Ellis Boulevard A&W may have a chance

CEDAR RAPIDS - The City Council will vote to see if an interest from neighbors in saving the flood-damaged former A&W Family Restaurant on Ellis Boulevard NW can translate into a developer willing to invest in the project.

A group calling itself Northwest A&W Solutions Group has asked the City Council to pull the former A&W property at 1132 Ellis Blvd. NW from a City Hall demolition list approved in July, and Mayor Ron Corbett, for one, supports the move.

Corbett on Monday said that it's understandable that it has taken three years after the 2008 flood for interest in the restaurant to surface.

“Residents have been thinking about their own individual needs and their own home issues,” the mayor said. “Now that that's been taken care of, they're branching out and looking at their neighborhood. So I think it's worth letting the group try to put together a proposal.”

Corbett noted that the council has agreed to keep two, tiny, former gas stations on 12th Avenue SE off the demolition list as developer Charles Jones works to convert them into small, takeout restaurants. Likewise, the council has agreed to keep properties at 1501 and 1507 C St. SW in Czech Village in place, where developer Baron Stark has plans to renovate them.

The city has more than 100 flood-damaged commercial properties to demolish so it can wait and see if a few of them can be redeveloped, the mayor said.

At its meeting, the council will vote to hold a public hearing on the A&W property on Sept. 27 when it will seek proposals to redevelop it.

[mqMap align="center" key="Leky" width="485" height="292" src="http://www.mapquest.com/embed?icid=mqdist_mb_wp&c=Leky&maptype=map&zoom=12¢er=41.98401760142767,-91.68207000000001&projection=sm&showScale=false"/>