Council approves Coral Ridge Mall site plan

CORALVILLE - The Coralville City Council approved a site-plan amendment Tuesday night to allow for a new structure, which will replace the old Sears store at Coral Ridge Mall.

The City Council voted 4-0 to approve the mall's proposal, which calls for a six-tennant structure. Demolition of the Sears building began earlier this month, and the next step for the mall and developers is to receive a building permit from the city. That essentially will allow construction to begin.

The new one-story 98,000-square-foot structure is planned to be attached to the mall but will have separate outside entrances for all six yet-to-be-announced tenants. It is designed to be 6,000 square feet larger than the original Sears building, according to a memo from Jim Kessler, a building and zoning official in Coralville.

Three retailers will line each the west and east sides of the structure, and a large Coral Ridge Mall logo is to decorate the north side. Mark Seabold, an architect for Shive Hattery, told the council the structure is expected to have three internal loading docks covered with metal doors that work 'similar to an aircraft hangar door.”

Seabold said the project's benefits go beyond additional stores. New paving will provide more stormwater retention and management and allow for additional parking spaces. Landscaping is also planned around the new building to 'green that area up a little bit.”

'It's going to add a lot of vibrancy to the mall,” Seabold said. 'It's just trying to create a better front door, a front door that's less about a single anchor (store).”

The tenants will be connected only by a service hallway and some will share loading docks. He said for one corner store, a mall entrance may be possible but officials are determining whether that entrance would actually be beneficial.

Council member Bill Hoeft was absent from the meeting and did not vote.

The council gave another retail project a boost. It voted 4-0 in the first consideration of three to rezone an area for two retail buildings at the Coral Ridge Commerce Park.

The 7,500 square-foot buildings are planned for land just south of the Hy-Vee Gas and Car Wash on Crosspark Road. Kessler sad the buildings could be restaurants or retail space, with room for an outdoor patio and drive-through.