Katie Basset:  I can't say enough about how important it is to have green space, even amongst a lot of commercial real estate, that green space helps create a gathering place for people to connect together.

Brian Maughan:  This is BUILT, the podcast where you’ll meet creative leaders in the commercial real estate industry and hear how they make a difference.

I’m your host Brian Maughan, Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer with Fidelity National Financial. In our Sixth season of BUILT, we’re taking a closer look at where commercial real estate protects, enhances, and even interacts with nature.

In this episode, we visit an expansive and vibrant place in Nebraska that blends nature with city life. This public park acts as a bridge linking the historic Old Market district with downtown Omaha. It's a brilliant way to use nature to revitalize commercial real estate and enhance the energy of the community.

I had the pleasure of speaking with the Vice President of Parks for what is called The RiverFront. How about I let her introduce herself.

Katie: My name is Katie Bassett. I was born and raised, grew up here in Omaha. I work for a company called MECA, Private 501C3, that has helped shepherd the Riverfront Project, through completion, and then, uh, help support the teams here overseeing operations, maintenance, and activation of the three parks.

Brian: Tell me your favorite thing about Omaha.

Katie: Yeah, I would say my favorite thing about Omaha is the people. Omaha, very individual. The people here make it or, you know, love to just be Omaha. We're not trying to be Kansas City or Denver or a bigger city. Very comfortable being who we are and very, happy and proud of what we've created here in this city.

Brian: Fantastic. Very nice. And Mecca. Describe Mecca for me.

Katie: Absolutely. Mecca, here in Omaha was originally created to oversee design, construction and operations of our arena convention center that's here. After some time, we took over the baseball stadium, which is home of the NCAA college world series. And then we're tapped for umm the park project here,you know, having a private entity that is managing and overseeing, city of Omaha assets.

Brian: If you’ve never been to Omaha, it would be hard to know how significant this piece of land is. Three parks have been combined into one; and underutilized barren concrete, well it has been transformed into vast greenery filled with plant life.

Katie: We certainly had some challenges, not only, with the physical space in terms of, building all of the infrastructure knowing that this isn't just a park. This is really an infrastructure project with a park on top of it. Doing all the infrastructure pieces from removing old foundations, managing and containing some contaminated material, using lightweight fill, bringing dirt in to raise some of these areas to street level.

Brian: Looking at The RiverFront from above, you can see walking trails where locals enjoy leisurely strolls and admire stunning pieces in the curated Sculpture Garden.

For decades, though, these three areas were isolated from each other; their unification brings new energy to downtown’s commercial real estate and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Katie: The former parks were very sunken with a lot of dark spaces, more of a escape from the hustle and bustle of downtown life, where as we brought , many of them up to grade to create activatable spaces and to create spaces for park amenities. Um we also, faced challenges with how many entities had to work on this project but it's also a testament to the area and to Omaha that so many people could work together and really Shepherd this project.The Riverfront, 72 acres of highly activated park space.

Brian: It’s a very busy place.

Katie: It's highly active in that we have daily, weekly, monthly programming, but also a beautiful park space where there's something for everyone, whether that's playgrounds for kids of all ages to play at, to big lawn spaces for festivals, to quiet spaces where people can enjoy and experience nature.

Brian: So where does it sit in the city of Omaha?

Katie: Right at the Eastern edge of Omaha, bordering the Missouri river, really leading up through Omaha's urban core in the downtown area. So kind of connecting that riverfront to the central business district.

And then we have a historic area here called the old market that borders us on the South to our North downtown area that borders us on the North.

Brian: Before we keep exploring, let’s see how we got here.

Brian: Clearly 72 acres, massive, three distinct parks, a huge undertaking. And what you've been able to accomplish. How does this get funded and what is unique about the way that the riverfront kind of came to be from a financial point of view?

Katie: Omaha and of itself is a unique place. We have a lot of public private partnership that happens here and For our capital project, the city of Omaha Contributed 57 million dollars in lease purchase bonds, and then the remainder of our overall cost of a little over 340 million dollars came from the private philanthropic community.

Katie: So donated dollars exceeded 285 million on this capital project that is as we mentioned is not just a park project, but an infrastructure project.

Brian: That’s the kind of public-private partnership that drives unique opportunities. This project is a testament to the people of Omaha and their commitment to their community.

Katie: in addition to the capital funds of this project, it was very important for project leaders to have strong operations and maintenance right from the get go.

Katie: In addition to our over 340 million capital cost, over 60 million was raised for the ongoing operations, maintenance, and activation of the park for the first 10 years, with 30 million coming from the City of Omaha budget and the matching 30 million coming from the philanthropic community.

Brian:  A project of this scale will always face significant challenges and setbacks, but Katie and the rest of the team were prepared.

Katie: I guess you could say. Without difficulty, it's not very fun. Each of these places had their own history before and their own time of development, which brings along a different set of guidelines for how you document what's there, and also different means and methods.

Katie: Every department within the city of Omaha worked on this project, too. And then, of course, many sub consultants and subcontractors, worked on it. And we had the environmental departments heavily involved we’re along railroad tracks, not just one railroad track, but two different railroads.

We had challenges with the physical space challenges with just entity coordination, individual coordination. And then we built this at a time when we were going through a, global pandemic, supply chain shortages…

Brian: What's one more thing, right? What's one more thing?

Katie: Yeah. Supply chain shortages, staff challenges and things like that. But, it's what makes it fun.

Brian: That sounds like a lot of cooks in the kitchen, but, congratulations to Omaha for pulling it off. That's great.

Katie: Thank you. A lot of cooks in the kitchen, a lot of people interested in this project, but everyone having the same common goal and wanting to create really this community space in the heart of downtown.

Brian: They succeeded in creating a unified sense of community, but each section of the park was once separate and had its own distinct history.

Katie: So all of these areas, they're very unique. It wasn't necessarily a cohesive park space. It seemed like you were in an individual space in each So each was a park anywhere from being developed in the ‘70s like Gene Leahy Mall was to the ‘90s like Heartland of America Park and the early 2000s in Lewis and Clark Landing. Prior to that,they all had their own storied history, too, from being an industrial area with, industrialized commerce or lead smelting plants, battery breaking operations, big brick buildings, from, way back when Omaha first got its start, too.

Brian: Interesting. What was the origin story of connecting these three existing parks and making them more unified, kind of a more cohesive space?

Katie: Absolutely. I would say Omaha leadership throughout all generations has seen the importance of connecting the city to the Missouri riverfront, for this particular, installation or revitalization,

So our project leaders, Ken Stenson, Chair Emeritus of Kiewit Companies, and then Moen Spy, Chair of Valmont Industries, really are the ones that kind of shepherd this. I started a committee to get an idea together, a master plan entity. OJB Landscape Architecture did ours. And then, from the get go, the city of Omaha led by our mayor, Jean Stothert was on board to really shepherd this project. Not only through the master plan and idea phase, but all the way through to construction and opening.

Brian: So you've been there since the beginning of the Riverfront project. You've been in Omaha as a native. Let's say that you're standing in your favorite part of the park. What do we see right in front of you?

Katie: You know, there's many favorite places, but people gathering together, lots of native plants and trees, kids, adults, people of all ages enjoying the various features. I would say, Gene Leahy Mall is a portion of the park that was open first. And it's the most activated and highlight of the park in the most urban core of downtown Omaha.

Brian: This isn’t a mall like a shopping mall… think more like open space, like the National Mall.

Katie: you'll see lots of connectivity to the downtown area too, that business district. Some art features. We have a sculpture garden with art pieces that rotate a signature art piece on the west end.

Brian: We had the opportunity to visit that area and were delighted to be accompanied by the Vice President of Communications for the Riverfront, Krystina Engdal [Eng - doll]

“And so along with the presence of the art work there is also an emphasis on native planting from this area too. So we use native plants for a couple reasons right? One, you know they're going to do well in this environment, um, because they're made for it. And two, it takes less resources to keep them alive and keep them looking good. (1:09 – 1:28) “that’s not to discount the work that, um, our horticulture team puts in every single day to make sure the entirety of the space still looks lovely.” (1:36 – 1:43)” - Krystina , Riverfront Tour Tape

Katie: The wind sculpture towards the east end,lots of interactive water play, lots of play features from a playground to these historic slides that are here. A big performance pavilion for,large performances or, for people to just gather and eat lunch.

Brian: It’s at the heart of the Gene Leahy Mall.

Katie:. It's a space where we have a variety of performances from salsa dancing classes to a big symphony concert to we've had a country concert on there.

For our most recent 4th of July celebration, which was a symphony concert with fireworks. We had well over 20,000 people within the park space. The lawn in front of it is 50,000 square feet, but then it has many bordering areas that really help everyone see what's going on when it's not in use, the performance pavilion has color changing lights to it and is still a beautiful art feature.

Brian: Nice.

Katie: And then historic buildings are right there in Gene Leahy Mall as well. As you head east into Heartland of America Park, you still see a nice big lawn space that's activatable. You see some bocce courts, a skate ribbon that's roller skating in the summer, ice skating in the winter. Has a glycol system under it so we can freeze the surface there.

Brian: This even made the local news on WOWT…

“ The park has a lot of new space and some new features. The Skate Ribbon provides space for Roller Skating and Roller Blading and you can ice skate here in the winter. “We just have to flood the surface and turn on the chillers and then it will start the freezing process.” - Katie on Youtube clip (00:57 - 1:13)

Katie: You also see Heartland of America Park Lake with an area that we offer boat rides. some swings bringing in some play elements and lots of prairie plants and, native plants there. And then of course, one of the main points of interest is the Farnum Pier, a prefabricated truss bridge that extends over railroad tracks and really connects you with the Missouri River.

Brian: The latest addition to the 72-acre project, which was completed in 2023, brought an unexpected surprise to the landlocked state.

Katie: We connect up with Lewis and Clark Landing, which is really the most integrated with the Missouri River being right adjacent to it. There we have Children's Playground, the Discovery Playground. That's four times the size of the one in Gene Leahy Mall, with very interactive and unique play.

“Also, as we get to the end of the, um, this particular playground, you can see the adventure path that kind of winds throughout and in between umm the length of that space.  Also, with wood decking for kiddos to run up, run down, climb down, and then there's also ample caregiver seating within there as well. “(4:36 – 5:02) Krystina, Riverfront Tour Tape

Katie: We're in the middle of the country, but have a beach right there along the river with sand, some sand volleyball courts, lots of prairie planting. And then of course, a separate, but sister project here in Omaha, the Kiewit luminarium and interactive, children's science center.

I say children's it's really for kids of all ages.

Brian: Whether you are a native to Omaha or a visitor passing through, the RiverFront was  designed to keep visitors engaged and to encourage repeat visits.

Katie: Our events team puts on over 600 free public programs and events on an annual basis. That can be anywhere from a yoga class to here in September, we have critter chats coming up where you can learn and see different unique animals. To large scale, concerts, whether that be, with the symphony, we do movie nights, we do, some private events too.

Always have like our art cart and our games card out running clubs, bocce clubs, sand volleyball clubs. So a lot of different activities happening. So you can come to the park space, maybe for what you originally intended to be there for, but then have that surprise and delight to see something else happening too.

“Similarly, some of the play structures are designed for both kiddos who run and play and expel energy. Um, one way versus kiddos who enjoy a quieter opportunity for playing. So there's a little bit of something for everyone. (5:29 – 5:43)” Krystina, Riverfront Tour Tape

Brian: There is one particular activity that is a nod to the 9 - 5ers of Omaha. You might even call it a “fun ride”.

Katie: and one of our more unique one is, we partner with a local, Animal, rehab facility to bring a camel here on Wednesdays over the lunch hour for, hump day at the RiverFront

Brian: Humpday!  I love it. I love it.

Brian: If we think about the riverfront and where it's positioned as part of the urban core, right close to downtown with a real historic background. What are some of the benefits of having this 72 acre project so close to the commercial center of Omaha?

Katie: We see it on a daily basis. People coming here to grab a bite to eat at their food truck, or grab their lunch from a business downtown and bring it to the park, walking the park on their lunch hour,

Whether they live in downtown or down here for an entertainment piece, like a concert at the arena or a sporting event at the baseball stadium, Umm but really coming together, having that green space and that common public space to see their neighbors visit others. And then, of course, being a highly activated park.

Katie: Not just coming here for a place, but coming here for activities too. Maybe you come and do a yoga class before you grab dinner somewhere, grab happy hour or visit with friends and then come to the park to enjoy the natural landscape that's here.

Brian: The park has had a ripple effect on the surrounding areas, energizing the community and showcasing its vibrant spirit.

Katie: This park is really a piece of urban core overhaul that Omaha is experiencing right now and one where, the park doesn't happen without the others and vice versa .Here in the downtown area, we're certainly seeing a lot of residential pop up, in the magnitude of thousands of units that are either being, revitalized and existing buildings are built independently.

As I mentioned, the Kiewit Luminarium, a science center, a point of destination that has popped up because of this project. a new arts education engagement center is popping up along the park. We're getting ready to embark on building a streetcar here in Omaha that goes along the side of the park.

We have Mutual of Omaha building their headquarters on the western edge of the park. We're seeing all of the construction pop up around us to really create a destination and a highly activated space.

Brian: Throughout the construction process, it was crucial to honor Omaha’s history. The team believed that it was essential to preserve and repurpose elements of the past.

Katie:. In Gene Leahy Mall, we have an arch along what we call the 11th Street promenade that is actually, the entrance to two old buildings that used to be in that area. We have these orange light poles that are very 1970s design that we recreated as a nod to that, former park history.

Katie: We have these two huge metal slides in Gene Leahy that were in the original design in the seventies. And actually some of  the individuals that worked on the original build of them were the ones that helped us rehab them and revitalize them. We kept those because of the importance that they are to those that grew up and have visited Omaha and have memories.

Brian: Nice

Katie: In Heartland of America Park, there's a big fountain there that has always been a point of interest for many that we kept and really upgraded.

Part of that fountain is, A piece from our Metropolitan Utilities District, one of our water treatment plants that were there. So it had originally moved to the park and we kept that and upgraded it.

“So all the trees within are native to Nebraska so not only did they start and come to maturity in Nebraskan weathering soil um but then when they relocated here, uh which we have hundreds of trees, for the large part, these trees have truly thrived” [03:37]  - Kristyna Engdahl

Brian: When envisioning a park, nature is typically at the forefront, but blending it with city life requires sustainability to be a central focus during the planning process.

Katie: OJP, our landscape architect, had a very high focus on utilizing plants and trees that are native to this area. So we actually had a local contractor, Lanoha and local nursery grow over 95 percent of our plants and trees that we installed here at the park.

Katie: The plants, from their very beginning were in this climate and then transplanted into the park space. .Our trees, it was really important for us to have them be of substantial size and caliber that they provided shade right from the get go.

Brian: Right.

Katie So you'll see a lot of,very well leafed out tall, large canopy trees throughout the entire park space. We installed over 1500 trees across the 72 acres and over 150, 000 plants.

Brian: Wow.

Katie:  in addition to some curated beds, we have an establishing prairie in Heartland of America Park in Lewis and Clark Landing.

We Mecca have a horticulture team that maintains all of our landscapes, with a high concentration on being pollinator friendly, natural habitat for Many different wildlife animals from birds to bees to bunnies and whatnot.

So a lot of, you know, natural looking landscaped areas.

Brian: For those of you that don’t have a “green thumb”, Katie breaks down what it means to establish a prairie in an urban atmosphere.

Katie: A specific prairie, seed mix that has those specific plants that you would see in a more prairie natural environment than you'd maybe see in an urban landscape. with the natural, the colorful flowers and the natural grasses and things like that.

Brian: In 2021, the RiverFront became the first project in the state of Nebraska to receive an Envision award from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), its among only about 40 projects around the world to achieve Platinum Verification

Katie: Envision for those that might not know is very similar to LEED for building. So very focused on sustainability, not just in terms of energy use, but also in your community impact, quality of life, use of local materials, reuse of materials, and then, of course, use of local talent as well.

Brian: This certification confirms a pledge to resilient and equitable infrastructure.

Katie: It was a huge piece of excitement for everyone working on the project team, that we were able to achieve something like that. But also, building a park space. We had a high concentration on building a sustainable project, a sustainable park and sustainable infrastructure, not just for today, but for the long term too.

Brian: Right.

Katie: I talked about the plants, those all being, grown here, but from limestone to we have decomposed granite to components within our decorative top cast concrete all came from within a 200 mile radius. of Omaha here. We utilized local talent as much as we could. Many of our subcontractors that were working on this project are local here to Omaha.

We have an entire sub drain network underneath all of our lawns and planter beds that help intercept over 700, 000 gallons of water, to reuse and water other areas. And then, of course, These areas being in, previous designs from previous times, we were able to switch and utilize all led lights throughout the park, which helped reduce our wattage usage by over 85 percent and the lumen output by over 75 percent while also really adding more lights and eliminating dark corners and spaces within the park.

Brian: Well, congratulations. It's an honor to talk to an Envision Award Winner. So I'm glad the park was selected.

Katie: Thank you.

Brian: This has been really fun to get a walk through the park as it is now and to hear a little bit about what it was and how it's transformed. Where do you think the riverfront is in five years from now? Is there more development that's happening? How does this continue to evolve?

Katie: I think we'll continue to see the landscape around the park evolve from day one, when we opened Gene Leahy Mall in July of 2022, we saw instant success in terms of the number of people who are coming to visit the park. In just two years and a month, we've seen over 3 million visitors to the park space. Omaha's a metropolis of just shy of a million people. This is really a melting pot for Omaha, for visitors. It's a regional destination. and People from all corners are coming here.

So I think because of that, we'll continue to see more development within the park, which I think will just drive more people here to more ways to get here, whether that's through rapid bus transit or through the street car, bike share, things like that. and then, of course, ongoing and continued activities within the park space.

Brian: Our goal is to highlight this interplay that happens all over. And sometimes we aren't really that keen or aware of. Of how things like this come about and the impact they have, but nature and commercial real estate and the spaces in our community that kind of connect us all, those are really important. like you mentioned at the very beginning of this, Omaha is Omaha, right? It's not trying to become anything else, but they're unique and they help create that personality that both the city or a community or an area has.

So I'm just glad that we had a chance to chat with you about the riverfront. It's fantastic.

Katie: No, I appreciate it. And I can't say enough about how important it is to have green space, even amongst a lot of commercial real estate, that green space helps create a gathering place for people to connect together.

Brian: That's awesome. Thank you so much, Katie.

Katie: Thank you.

Brian: Thanks for tuning into Season Six of Built! We have exciting stories coming up this season…and our next one – a walk through New York’s City’s Little Island – debuts in two weeks.

Brian:  If you missed any episodes from the first five seasons, be sure to catch up! You can find all Built episodes wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoy the show, share it with friend or leave us a rating on your podcast app!

Built is a co-production of Fidelity National Financial and PRX Productions. From FNF, our project is run by Annie Bardelas. This episode of Built was produced by Emmanuel Desarme. Our Senior Producer and editor is Genevieve Sponsler. Audio mastering by Rebecca Seidel.

The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales.

Special thanks to Katie Basset and Kristyna Engdahl from MECA. Also thanks to Courtney Bierman and Josh LaBure for audio support.

I’m Brian Maughan.

And remember, every story is unique, every property is individual, but we’re all part of this BUILT world.