Iowa City health center near downtown considering move to Towncrest neighborhood

IOWA CITY - Another non-profit located just east of downtown Iowa City is exploring options for relocation.

Officials with Community Mental Health Center for Mid-Eastern Iowa, located on four adjacent lots on the corner of College and Van Buren streets, are in discussions with potential buyers for their property.

Center officials are eyeing the Towncrest medical services neighborhood near Muscatine and First avenues as a possible new home.

Stephen Trefz, executive director of the Community Mental Health Center for Mid-Eastern Iowa, said center officials have enjoyed being located near downtown, but added that they are looking for a more efficient location, largely based on shifting funding sources - the center's budget has been transitioning from considerable county and state dollars for human services to more Medicaid funds as a health care provider.

'We need to use the assets that we've built up over the years to move to a more efficient building,” Trefz said. 'As we look at our way of doing business and who we can serve and how we can best serve them, we think moving into one building would be better than us being in four separate buildings as we are now on this corner.”

No formal agreements have been made and center officials are still just discussing the potential sale of their property, but Trefz said a Towncrest site would offer many benefits to clients and staff, including ample parking, proximity to city transit, more efficiencies and much better access to nearby pharmacies, other medical services providers and amenities.

'We'd like to be part of the city's redevelopment, of going back to Towncrest and redeveloping the area into a medical neighborhood,” Trefz said. 'If we can pull that off, it would be a great opportunity for us.”

Back in the 1950s, several medical services providers relocated from downtown Iowa City to Towncrest to expand and update their facilities. Since then, the area has maintained its medical feel with pharmacies, offices and clinics.

Urban renewal efforts that began roughly five years ago have strengthened Towncrest and its presence of medical providers, said Wendy Ford, Iowa City economic development coordinator.

'When you've got a cluster of businesses that can serve a market, that says really good things,” Ford said. 'It's a really well-established medical neighborhood.”

Community Mental Health Center has been operating at the corner of E. College and S. Van Buren streets for decades. Officials first moved into a former pediatrician's office at 505 E. College St. and the attached garage at 214 S. Van Buren St. 35 years ago. Facilities expanded to include a former prosthetics shop at 220 S. Van Buren St. about 30 years ago and about 10 years later, the health center acquired a former chiropractor's office at 507 E. College St.

Community Mental Health Center is one of a handful of entities in the near downtown neighborhood looking at a potential move.

Officials with United Action for Youth are accepting offers from developers to assess the value of their properties at 410 and 422 Iowa Ave.

UAY officials said the cost of maintaining their two properties has grown over the years and relocating to a new site also would create efficiencies.

Following the congregation's vote to search for a new home earlier this year, Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City officials applied last week for a demolition permit for the church at 10 S. Gilbert St.

Church officials are in discussions of striking a deal with a local developer to sell their property and build a new church in East Iowa City.

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com