PayPal selling sprawling office space in La Vista
LA VISTA, Neb. (WOWT) - After two decades of occupying a large swath of land and two big buildings along I-80 near Giles Road, PayPal confirms to 6 News that it is “finalizing the sale of our existing Omaha office location.”
Video from Sky Alert 6 shows just how vast the piece of prime real estate really is. PayPal opened Building 1 in 2003. The company later expanded, constructing Building 2 across the street in what is called Southport East in La Vista.
At the time, PayPal had almost two-thousand employees in the Omaha area. The governor called it “extraordinary.” The Chamber of Commerce lauded the company for its commitment to the Omaha community.
Twenty years later, much of that exuberance is history. The PayPal sign near the entrance has faded. The massive parking lot for employees sits empty with row after row of spaces wide open and no cars. The outdoor walking path for employees winds around with nobody on it.
So what happened?
“Obviously, COVID changed a lot in many areas of life and one thing was being able to work remotely, which meant those people weren’t coming to work, " La Vista Mayor Doug Kindig said.
6 News contacted PayPal at its corporate headquarters in San Jose, Calif. A company spokesperson sent 6 News this statement:
“PayPal is continuously evaluating our global office footprint and spaces to ensure that our company and our employees are best set up for success. As our ways of working have evolved, so too have our office needs. As part of this effort, we are in the process of finalizing the sale of our existing Omaha office location. PayPal remains fully committed to Omaha and the company continues to look for a new space in the area that better fits the needs of our employees.”
6 News checked the Sarpy County Assessor’s Office website: The two buildings and land have a combined value of about $27 million.
Mayor Kindig hopes another company steps ups and buys or leases the buildings while breathing new life into the business park.
“We think it’s still one of the best areas in the Omaha-metro area because of the location, as far as being able to get here from anywhere in the city obviously along the interstate,” he said.
PayPal did not tell us how many employees it still has in the Omaha area.
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