[harshbarj]

ConAgra Moving Headquarters To Chicago

So ConAgra is moving their headquarters out of omaha. Freeing up a major part of downtown for redevelopment (assumed). The loss of jobs is sad, but this could be a major opportunity to give omaha a real urban area that could provide more jobs than what were lost.

It's my hope that we rebuild that part of town and essentially copy - paste the existing old market to cover the new area. We can never really replace the original jobbers canyon, but perhaps we can get something as close as possible.

[Busguy2010]

Keep the lake and rebuild the street grid.

My hope is we get the streetcar going before any development happens so we can get something really big.

This is a perfect opportunity to get a complete neighborhood like South Waterfront in Portland. The ConAgra site is similar to South Waterfront in that it would be completely new development.

[jon rockefeller]

I don't see it being worth the money required to do anything of significance. You can't get anything on the river anyway due to the railroad track, and Heartland of America park is an important connection between Gene Leahy and the pedestrian bridge area. The costs to demo the existing structures, fill in the lake, flatten and rebuild would be enormous. The Old Market is a result of a hundred years of investment, progress, development, and protection by the Mercer family. You can't just "copy and paste" it without spending ridiculous amounts.

Omaha's best bet is to recruit a forward-thinking business (something like PayPal) and give them huge tax incentives to take over the space.

[iamjacobm]

We have a pretty dan good example of what can be done with a blank slate at Aksraben Village. If we use a similar concept as a jumping off point and learn from a couple of the things that could have been done better there we can get a great extension of downtown on this land.

[Busguy2010]

Originally Posted by iamjacobm

We have a pretty dan good example of what can be done with a blank slate at Aksraben Village. If we use a similar concept as a jumping off point and learn from a couple of the things that could have been done better there we can get a great extension of downtown on this land.

I agree with that. All the city needs to do is demolish the buildings and add in the streets. The rest will fall into place. I like something like this.

[Busguy2010]

I'm actually thinking there's a pretty good chance some other corporation moves into the space though.

[harshbarj]

Originally Posted by jon rockefeller

I don't see it being worth the money required to do anything of significance.

Why am I not surprised.

Originally Posted by jon rockefeller

The Old Market is a result of a hundred years of investment, progress, development, and protection by the Mercer family.

Not quite. Most of the transformation has occurred in the last 30-40 years. With a proper plan in place the area could be converted in less than 10 years. If Brazil could build an entire city in 41 months(Brasília), we can build a few blocks in less time. But I know you will disagree just because it's not west Omaha. You have made you biases clear already.

[jon rockefeller]

True. Now that you say it, copying and pasting Village Pointe would be less expensive and safer and more likely to attract good retail.

[Gantz]

Originally Posted by jon rockefeller

True. Now that you say it, copying and pasting Village Pointe would be less expensive and safer and more likely to attract good retail.

It already used to be a historic district, complete with high density and street grid. The historic district was demolished in late 1980s to build the ConAgra campus.

[Minnesota Spring]

This whole thing with ConAgra leaving Omaha really pisses me off. Many corporations are not the great corporate citizens that they once were and that's unfortunate. Heck, some companies are even moving their "headquarters" overseas to take advantage of tax loopholes.
I think that in the long run Omaha will shake this off. Here in the Twin Cities, Target laid off close to 2,000 employees in Downtown Minneapolis earlier this year, and people were freaking out. But still to this day, new office and residential buildings are being started and constructed at a rapid pace and the plans for the next light rail line are moving forward. More companies continue to move Downtown which seems to be the trend nationally and I expect will be the case in Omaha.