“We felt a large commitment like this is going to make more customers and future employees realize that Union Bank & Trust is committed to Omaha,” Weinandt said.
Among the building’s amenities is a nearly 5,000-square-foot third-floor terrace that will be a common area. The fifth floor will have a smaller terrace for UBT. Weinandt expects about 40 bank employees to be based at the new site.
With a history dating to 1917, UBT was founded as Farmer’s State Bank, and its officials describe it today as the third-largest privately owned bank in Nebraska. It’s owned by Nebraska’s Dunlap family.
A growth spurt in the past decade took the bank from $2.5 billion to $5.4 billion in assets, and $8.5 billion to $27.5 billion in trust assets, Weinandt said. UBT has about 950 employees and 38 full-service and loan offices in Nebraska and Kansas.
The brand may be familiar to locals, as the huge sports complex that opened last year near 204th and West Dodge also carries the UBT name. The bank bought naming rights to the $10 million multi-sport facility.
Weinandt said the strategy was to have the UBT facilities close enough to capitalize on name recognition, but far enough apart to serve more west Omaha neighborhoods.
Alex Epstein of OMNE Partners, leasing agent for the new structure, foresees enough tenant demand. He believes the coronavirus-related slowdown in office activity will be “old news” by the time the building opens in 2022.