Neighbors gear up for Talent Plus expansion

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BY DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

Nadine Hain lives on Ridgeview Drive, a street that was once appropriately named. She used to have a great view from the house she’s lived in for about 20 years.

“We could see all the way downtown,” she said.

Then Talent Plus built a huge, contemporary white office building — with unusual angles and lots of glass — and “totally blocked our view,” she said.

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Talent Plus (Michael McNamara)

Talent Plus (Michael McNamara)

She and other neighbors signed petitions and attended public meetings to fight the sale of city park land for the corporate campus of the human resources consulting firm. They lost.

“Now our front yard turns dark an hour before the backyard does,” she said.

She and other neighbors are now gearing up for round two because Talent Plus wants to build a second office building west of its main building, and buy another 1.3 acres of city park land for parking, and possibly part of the building.

Talent Plus did not respond to a Journal Star request for an interview, but the city parks director said Talent Plus plans to add about 100 jobs and the second building will be almost as big as the first.

In 2001, Talent Plus built its headquarters on a bluff overlooking Holmes Golf Course, with a great view of the State Capitol and even Memorial Stadium.

The issue of selling park land to a private company and changing the zoning was controversial the first time around, Parks Director Lynn Johnson said.

“We’ve heard some of the same concerns,” Johnson said. “Certainly, their view changed pretty dramatically.”

Neighbors complaining about another obstruction to their view may have a tough time arguing against 100 new jobs.

Hain said she has no problem with the company bringing jobs to Lincoln, she just thinks they picked the wrong place to build.

“It doesn’t belong by a park and golf course,” she said. “They supposedly are a good company but they just wanted to build in the wrong place.”

Dave Fitzgibbon recently had moved to his home near 59th Street and Pioneers Boulevard when the Talent Plus building went up across the way to the east.

“I have no qualms with the fact that they’re a fabulous company and great high-paying jobs within the community, but that doesn’t give them license to take away something that we already owned,” he said of taxpayer-owned park land. “We’re not crazy that they were able to site a large office building in the middle of a residential area overlooking one of the city’s finest parks.”

Johnson said the second building would be about 80 percent as big as the main building. It would be two stories; the main building is three stories.

Fitzgibbon said some, but not all, affected neighbors were invited to hear about the expansion at a recent Talent Plus open house.

He will represent the Interlochen Estates Homeowners Association at a Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting today on the subject.

“I have not had anybody say they are in favor,” he said. “Most people say the building’s ugly; we hate it.”

John Davis, a member of the Colonial Hills Neighborhood Association, said some members weren’t happy that they weren’t informed of the open house. He said if they’re brought into the loop, “maybe we can work something out, keep it smooth.”

In 2001, Talent Plus bought private land for its campus just east of a city-owned 3.6-acre triangular piece of land on the south side of Holmes Golf Course. They bought 2.3 acres of the city-owned triangle for parking, and the purchase agreement gave the company the right to buy the rest of the land later, Johnson said.

He said the company is anxious to begin construction, possibly later this year. But first the plans must go through the parks advisory board, planning commission and, eventually, City Council, which must authorize the sale of land and change the zoning.

As if that isn’t enough bureaucracy, since federal money helped pay to develop the recreational land, the National Park Service must approve the sale of the land, which must be replaced with land of equal value.

The process took about a year and a half the first time around, Johnson said. The land was appraised for $650,000, and to compensate for the lost park land, the city bought 70 acres in three locations.

Hain said she and other neighbors are gearing up to fight the expansion.

“They need to find themselves a place where they can expand,” she said, “not on park land and not in a neighborhood.”

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.