OMAHA | Downtown Baseball Stadium | Pro

[omahajayscu]

The city of Omaha announced plans today to build a 24,000 seat stadium in downtown Omaha. The stadium will be home to the NCAA Men's College World Series (played at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium since 1950) and the Omaha Royals (AAA Pacific Coast League). Creighton University (Missouri Valley Conference) will also play some home games there. The park will be located in what is currently Parking Lots C and E of the Qwest Center Omaha and will be located near the new developing North Downtown entertainment district and the historic Old Market.

Amenities include:

360 degree open concourses
14,000 reserved seats
5,292 general admission seating (outfield)
4,708 box seats
28 luxury skyboxes
a fan festivity area

The total cost will be $138.9 million. It will be paid for using $60 million in public funding (an increase in hotel and rental car tax), $38 million tied into stadium revenues, and $43 million in private contributions (naming rights, etc.)

Renderings:
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4361/rendering6ll8.jpg

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/1280/rendering5vs8.jpg

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/9127/rendering1hc0.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/7025/rendering4xm5.jpg

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/4416/rendering3jc3.jpg

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/2971/rendering2wj1.jpg

www.omahastadium.com

[milwaukeeunseen]

Looks fantastic.

I got the feeling when I visited Omaha last summer that the city is really moving in a very positive direction.

This board has convinced me that the impression I had wasn't just "a feeling." Omaha really is going places.

[Mplsuptown]

Looks like a fabulous location.

[ClarkWGriswald]

Nice, Omaha is one of the many quiet gems of the midwest. When is this scheduled to start construction?

[cjfjapan]

Really very nice. At first glance, it appeared too removed from downtown. Does the city anticipate a lot of growth in the direction of the stadium?

[omahajayscu]

Really very nice. At first glance, it appeared too removed from downtown. Does the city anticipate a lot of growth in the direction of the stadium?

This is a few blocks away from downtown...for now. It is in the area that is currently being transformed into a new entertainment district. Currently, there are 4 hotels being built, an independent movie theater, Urban Outfitters and American Apparel, an indie concert venue (run by Saddle Creek Records) and an ESPN Zone type restaurant. Most of this area will be completely different when the stadium is open. The giant parking lots, to the east and south, will probably sadly stay because the Qwest Center, which is literally across the street from the new stadium, claims they must have surface parking and not garages.

When is this scheduled to start construction?
Nothing yet on when construction will start. The city still needs to make negotiations with MECA (the entity running the stadium who runs the Qwest Center and Civic Auditorium), the Omaha Royals, Creighton University, and most importantly the NCAA. NCAA officials have signed off on the project and support it, but have yet to commit a length for the city's contract extension for the CWS. It sounds like the city should be able to get something in the range of 20-30 years, with exclusive bidding rights when it expires. By that time, the event will be approaching its 90th year in Omaha.

This does have to be ready and open for the 2011 CWS because the CWS contract at Rosenblatt expires in 2010. So construction pry needs to begin by the end of the year.

[omahajayscu]

The ballpark overcame a HUGE hurdle yesterday, as it reached a compromise with the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA), the management group who runs the Qwest Center and the Civic Auditorium.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10298622

Tuesday's announcement was the result of negotiations between the city and MECA over the past week. To reach the deal, the city gave ground on two key issues:

• The city gave up the authority to develop the remaining convention center and arena parking lots without the permission and involvement of MECA.

• MECA gained the right to develop the former Pinnacle plant property at 10th Street and Capitol Avenue. That site would be used temporarily as a parking lot but eventually would be developed into a full-service convention hotel.

What did the city get in return?

"We get lots C and E," Fahey said.

There is still a long way to go. The city still needs to finish negotiations with the Omaha Royals and Creighton University, as well as iron out a contract (20+ year minimum) with the NCAA. City officials will be in Indianapolis on April 21 to give them a "progress report," in which they should respond with a contract of 20 or more years. The contract must then be voted on by the City Council and CWS Inc. If approved (which it should, council vote looks to be 6-1), the council will vote on the taxes, bond issues, and bidding for the stadium.

By the end of the month, we will know for sure if this will become a reality, right now, we are stuck on 99%. :)

[omahajayscu]

Well, quite a bit of good news on the stadium front. MECA, the entity that will run the stadium, has unanimously passed the contract with the city to run the stadium. This also allows the city to build it on Qwest Center Parking Lots C & E. City officials will be meeting with the NCAA in Indianapolis next Monday to negotiate a contract, which has to be more than 20 years for this stadium to become a reality.

At this point, this is as close to a done deal as you can get. In 2011, the CWS will be played downtown.

Oh, and here's your treat, a sweet animation of the new ballpark:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10302064

[omahajayscu]

Omaha officials have been meeting with the NCAA this week. They still have some things to work out, but it sounds like they want a deal done by next Wednesday (April 30). One of the interesting developments with the stadium is that the city is looking to have the NCAA help sell the naming rights to one of its "corporate partners."

Here are the possibilities:

Pontiac
AT&T
Coca-Cola
DiGiorno
Enterprise Rent-a-Car
The Hartford Mutual Funds
Lowe's
State Farm Insurance
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts


Personally, i don't like any of them, but if one of them is willing to throw up a million or so per year for the stadium, I will gladly take it.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10316892

[omahajayscu]

This stadium is about as done of a deal as you can get.

Yesterday, the NCAA verbally committed to giving the City of Omaha a contract extension of at least 20 years if they build the new ballpark. That will keep the CWS where it belongs, in Omaha, until at least 2030. Nothing has been signed yet, but city officials hope to have it in writing by next week and have the contract formally signed before the first pitch of this years CWS in mid June.

One of the key components of this contract is that all revenues from the stadium will first go to pay off construction debt and operating expenses. So basically, the NCAA gets last cut at revenues, which is great news for the city of Omaha.

Whats left:
MECA and the city have a deadline for negotiating with the Omaha Royals and Creighton of May 15. Currently, it sounds like Creighton has already worked everything out, but the Omaha Royals have apparently been shopping around for different markets (Sugar Land, TX and Vancouver). The city council does also have to approve both the contract with the NCAA and the stadium, but that shouldn't be a problem.

For more:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10323440

[omahajayscu]

BIG BIG BREAKING NEWS!

The NCAA gave the city of Omaha the official memoradium of understanding today, and the deal is for 25 years.

GREAT NEWS FOR OMAHA!:banana:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10328206

You thought 20 years was good?

How does 25 sound?

Officials spearheading Omaha's ballpark effort announced that the College World Series will stay in Omaha for the next quarter of a century. That comes after last week's news that the tournament will be here "at least 20 years," starting in 2011.

[omahajayscu]

Well the stadium is now officially under construction. Here are the most recent renderings of the stadium, designed by HDR and HOK Sports:

http://www.omahastadium.com/images/stories/images/hp_stad_1.jpg
http://www.omahastadium.com/images/stories/images/hp_stad_2.jpg
http://www.omahastadium.com/images/stories/images/hp_stad_3.jpg

The Statistics:
* Seating for 24,000 fans, including 26 luxury suites and 1,000 club seats.
* A brick veneer rising 32 feet from the ground on the ballpark’s exterior, matching the look of building materials in many downtown Omaha structures.
* Glazing and openings at street level that will allow people in the vicinity to view the activity happening in the stadium.
* Four entrances, allowing fans to enter and depart from any of the stadium’s four directions.
* A large Fanfest area with 360 degree walk-around concourse views of the field.
* Approximately 9,000 parking stalls within a 12-minute walk of the stadium.
* Relocation of “The Road to Omaha” statue at the corner of the 13th and Cuming entrance.
* A minimum of 5,000 square feet of available retail space.

The official groundbreaking ceremony took place on January 21. In attendance was Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, NCAA Executive Vice President Tom Jernstedt, NCAA Vice President for Baseball and Football Dennis Poppe, College World Series of Omaha, Inc., President Jack Diesing, Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA) Chairman David Sokol and Donor’s Trust Vice Chairman Bruce Lauritzen.

“The Omaha Baseball Stadium will enhance Omaha’s reputation as one of America’s great sports communities and create a dynamic new gateway into our city,” Mayor Fahey said. “The NCAA College World Series is one of the nation’s great amateur sports events and the benefits to Omaha serving as the host city for the next 25 years are far-reaching.”

Here is a decent photo of the construction looking Southwest (note the Qwest Center in the upper right and Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=567801) to the left).
http://i40.tinypic.com/2s0xpnc.jpg

for more visit OmahaStadium.com (http://www.omahastadium.com/site/alt-home.html)

[cwilson758]

kind of isolated by the freeway. Are there opportunties for infill/redevelopment adjacent?