Support for Red Avocado leads to bigger issue of oversized housing development in Iowa City

IOWA CITY - It was standing room only at the Iowa City Council meeting Tuesday night as residents pleaded with council members to find a way to save three longstanding buildings from demolition

One of the buildings, located at 521 East Washington Street, houses a book shop and local vegan restaurant, Red Avocado.

Allen Homes recently purchased the property and served the restaurant owners with a 30 day notice of demolition. On Tuesday, outspoken support for protecting the restaurant and two surrounding buildings packed the council chambers.

Many residents said they arrived knowing the council can't do much to stop this particular demolition from happening. Instead, they argued losing Red Avocado should be a wake-up call for the council telling them to consider ways to protect older buildings from a similar fate in the future.

An online petition to stop the demolition of the restaurant and book store collected more than 5,000 signatures in just six days. So many people turned out to speak that the council actually had to reserve more time at the end of the meeting for those who didn't get a chance to talk. Currently, Red Avocado is scheduled for demolition on January 29th. The developer reportedly has plans to construct apartment units in its place.

Those who spoke to the council argued this is a growing trend in Iowa City – one they want to see stop. Many repeatedly telling the council they feel the city is being taken over by apartment high rises and parking garages. They say those structures provide a tax base but are ruining the historic beauty of the city and turning small business owners away from the downtown area.

“They're easy," said Brandon Ross of Iowa City. Red Avocado catered his wedding and he's been an avid customer ever since. "They're basically ATM machines for those who are wealthy and basically just bulldoze everything that's there and makes money."

Stephanie Prosper, of Coralville, says Red Avocado is her favorite flavor in Iowa City and visits the town often just to stop into the restaurant. She worries about the problem of larger developments and what that means to small businesses.

“The rent is so high the small businesses can't afford it," she said as she waited for her time to speak at the end of the council meeting. "Then you have big chains like Starbucks, and fast food and a lot of other businesses I don't ever go to.”

Mayor Matt Hayek said, in a work session before the public meeting, the council discussed zoning issues, the growing number of apartment complexes, and trying to preserve historic buildings in the future.

But for now, there didn't seem to be any discussion of possibly saving the small restaurant from demolition.