Northern Natural Gas Building

Northern Natural Gas Building
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General information
Status	Complete
Location	Omaha, Nebraska USA
Coordinates	41°15′33″N 95°56′46″W / 41.2593°N 95.9461°W / 41.2593; -95.9461
Height
Roof	260 ft (79 m)
Technical details
Other dimensions	3.77-acre (15,300 m2) site
Floor count	19
Floor area	259,000 sq ft (24,100 m2)
References
[1]

The Northern Natural Gas Building, also known as the 2223 Dodge Street Building, is located at 2223 Dodge Street in the Park East neighborhood of downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is a 260 ft (79 m), 19-story skyscraper that ranks 8th, among Omaha's top ten tallest buildings. Currently the building is vacant.^[2] The building is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places located in Douglas County, Nebraska.

History

Northern Natural Gas Co. built the six-story corporate headquarter tower in the early 1950s, adding a 16-story tower in the late 1950s. The building has over 259,000 sf of gross space located on a 3.77-acre (15,300 m²) site, with over 600 parking stalls in two attached heated parking garages and adjacent parking lots. In 1985, Northern's parent company, InterNorth Inc., bought Houston Natural Gas, a Houston, Texas based company to become Enron Corp. Enron Corp. then became headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska for a short time. The next year, Enron moved the company's headquarters to Houston, Texas and as one of the major corporate employers in Omaha, placed 19 office buildings in the area for sale. In 1988 they sold their original corporate headquarter building, which remained for a number of years as their regional headquarter building for their division, Northern Natural Gas Division, for $11.52 million dollars, to an investment group controlled by investor Michael Cutler. Northwestern National Life Insurance Co. was a major initial investment partner and lender in the transaction. Northwestern National Life Insurance changed its name in 1996 to ReliaStar, and in May 2000 was acquired by Dutch financial services giant ING Group for US $5 billion.

Under Mr. Cutler's control and leadership, the building underwent a mult-million dollar renovation and retrofit while it was occupied, turning it into one of Omaha's premier office, business, and technology centers. He owned the building for 12 years and sold it in 2001. The building at the time, was Omaha's third highest office structure. With its large windows, panoramic views of the region, and central location, it was 100% leased throughout his ownership period.

Other major financial institutions over the years involved in the transaction while under Mr. Cutler's ownership, were 1st National Bank of Omaha, Security Pacific National Bank of Los Angeles, California, Bank of America, Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds(Goldman Sachs), and Acceptance Insurance Cos.

Major tenants over the years were some offices of First National Bank of Nebraska, which is currently the largest privately owned bank in the country, along with subsidiary First National Bank of Omaha, namely their credit card and processing divisions, occupied the building until the new First National Bank Tower opened in 2002. At the time the building was considered one of the leading office, business, and technology centers in the country with state-of-the-art fiber optic communication capacity.

The north view of the Northern Natural Gas Building in Downtown Omaha.

See also

• Economy of Omaha, Nebraska
• List of tallest buildings in Omaha, Nebraska

References

1. ^ Northern Natural Gas Building at Emporis
2. ^ Kotokijk, M. (2004) "Anybody need a building with 225,000 square feet (20,900 m²)?", Omaha World-Herald.