A section of midtown that Mutual of Omaha for six years has been buying up and tearing down to make way for redevelopment today sits in limbo, without a concrete plan.
Mutual spokesman Jim Nolan confirmed that an out-of-town developer Mutual tapped a few years ago has pulled out of a proposal to build a high-end housing, hotel and office mix on that tract east of Turner Park around Farnam Street.
He said Mutual held on to the assembled land in case it was needed for a new headquarters project. Nolan late last month said pursuit of a new headquarters was on hold, so now the question becomes: What’s next for the gaping real estate holes east of Mutual’s Midtown Crossing retail and housing campus?
To date, Nolan said, “Those conversations have not been held.”
The delay and overall process, meanwhile, have frustrated some fresh and former residents, as well as preservationists who protested the 2014 razing of the century-old Clarinda-Page housing landmark.
“It’s always a disappointment when a historic building is demolished without firm plans for whatever is going to be replacing it,” said Adam Andrews, president of Restoration Exchange Omaha, which wanted the deteriorating Clarinda-Page restored and incorporated into a future redevelopment design.
Architect Eric Wolfe, who lives atop the remaining twin tower condo structure at 30th and Farnam Streets, says he’d prefer less “secrecy” from his neighbor, Mutual, about what’s happening outside his front door.
“Is there a master plan — and what is it?” asked Mary Ann O’Brien, whose advertising agency was nudged out of its longtime home along Farnam, but not before she took a brick as a memento. “It was a very meaningful place to me.”
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The Clarinda-Page and O’Brien’s OBI Creative were among about 20 parcels on both sides of Farnam Street that, according to county records, Mutual assembled at a price tag of about $9 million. Purchased under an entity called Turner Park North LLC, the stretch of properties east of Turner Park and west of Interstate 480 included stand-alone buildings, parking lots, storefronts and apartments.
Mutual’s goal: to clear the way for new development east of its existing headquarters and the more recently built $365 million Midtown Crossing, which hasn’t created the ripple development effect the insurance titan had hoped.
Representatives said early on in the acquisition process that Mutual was not interested in permanently extending its reach in that area. Instead, they said Mutual sought to create a shovel-ready site that would be a carrot for a developer to swoop in and launch a private venture.
At that time, Mutual leaders had not publicly discussed the possibility of building a new headquarters. (The Mutual board approved exploring a future work site in late 2017.)
On Tuesday, Nolan gave no details about why or when Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. backed away from the Turner Park East redevelopment proposal, other than to say the lead developer could not “gain enough traction to proceed.”
Ryan Cos. did not return phone calls.

The lots on the southeast corner of Turner Boulevard and Farnam Street where the Clarinda-Paige building used to be now sit empty.
Nolan said Mutual decided not to do anything with the Turner Park East site until it finished the headquarters feasibility study. He said that in the event Mutual had gone forward with a new headquarters, envisioned as a $200 million-plus venture, that area might have served as temporary parking or a construction staging area or even the site of the new headquarters.
After Mutual announced the indefinite hold on a new headquarters two weeks ago, Nolan responded to The World-Herald’s questions about Turner Park East.
The private effort had reached the point that, in March 2017, the City of Omaha committed to building a 400-space parking complex.
A Ryan spokesman said at that time that the city’s participation would kick forward the first phase and the developer’s formal search for tenants in an initial 150,000-square-foot office building.
Kevin Andersen, Mayor Jean Stothert’s economic development aide, said that from the city’s perspective, nothing materialized beyond that point.
“It’s a prime location,” he said, noting that the property is in private, not public, hands. “We’re confident something will come out of it.”
Wolfe, president of the Condominiums at 3000 Farnam resident association, said this week that his neighbors have mixed feelings about any new development that would rise around their 11-story high-rise. Some aren’t thrilled about the disruption, yet others, including him, are eager for a boost of business and bustle.
“New vitality would be good for the city, the economy, the neighborhood,” said Wolfe, who lives in the 105-unit south tower, which was to blend in with Turner Park East. The northern “twin” tower, vacant for years and deteriorating, was razed in 2013.

The WCA building on Farnam, as it was demolished in April 2019.
Meanwhile, a few former businesses that initially balked at moving said in interviews this week that the inconvenience had a silver lining.
Amy Richardson, executive director of the Women’s Center for Advancement, at first resisted relocating the agency that serves vulnerable and abused women. Now, she said, staff and clients feel at home in their new and larger headquarters in the Blackstone District.
O’Brien has similar sentiments. OBI Creative leased bays in an old building that was sold to Mutual’s real estate arm. The marketing agency left the diverse neighborhood that O’Brien said exuded good energy and inspired her team — and entered Millard’s Lumberyard District much farther west.
The new home doesn’t have the same creaks, and rent is higher. But O’Brien said she and her team adore the larger digs and vibe they built.
What bothers her now, she said, is passing through idle open space in the midtown pocket where she once worked amid a mix of restaurants, medical clinics, the WCA and a tattoo shop.
“I don’t like the grass growing under my feet, I like to move fast,” she said. “So seeing that, it’s kind of sad.”
Fortune 500 and 1,000 companies in Omaha
The Omaha area is home to 10 companies among the Fortune 500 and 1,000.Â
Berkshire Hathaway
Fortune rank: No. 3 with revenue of $242.1 billion; down from No. 2 last year. First cracked Fortune list in 1989 at No. 205.
History: The holding company of large- and medium-sized firms and investments has grown largely from the singular wisdom of Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett. It started as an investment pool of family and friends in Omaha in the mid-1950s. In 1965, Buffett bought the textile company that gave Berkshire its name. (Ironically, he later called it his worst investment.) His philosophy of buying successful companies with firm niches and keeping leadership in place has achieved returns well in excess of the stock market. The move into insurance was key, as Buffett uses premium reserves available for investment to fund additional purchases. Forbes notes that Berkshire now generates nearly three-quarters of its revenue from its non-financial operating businesses. At 87, Buffett is the oldest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The company has maintained its offices at Omaha’s Kiewit Plaza since 1962.
Aflac
Fortune rank: No. 137 on revenue of $21.7 billion; down from No. 126 from last year.
History: Founded in 1955 as American Family Life Insurance by John Amos and his brothers Paul and Bill in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac pays benefits when people are sick or injured. It gained wider recognition starting in 2000 with a marketing campaign using a duck that announces its name. In 2002, Aflac moved its legal domicile to Nebraska for tax reasons and located a regional office in Omaha, although its main offices remain in Georgia.
Union Pacific
Fortune rank: No. 141 on revenue of $21.2 billion; up from No. 143 last year. Listed each year since non-manufacturing companies were added to the list in 1995.
History: The company was created by the 1862 Pacific Railway Act, an act of Congress that called for construction of a transcontinental rail line from the Missouri River to the West Coast. The first track was laid out of Omaha in 1865, and U.P. grew into a national icon. Multiple mergers over 150 years helped U.P. amass the nation’s largest rail network, with operations in 23 western states and prime rail connections into Mexico. In 2004, the railroad opened a new 19-story headquarters downtown that serves about 2,900 of the company’s 42,000 employees.
Pacific Life
Fortune rank: No. 313 on revenue of $9.5 billion; the same ranking as last year.
History: Founded in 1868 in Sacramento, California, as Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co., the company’s life insurance, annuity and other financial products pay $2.3 billion in benefits each year. Although its main office is in Newport Beach, California, in 2004 Pacific Life moved its legal domicile to Nebraska for tax reasons and now has a regional office in Omaha’s Aksarben Village.
Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc.
Fortune rank: No. 339 on revenue of $8.7 billion; down from No. 324 last year. Made its Fortune debut in 1991 and since 1998 has been listed every year but one. Is privately held but qualifies for the Fortune list because it publicly reports revenue.
History: Three sons of Peter Kiewit took over their father’s Omaha construction company, with the youngest, also named Peter, credited with turning it into one of the nation’s largest. The company took off while building military installations during World War II and the Cold War. It also built more miles of Interstate system than any other contractor, causing Fortune to dub Peter Kiewit “the Colossus of Roads.” Today, it is one of the largest employee-owned firms in the world and one of only a handful of construction companies big enough to take on billion-dollar projects.
Mutual of Omaha
Fortune rank: No. 337 on revenue of $8.7 billion; up from No. 342 last year. Made its debut in 1995, dropped off in 2006 and 2007, but solidly on the list since.
History: Got off to a humble start in 1909 as the Mutual Benefit Health and Accident Association, initially struggling to attract policyholders. Under the leadership of Creighton medical student C.C. Criss and later V.J. Skutt, it grew and by the 1950s had emerged as a leading health and accident insurer. The name was changed to Mutual of Omaha in 1962, and a year later it became a household name with sponsorship of the popular “Wild Kingdom” TV show. The company rebranded its familiar Native American head logo in 2001, expanded into banking in 2007, and renewed its commitment to its midtown Omaha headquarters by developing the mixed-use Midtown Crossing.
TD Ameritrade
Fortune rank: No. 630 on revenue of $3.7 billion; up from No. 674 last year.
History: Founder Joe Ricketts saw an opportunity in 1975 when the Securities and Exchange Commission eliminated the practice of fixed brokerage commissions. Ricketts’ firm, First Omaha Securities Inc., began offering discounted commissions and helped usher in a new era of investing, coupled with technology that evolved from touch-tone phones to the Internet. Forty years later, TD Ameritrade has more than 11 million client accounts with more than $1.2 trillion in assets and custodial services for more than 6,000 independent registered investment advisers. Clients trade more than 940,000 times each day.
Valmont
Fortune rank: No. 782 on revenue of $2.7 billion; up from No. 804 last year.
History: In 1946, Robert B. Daugherty spent nearly his life’s savings — $5,000 — to buy a small manufacturing company on a farm near Valley to build farm elevators. Years later, with the invention of center-pivot irrigation, Valmont found its niche. It then expanded into steel pipe and tubing manufacturing for irrigation systems and other industries. Through acquisitions and new construction, the company grew to be a global player in certain segments of the agriculture, communications and utilities markets. Today, Valmont’s worldwide operations are constantly looking for opportunities to expand its four business sectors: engineered support structures (steel and aluminum poles for traffic lights, street lighting, etc.); utility support structures (poles for electrical transmission lines, etc.); irrigation; and coatings (galvanization).
Werner
Fortune rank: No. 929 on revenue of $2.1 billion; up from No. 934 last year.
History: Clarence L. Werner founded Werner Enterprises Inc. in 1956 at age 19. It grew to become a premier transportation and logistics company with operations throughout North America, Asia, Europe, South America, Africa and Australia. The Omaha-based company is among the five largest truckload carriers in the United States, offering diverse services that include dedicated; medium-to-long-haul, regional and local van; expedited; temperature-controlled; and flatbed. Werner also provides freight management, truck brokerage, intermodal and international services. International services are provided through subsidiary companies and include ocean, air and ground transportation; freight forwarding; and customs brokerage.
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(3) comments
Good thing Mutual has a pile of money because it seems Midtown Crossing has been a huge bust and a money pit.
Restaurants fail and the cinema has failed and I wonder how many of those condos have been sold or rented?
I am betting Mutual of Omaha is losing a boat load of money at Midtown Crossing.
It hasn't been a bust. Yes there have been a few restaurants that failed but that was on the restaurant, not because people weren't going to it. The cinema failed because horrible management and has been replaced already with a much better company and is drawing people in again. Apts are about 85% full, which is normal for apartments. The condos are the only thing that are slow to move. They are expensive and are holding for a certain demographic of people and won't compromise.
Since the original plans have missed the mark for that empty land, I am sure they will work on new plan and send you a letter for your approval when they have it.
Also, Mutual doesn't manage that property and business. There is a separate management company that does.
Sorry to hear that the plans have been scuttled. I was looking forward to some development of that land.
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