Assessment cut a win for would-be Westdale buyers

CEDAR RAPIDS - A possible new future for the half-empty Westdale Mall has been helped along a bit by the Cedar Rapids Board of Review.

The five-member board on Thursday announced that it has upheld an appeal of the valuation of the mall property, lowering its value from $19.434 million to $7.33 million - a 62.3 percent drop.

A significantly lower valuation will mean a significantly smaller property-tax bill for investors who are negotiating to purchase the mall property to redevelop it.

John Frew, the project manager on the city's downtown hotel and event center projects, said in May that one of his firms, Willow Creek Ventures LLC, had signed a purchase contract with the mall's two owners. Tremont Capital Corp. of Oak Park, Ill. owns most of the property, while City Gate LP of Arcadia, Calif., owns the anchor space that once housed the Wards store that left in 2001.

Frew said he expected a decision on the purchase by the middle or end of the summer, and more recently he has said financing for the deal is moving ahead.

Via text message as he was boarding a plane Thursday, Frew said, “We're very pleased with the decision (by the Board of Review).” However, he added that the new valuation is still too high for the mall property in its current state.

In its report released Thursday, the Board of Review shaved off $18.7 million in value - or 0.2 percent of the $9.5 billion value of property in Cedar Rapids - as part of its annual review of valuation appeals. Of the total reduction, $12.1 million came at the Westdale property.

The five-member board approved 284 residential appeals and denied 226; approved 26 commercial appeals and denied 53; and denied all five industrial appeals. In addition, the board lowered assessments for 31 residential properties on its own initiative and raised assessments on its own for one residential property and one commercial property.

Among the appeals were those from the owners of 53 property parcels that were either valued at more than $1 million, or submitted for valuation reductions of more than $100,000. Of those 53, the appeals on 33 of the parcels were denied.

City assessor Scott Labus said the Board of Review is an independent body that makes judgments on his assessments.

In general, Labus said, the board identified physical, functional or economic conditions that were unknown to his staff in the appeals it upheld. Meanwhile, in cases where appeals were denied, he said, the board members found that his assessments were in line with the marketplace.

“Each appeal stands on its own merit,” Labus said. “But the bottom line is this: Is the assessment reflective of market value and does it meet the test of reasonableness and fairness?”