UAY sells Iowa Avenue houses for $2.4 million

IOWA CITY - Officials with United Action for Youth have sold the organization's two houses on Iowa Avenue for $2.4 million.

That sale, which was finalized May 1, has allowed UAY officials to pay off the organization's roughly $993,000 debt, much of which accrued through upkeep and maintenance of the two aging buildings at 410 and 422 Iowa Ave., which were built more than 100 years ago.

'It's good to be debt-free,” UAY board chair Shannon Christensen said. 'It's going to put us on solid financial ground ... We feel very fortunate to be in the situation we're in, it's going to be great for the organization.”

The roughly $1.4 million remaining from the sale will be used to purchase or lease a new facility to house the organization's counseling and therapy programs, teen parent support program and transitional learning office space.

UAY's Youth Center at 355 Iowa Ave. will be unaffected by the sale.

Thanks to a one-year, rent-free lease signed with the new property owner, Madison, Wis.-based company Court Street Apartments, UAY officials have some leeway to locate a new home.

'That is incredibly generous offer on their part,” she said. 'They told us they didn't have any immediate plans to develop the site.”

At some point, Court Street Apartments officials - who also built the Telluride Apartments complex on the corner of Court and Linn streets - plan to build high-end student housing on the roughly 21,000 square feet of land where the two houses currently sit.

Specific design plans for the project will be available at a later date, but officials have said the project likely will stay within the land's current CB5 zoning, which allows up to 75 feet in height unless height bonuses are granted.

UAY officials are looking for a roughly 5,000- to 7,000-square-foot site that is located on a bus route and has enough parking space for clients and staff.

While several options are being explored, Christensen said there is a possibility that UAY might try to partner with other local non-profits for a shared space.

The effort could be similar to the 1105 Project, which opened last year at 1105 Gilbert Ct. and is a collaborative effort between the Johnson County Crisis Center, Domestic Violence Intervention Program, Free Lunch Program and National Alliance on Mental Illness of Johnson County.

'That would be fantastic, but these things take a little time to flesh out,” Christensen said. 'We're hoping to have a couple of options by the middle or end of this summer that the board can take a look at.”