Council will offer Armstrong $5.24 million for Event Center property

The City Council will offer Armstrong Race Realty Co. $5.24 million for most of the property needed for the Event Center project's new convention center next to the U.S. Cellular Center and Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel.

The city's proposed purchase of the Armstrong property follows on the heels of a recent purchase of a privately-owned parking garage in the same block for $1.25 million.

With the Armstrong property, only the former Roosevelt Hotel, now an apartment building, will be left standing in the block between First and A avenues NE and Second and Third streets NE in preparation for the construction of the new convention center. The convention center also will sit on what is now Third Street NE.

In addition to the purchase price of the Armstrong property, the city will pay an estimated $360,000 to relocate tenants now housed there.

The $67-million Event Center project also includes an upgrade to the U.S. Cellular Center arena.

The project has been awarded a $35-million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration and $15 million in state I-JOBS funds with $17 million needed from local sources.

Fifty percent of the First Avenue NE parking garage purchased in recent weeks was owned Cedar Rapids attorney Tim White and his wife, Jan, and 50 percent by Donna Noce, the city has said.