs, anyway)
H
It's off the latest city council agenda. I'll pot a link when I get home this afternoon if I need too. Might grab some screenshots too.
Here's the PDF. The elevations start on pg 43. You might need to rotate your monitor.
http://cityclerk.cityofomaha.org/images ... sc/210.pdf

Also of note, it appears that they'll try to incorporate high quality finishes on their building. The louvers on the sides will be made of stainless steel which would look pretty sharp, and the parking garage is going to be enclose in wire mesh, which could come out looking a million different ways, but they're making an effort to conceal it, so that's nice at least.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by MTO »

Two hundred and fifty five feet is not really impactful on the skyline like some have said but thankfully it's going to be quite handsome facility judging by the materials and methods mentioned in that material.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by skinzfan23 »

After looking through the TIF documents, it appears the height along Dodge St will be 245 ft, and if measuring from Capitol St, it would be 255 ft.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by thenewguy »

With that glass, it would create more interest if they were able to illuminate it at night in color schemes akin to what woodmen does
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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thenewguy wrote:With that glass, it would create more interest if they were able to illuminate it at night in color schemes akin to what woodmen does
Better: Put high-power lasers on the roof of the HPAC and shoot them at HDR's place at night. Every motorist downtown and every commercial and military pilot within 100 miles would love it.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by OmahaJaysCU »

Is it just me or is the design starting to grow on other people too?
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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OmahaJaysCU wrote:Is it just me or is the design starting to grow on other people too?
It is what it is. I think now that we know there will be thought put into the details and materials, it's a little easier to swallow.

I think it's also the way this forum rolls. They could have given us exactly what we wanted all along and at least half of us still would have bitched about it.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Tornado »

So at 255' this will become the 9-10 tallest building in Omaha. Obviously a lot of folks on here, including myself, were hoping for a lot more height, but given the location of this building, nothing substantial to the East or North, this will definitely stand out. I guess it comes down to how often does Omaha get 200' plus buildings? Not very often, so I'm just going to :D and be happy and hope for a unique, kick butt lighting scheme that will distinguish the HDR tower in every photo Brad takes of the skyline in the years ahead.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Omaha Cowboy »

Tornado wrote:I guess it comes down to how often does Omaha get 200' plus buildings? Not very often, so I'm just going to :D and be happy and hope for a unique, kick butt lighting scheme that will distinguish the HDR tower in every photo Brad takes of the skyline in the years ahead.
Amen to that, lol :thumb: ...

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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by S33 »

I'll have to reserve any judgement for when the building is complete. I think the rendering looks bland, but they often times do.

Overall, it's not a hugely impactful building to any degree, and we were probably a bit unrealistically over optimistic to begin with - HDR is not a huge company, employee wise
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Hawkeye »

S33 wrote:I'll have to reserve any judgement for when the building is complete. I think the rendering looks bland, but they often times do.

Overall, it's not a hugely impactful building to any degree, and we were probably a bit unrealistically over optimistic to begin with - HDR is not a huge company, employee wise
Obviously we all hope for the best. We hope they will do something unique with lighting and/or materials to make it stand out a little bit. But there's nothing wrong with being realistic too. At the end of the day, it's a rectangle. And you could make a compelling argument that in terms of CBD office towers, it's not even the "good" kind of rectangle, since it's actually wider than it is tall.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by NEDodger »

S33 wrote:I'll have to reserve any judgement for when the building is complete. I think the rendering looks bland, but they often times do.

Overall, it's not a hugely impactful building to any degree, and we were probably a bit unrealistically over optimistic to begin with - HDR is not a huge company, employee wise
I'm in the same spot. Height-wise, I have no complaints - we were told what the ballpark height would be well before the rendering and as you mentioned there isn't a massive workforce. I was just expecting more on the "looks" end of it. I'm hoping that they really knock it out of the park on the details and that the finished product is miles ahead of the rendering, but as of right now I'm just underwhelmed.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by choke »

Everyone might be surprised by the time the headquarters is finished. HDR didn't get to be the architectural firm they are today by designing duds :clap:
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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choke wrote:Everyone might be surprised by the time the headquarters is finished. HDR didn't get to be the architectural firm they are today by designing duds :clap:
This is true.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by MTO »

It may look nice but that won't make it any taller.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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S33 wrote:I'll have to reserve any judgement for when the building is complete. I think the rendering looks bland, but they often times do. HDR is not a huge company, employee wise
I think this is a good point.. Although HDR employs 10,000 people world wide, their Omaha based number is between 1000-1400. Compared to First National and Union Pacific, who have built significant structures downtown over the past 15 years, the HDR Omaha employee count is much less..

I'll take a high quality designed, 255 ft mid rise HQ building and relish in the fact that unlike some businesses, HDR chose to commit to Omaha by building in its downtown core...

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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by iamjacobm »

The north elevation. This would be the view from TDAP, obviously minus the Capitol District apartments.

Image
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Busguy2010 »

Imagine if they could have gone with a classic 1:2 rectangle. We'd be looking at 540'!
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by MTO »

iamjacobm wrote:The north elevation. This would be the view from TDAP, obviously minus the Capitol District apartments.

Image
They exaggerated the vertical measurement you can clearly see the arrow points above the roof extension so more like 245/250.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by GetUrban »

MTO wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:The north elevation. This would be the view from TDAP, obviously minus the Capitol District apartments.

They exaggerated the vertical measurement you can clearly see the arrow points above the roof extension so more like 245/250.
The vertical dimension is most likely going to the top of the curtainwall, which extends up above the roof...as you can see on the rendering posted a while back...

Image

....but I forgot, you guys don't think it will look anything like the rendering. :D
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
...and then they were gone.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by skinzfan23 »

Nothing really new, from today's World Herald article:
Meanwhile, HDR’s plan to build a new international headquarters on the nearby site is moving forward. Performing arts group officials said they still intend to sell the land to HDR. And HDR’s application for tax-increment financing will come before the council in three weeks.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by RNcyanide »

skinzfan23 wrote:Nothing really new, from today's World Herald article:
Meanwhile, HDR’s plan to build a new international headquarters on the nearby site is moving forward. Performing arts group officials said they still intend to sell the land to HDR. And HDR’s application for tax-increment financing will come before the council in three weeks.
But people on the internets said they're going to go to Boys Town!! You can't lie on the internet, so this must be wrong!! :P
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by ItsAllAboutMe »

Final vote on the TIF for the HDR project is on today's city council agenda. The main tower will only be 80' wide and they mention a roof top pavilion ( it doesn't say if that is the roof of the tower or the adjacent garage)
The construction schedule is included which indicated site prep should start soon (April) with foundation work to take until late fall. I expect will see steel going up by Nov / Dec. IMO
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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TIF was passed 7-0.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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"international HQ" ...nuff said.

Purty impressive.
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
...and then they were gone.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by MTO »

April! :clap: :clap: :clap:
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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Great news all around :mrgreen: :banana: :banger: :music: :clap: :thumb: ...

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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Joe_Sovereign »

they mention a roof top pavilion ( it doesn't say if that is the roof of the tower or the adjacent garage)
I imagine it has to be on the garage but that is great news, a parking garage with ground level retail and a roof top pavilion is excellent. Now we just need to see if they are going to make the garage look visually interesting or is it going to be a cookie cutter garage.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by RNcyanide »

I'm pretty sure they're going to hide the garage. The elevations call for wire mesh around it.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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RNcyanide wrote:I'm pretty sure they're going to hide the garage. The elevations call for wire mesh around it.
I heard they were going to use a newly developed HDR cloaking device.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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I absolutely love the revealed design, and I'm so excited to see it go up!! And, all of this right next to the new Capitol District going up! I've read that HDR's Headquarters is going to be 18-20 stories, but that main rendering makes it look 13 stories, or so (that is, if each staggering, angled strip on the southside curtain wall equals 1 floor). Is it going to be actually taller than that rendering?

Does anybody notice it kind of mirrors the same "mini blinds" effect on the facade that the late 70's telephone building has?! That's neat, I think.

Omaha is definitely getting better & better architecture, I think. (I think LEO A. DALEY and HDR do excellent work!) The city needs to be more careful on what it allows & approves, imo. Some of our downtown buildings wouldn't even be allowed in Minneapolis, I think, for example. And, I think the new UP Headquarters and Ameritrade Headquarters are really neat & sharp, but I still feel their designs should have been tweaked just a little bit. Oh well...I'm not the architect. :)

I also wish in the 80's & 90's, Omaha would have gotten more warm, handsomely-clad buildings (red granite, or red or brown marble, grey marble, ect) with a pattern of big square windows, like you see in Dallas & Austin. The newest tower in Memphis has that look, too. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ilding.png This striking building in Minneapolis has that look: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... olis_5.jpg

That look was "in" back then. Now, designs seems to be a lot of glass and unique, unconventional lines, and stuff.
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Coyote »

Welcome back RockHarbor, it has been a few years...
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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Thanks, Coyote! Part of it was because sometimes I couldn't even get to this Forum (it was something strange with the website & servers, or something), and I just had too many complications all the time. Now, it seems fine, though. I love this Omaha Forum. And, I've totally kept up on projects through the years, and this forum helps. I keep up on new projects all over. I totally know all of Denver's new buildings going up right now (that have some really neat ones), Phoenix's new oval-shaped condo building planned, Minneapolis' new stuff, KC's new stuff... I'm so happy to see these great additions to Omaha!
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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RockHarbor wrote:I absolutely love the revealed design, and I'm so excited to see it go up!! And, all of this right next to the new Capitol District going up! I've read that HDR's Headquarters is going to be 18-20 stories, but that main rendering makes it look 13 stories, or so (that is, if each staggering, angled strip on the southside curtain wall equals 1 floor). Is it going to be actually taller than that rendering?

Does anybody notice it kind of mirrors the same "mini blinds" effect on the facade that the late 70's telephone building has?! That's neat, I think.

Omaha is definitely getting better & better architecture, I think. (I think LEO A. DALEY and HDR do excellent work!) The city needs to be more careful on what it allows & approves, imo. Some of our downtown buildings wouldn't even be allowed in Minneapolis, I think, for example. And, I think the new UP Headquarters and Ameritrade Headquarters are really neat & sharp, but I still feel their designs should have been tweaked just a little bit. Oh well...I'm not the architect. :)

I also wish in the 80's & 90's, Omaha would have gotten more warm, handsomely-clad buildings (red granite, or red or brown marble, grey marble, ect) with a pattern of big square windows, like you see in Dallas & Austin. The newest tower in Memphis has that look, too. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ilding.png This striking building in Minneapolis has that look: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... olis_5.jpg

That look was "in" back then. Now, designs seems to be a lot of glass and unique, unconventional lines, and stuff.
I agree with everything you've said here. Nice post :thumb: ..

And welcome!...

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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

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Omaha Cowboy: I'm glad we see eye-to-eye and you get what I mean. :) I think because we are on the more open Great Plains, we tend to "dull things down" a bit, architecturally, here. But, we're getting better... Sometimes I just don't feel we really have many rich & warm & handsome buildings (like other cities have). Like I said, materials usually include red or brown marble, or granite, limestone, and smokey glass... You don't walk into hardly any buildings in Omaha and get the sense it is a rich & heavy & very serious institution (with a red marble interior w/ cherry wood walls in the lobby), or something... Sometimes I wonder if we cut the cost on materials here, or something. For example, I often compare Omaha's striking First National Tower to Minneapolis' Wells Fargo Tower, because they have similarities. The First NationalTower (and by the way, I don't think Leo A. Daly could have done a better job designing an appropriate top-skyscraper for Omaha) looks rich in Omaha, but the Wells Fargo Tower in Minneapolis looks richer & more handsomely done. That's what I mean. (At this point, I think a skyscraper like that would look too rich in Omaha...so I'm glad LAD dulled ours down a bit.)
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Hawkeye »

While the height-obsessed among us won't fully get their itch scratched, if all of these projects come to full fruition, including the already underway Cap District with its mid-rise Marriott and other low- and mid-rise density, HDR HQ, Lanoha, Tetrad, etc., the impact on the downtown Omaha landscape is going to be immense.

While it would be nice to get another 400 or 500 footer sometime in the future, if this all gets done in the next 6-8 years, the skyline will be substantially broader, denser, taller, and all-in-all very much befitting an MSA of 1M+.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Omaha_Gabe »

HDR Scrapped their plans to build downtown!!!!
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by nativeomahan »

This project is now dead.
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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Omaha Cowboy »

Wow friends.. Bad news and it just breaking-

HDR is, indeed, scrapping its downtown HQ project. The W-H and the TV outlets have all confirmed this..

What the :what: ...

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Re: New HDR Corporate Headquarters

Post by Omaha_Gabe »

http://www.omaha.com/money/hdr-scraps-p ... 91029.html

HDR Chairman and CEO George A. Little said: "Regrettably, since the project did not develop as originally proposed, it is no longer in the best interests of our employee-owners and company to move downtown. We are actively pursuing other site options to stay within the city of Omaha, which has always been our priority."

He said the primary reasons for this decision are total project cost increases and schedule impacts resulting from the loss of previously planned parking facilities nearby
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