Cedar Rapids makes deal for west-side fire station site

Negotiating to buy a parcel of land for a new west-side district fire station wasn't the simplest of tasks.

But City Hall now says it has struck a deal to purchase four acres of property at Edgewood Road NW and Crestwood Drive NW for the new $2.8 million district fire station.

Construction is slated to begin Aug. 30, 2012, with completion set for April 30, 2013.

The city will pay $550,000 for the four-acre site, owned by Westgate Communities LLC, Dubuque.

The city initially had wanted to purchase just 3.13 acres from Westgate, but Westgate succeeded in getting the city to also purchase an adjacent .86-acre parcel as part of the purchase.

The city's initial offer was $140,000 for the 3.13-acre parcel, but negotiations with the owner and an analysis of sale prices of comparable land resulted in a "compromise" on a final price, Rita Rasmussen, the city's senior real estate officer, said Monday.

The City Council is slated to approve the property purchase as a routine item without discussion at its meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

An initial breakdown in negotiations with Westgate prompted the city to turn to a second nearby site on which to build the new west-side district fire station. However, the owner of the second site at 3592 Rogers Rd. NW just west of Edgewood Road NW, happened to be Dave Kramer, the city's former parks commissioner and parks director. Kramer objected to the city's proposed purchase of part of his property, saying he didn't want the city to cut down part of his timber for the new fire station.

In the end, the city decided to return to the Westgate property, which had been identified by a City Hall site selection committee as the top choice for the fire station. The city said it might as well take the owner of its first choice through a condemnation proceeding if it was going to have to take Kramer through one to get his property. In the end, condemnation was not required.

The need for a new west-side district fire station has been prompted by the city's decision to move its central fire station from a flood-damaged, west-side building at 222 Third St. NW to the city's east side, between First and Second avenues and Seventh and Eighth streets SE. Construction on the $19 million central fire station is slated to start in July and be complete in August 2013, Greg Buelow, the city's Fire Department spokesman, said on Monday.

The city plans to close its east-side district station at 1424 B Ave. NE once the central fire station opens.

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