Design team hired for Cedar Rapids medical district

An urban design team has been hired to help define the streetscape,   costs and other specifics for the proposed medical district near downtown Cedar Rapids.

Anderson-Bogert Engineers & Surveyors of Cedar Rapids and Sasaki Associates of Boston were awarded the contract to provide urban planning and engineering services to help develop the district's vision plan.

John Helbling, who is coordinating the district's efforts, said the design team has met with the steering committee and will have meetings for property owners and others interested in the district to provide input.

Dates for those public meetings have not been set.

Helbling did not know the cost for the contract, which is being underwritten by Mercy Medical Center and St. Luke's Hospital.

The hospitals will anchor each end of the district. Proposed boundaries are Interstate 380 and Eighth Avenue SE, between 12th and Sixth streets SE.

Physicians' Clinic of Iowa plans to build a $36 million medical mall and $8 million parking ramp along 10th Street SE within the medical district, and is asking the City Council to vacate Second Avenue SE between 10th and 12th streets SE.

Helbling said PCI and St. Luke's, which is buying the land to lease to PCI, are conducting a separate traffic study as part of the development process for that project.

Initial work by Sasaki after the 2008 flood provided a general picture of the proposed medical district, he said.

That work, paid for by the city of Cedar Rapids, was part of the Neighborhood Planning Process.

The design team will provide more details on lighting and signs and engineering studies on street widening and other elements, with better cost estimates, Helbling said.

“People won't sign on until they have an idea (of costs),” he said. “People will know what they're agreeing to.”

The design team's work will be completed during the next 15 to 18 weeks.

Helbling said the hope is still to present petitions to the City Council before this fall from a majority of property owners, asking for creation of a self-supporting municipal improvement district.

Commercial and industrial properties would pay an additional tax under that proposal to fund the district's amenities.

Meeting dates for the design process will be sent to property owners and posted at: www.crmedicaldistrict.org