Entrepreneurs work to breathe new life into flooded buildings

The floodwaters of June 2008 are providing an opportunity for some business owners in Cedar Rapids.

Entrepreneurs already have opened new bars, clothing stores, restaurants and used-car lots. A 24-hour downtown fitness center will open this fall, and more businesses are on the way.

The potential for six months' free rent, up to $50,000, in a Cedar Rapids building that was flooded has attracted entrepreneurs like Dahlia Latif, owner of The Vault, a new women's clothing store in Czech Village.

“It's always been my dream to open a clothing store,” Latif said. “With the help of the government Jumpstart program, I was finally able to do it.”

The federal Jumpstart Business Rental Assistance program was a key factor in Latif's decision to launch her business in a former bank building that last housed a tattoo parlor.

“It has to be in a flooded area, and Czech Village is close to where I live,” she said. “I'm looking forward to a lot of these shops opening up again.”

Free rent also was an incentive for Wayne and Jackie Meier to lease space for a MAC Xpress fitness center in downtown Cedar Rapids. Construction has begun on the 6,000-square-foot, 24-hour fitness center, which will open this fall in the former Higley's on Second space, at Second Street and Third Avenue SE.

“We have Alliant Energy and United Fire & Casualty that have close to 800 employees,” Wayne Meier said. “It will be located off the skywalk and offer group exercise, like step aerobics, yoga, Pilates and cycle class, which should appeal to women.”

The Jumpstart rental assistance program was not a factor when Toni and Tom Hauer leased a former chiropractic office at 426 First Ave. NW for Julia-N-LeChef, a catering and event services business.

“We just felt the building was a perfect fit for us,” Toni Hauer said. “We have applied for the Jumpstart program, but we didn't include it as part of our business plan.

“If we are approved and get it, it certainly will be nice, but we still would have had to come up with the rent for June, July and August.”

Likewise, Don Nemec and Scott Pinter did not consider the Jumpstart program when they decided to transform the former Parlor City Storage building at 301 F Ave. NW into Cedar River Landing, a new sports bar.

“They owned the building,” said Adin Wheat, general manager of Cedar River Landing, which opened Dec. 19. “One of the high-school boys helping them gut the building said, ‘This would make a nice bar.' They talked it over with their wives and decided to go for it.”

Tiffany Earl of Skogman Commercial Realty said the Jumpstart rental assistance has attracted attention, but it has not been a “deal breaker” when it comes to leasing a building.

“We've had a lot of interest in a number of downtown buildings,” Earl said. “Just recently, the University of Iowa has signed a lease for the top floor of the former Siebke Hoyt, Ginsberg and Osco buildings for its MBA program. I don't believe the rental assistance program was a major factor in that decision.”

Scott Olson of Skogman Commercial Realty said lack of financing for remodeling is more of a factor in new uses for formerly flooded buildings.

“Property owners are not able to get the financing to do the build out,” Olson said. “I've got several businesses that are interested in downtown locations, but the remodeling costs are an obstacle.”