Official projects wave of new retailers coming to Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids metro will see up to 20 retailers announce new locations or expansions coming to the market in the next few months, said Scott Olson, a member of Cedar Rapids City Council and a commercial real estate consultant.

Olson said the mix includes new to the area national restaurants, clothing stores, jewelers, and sporting goods stores, and existing retailers who will be opening second locations. Olson declined to identify the brands saying negotiations are still being finalized.

'People have Cedar Rapids on their radar,” Olson said.

Olson attended The Global Retail Real Estate Convention in Las Vegas with a contingent of Cedar Rapids area developers and City Manager Jeff Pomeranz earlier this week. They met with officials from retailers, shopping centers, and retail developers with ties to national chains in effort to bring more retail to the mix and learn about new concepts for retail developments.

'There were a variety of quality educational sessions, and this was also an opportunity for retailers and developers and the public sector to meet and talk about projects,” Pomeranz said.

Pomeranz said he spoke with 50 or 60 retailers about Cedar Rapids. The nature of the event was not to close deals but to start conversations, he said. The response about Cedar Rapids was positive, and he noted the retail market is investing in bricks and mortar as the economy improves, which is a good sign.

Many national retailers don't want to lease but rather buy in developments already in the pipeline, such that roads, utilities and buildings are under construction and the retailer could open within the next year, Olson said. Many options like that already exist, which made for promising conversations at the convention, he said.

'It's a good sign that people are looking,” he said.

Greg Swartzendruber, director of business development at Hunter Companies of Cedar Rapids, also attended. He said he lined up meetings in advance with several potential partners in hopes of filling spaces at the Berthel Fisher Financial Center and Northtowne Market.

'I do think it is an emerging place for retail and restaurants,” he said. 'Some just aren't going to come here because of the size of our market, but some that are growing, maybe not national but regional brands, are interested in coming here.”

He said retailers have their own metrics for rating communities based on population, wealth and spending habits.

'My impression was we are kind of a third tier market,” Swartzendruber said.