Matt Tondl
Senior Vice President, Nebraska/Iowa Area Manager
HDR
The AEC community is going strong in Omaha, Tondl says. “The pandemic and subsequent inflationary period have not slowed growth. The public and private sectors are strong. Data centers continue to grow and significant projects continue in early childhood education and higher education,” he adds.
A multi-faceted community project keeping crews busy is the construction of a new central library by the Omaha Public Library, which is scheduled to open in 2026.
HDR has provided architecture and various engineering and planning services for the $150 million project. The firm has also participated in the design of elements of another library in the center of the city.
As the state’s largest city, Omaha also plays a key role in attracting the next generation of healthcare providers. The University of Nebraska Medical Center is contributing to that effort with a new hospital project on the horizon.
The university is making plans for a $2.19 million academic medical center in Omaha.
“Having a new medical center fills a critical need in health care. The number of people who need quality care continues to increase, as do changes in technology,” says Tondl.
A key facility for quality health care in Omaha and a key project, or primarily for HDR’s architecture team, has been Children’s Nebraska (formerly Children’s Hospital and Medical Center), which has undergone a expansion and renewal. The addition of the Hubbard Center doubled the hospital’s capacity, adding 100 beds. It is the only facility in Nebraska dedicated exclusively to pediatric care. It serves more than 150,000 children a year.
Tondl says another giant project that’s attracting not only attention, but also visitors to the urban core is a $300 million public/private investment in the three major downtown parks, which has resulted in a 72-acre park system that has become a hub of activity. .
The revitalization project includes Gene Leahy Mall, Heartland of America Park and Lewis & Clark Landing, which will now be collectively called RiverFront.
HDR served as design director and project engineer. More than 370 of its employees have worked on the project over the past seven years.
“It involved navigating the complexities of permits, flood walls, levees, endangered species and buried high-voltage transmission lines,” Tondl says.
He adds that HDR also completed design and planning services for the Kiewit Luminarium, an 82,000-square-foot museum with more than 120 interactive exhibits in one of the combined parks.
Tondl says another project of note is a 44-story headquarters for Mutual of Omaha that has moved forward downtown. Standing 677 feet tall, the building will feature approximately 800,000 square feet of office, meeting, collaboration and amenity space.
“[Large] The developments … are important to boost trade, retail and recreation in the region.”
—Matt Tondl, Senior Vice President, HDR
“Developments like these are important to boost commerce, retail and leisure in the region. But all of this cannot happen without supporting infrastructure, such as transport,” he says.
HDR is taking a major role as project designer for an initial three-mile streetcar line in the city. It is being delivered through a CM/GC process, with Kiewit as the contractor. The streetcar will connect the heart of the downtown urban core with the University of Nebraska Medical Center downtown.
Beyond highways and railroads, Omaha is busy with track-related construction. Epply Airport is in the early stages of a major terminal project that will expand the airport to 30 gates from 20. HDR has been working with the Omaha Airport Authority on a widened terminal entrance and a massive front deck structure to protect passengers from rain and snow, he says.
With so much positive news, work remains the biggest challenge.
“Competition for talent is fierce,” Tondl says.
On the procurement side, HDR has partnered with a state community college that has an existing Building Information Modeling (BIM) program.
“There is a significant industry need for BIM professionals, so we are focusing on improving university curricula to align skills with the AEC industry,” Tondl says. “We’ve also added a BIM certificate for students, which provides a base diploma to which an associate’s or bachelor’s degree could be added in the future.”
HDR has more than 12,000 employees worldwide.
