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from the issue of April 10, 2008
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Space limitations shift some offices off-campus
Making the move downtown
BY TROY FEDDERSON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Floyd Sylvester knew office space was at a premium on campus - he just didn't know how tight the "market" had become.
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| | | RECENT MOVE - UNL's Employee Assistance Program moved into the Wells Fargo Building, 1248 O St., on April 1. Pictured in front of the building are EAP's Kyla Dose, Floyd Sylvester and Carol Nau. Photo by Troy Fedderson/University Communications.
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In November, the director of the Employee Assistance Program learned that the State Historical Society was selling the Syford House (700 N. 16th St.), EAP's home for 18 years. He began looking for new space on campus, but the search quickly turned to other options.
"Ideally we wanted to be on campus, but there just wasn't suitable space available," Sylvester said. "We started looking downtown and we finally settled here."
EAP is the university's latest office to make a transition into a private sector facility, moving April 1 into the Wells Fargo Center (1248 O St.), Suite 960. Currently the university holds leased space in five downtown office buildings.
"The market for campus office space is very tight," said Linda Cowdin, manager of real estate properties for UNL. "It's pretty much been that way all 20 years I've worked here."
UNL currently has 7.3 million square feet of space used for offices. Jennifer Dam, campus planner with Institutional Research and Planning, said only about 1,500-square-feet - two-tenths of one percent - is vacant.
"And, that's not just available in one building for an office to move into," Dam said. "That space is located here and there, scattered throughout our campus buildings."
When a move is necessary, campus officials turn to Cowdin.
"We can usually find space available that is next to or very close to campus," Cowdin said. "We negotiate as much as we can, but we usually pay a fair market price for the space."
For EAP, Cowdin narrowed the search to five locations. Sylvester looked at each location's options, weighing EAP needs (including patient confidentiality and parking availability), before opting for the Wells Fargo Center.
"We've only been here a few days, but the space is great," Sylvester said. "Our patients are very positive about it. They really like the anonymity of walking into an off-campus building.
"One even said they found the new location uplifting - but I don't know if they were talking about the elevator or the space."
While the move was welcomed, Sylvester said the new location is temporary. EAP will be relocated to campus when space comes available - possibly in a refurbished Whittier Building.
"We really like where we are, but our first choice would be to return to campus," Sylvester said. "Mainly because there is this mental thing about being on campus. We're closer to most of campus than we were before. But the pleasant walk downtown feels further to many employees."
While the off campus moves are (for the most part) temporary, the business sector welcomes the establishment of a university beachhead of downtown office space.
"Obviously, the university is important to the success of downtown Lincoln," said Todd Ogden, marketing director for the Downtown Lincoln Association. "We really think mixing the university, downtown and the Haymarket is a good thing for everyone."
The views aren't so bad either.
"I bet few people know there's a park on top of the Centerstone Building," said Sylvester. "For us, this move has been really exciting and we're going to enjoy everything downtown Lincoln has to offer while we're here."
Downtown Campus
UNL has more than 35 leases within 16 Nebraska counties. The leases provide UNL with office space, land for testing and research, and storage space. Offices that are off campus in Lincoln and the lease holders include:
Employee Assistance Program
(Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.)
Wells Fargo Center (1248 O St.)
Public Policy Center
(Lincoln Community Foundation)
215 Centennial Mall South
Center on Children, Families and the Law
(Nelnet)
Miller and Paine Building, 121 S. 13th St.
University of Nebraska Press
(Nebco Inc.)
1111 Lincoln Mall
Office of Technology Development
(Nebraska Book Company)
1320 Q St.
Information provided by Linda Cowdin, manager of real estate properties for UNL
GO TO: ISSUE OF APRIL 10
NEWS HEADLINES FOR APRIL 10
Making the move downtown
Crews to deliver Nebraska Lecture
Francis aids experiential ed program
Game On
CASNR Week events open with April 12 bull fry
Extension expertise on national Web site
Extension program propels nutrition ed
National Libraries Week events begin April 14
New online system tracks room usage
RESEARCH DISCUSSION
ROTC Lab Day
733142S38105X
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