Moving some Czech Village homes may be route to saving them

All may not be lost of the history - however open to debate - of flood-damaged homes next to Czech Village.

An Iowa City developer and Cedar Rapids planning consultant, rebuffed by the City Council on Tuesday evening, now are proposing to save as many as 33 of the 100 or so homes next to Czech Village by complying with city rules and moving them outside of 100-year flood plain and outside the construction zone for the city's proposed new flood-protection system.

Richard Luther, owner of Creative Development Solutions in Cedar Rapids, said on Wednesday that he and developer Charles Jones, president of Green Development LLC in Iowa City, consider all 33 of the homes in question to be “historic.” Two are eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places and 31 are considered “contributing” historically, he said.

Luther explained the fresh plan to move homes the day after the City Council shot down his and Jones' request to allow Jones to renovate the flood-damaged Czech Village homes in place between A and C streets SW, an area that is partly in the city's construction zone for a new flood-protection system and all of which sits in the 100-year flood plain.

The Jones-Luther plan envisioned stripping off vinyl siding and removing porches and additions from many of the houses so that they might qualify for historic standing.

Jones specializes in renovating homes of historic note, a status that always him to qualify for federal and state historic tax credits that help cover 50 percent of the renovation costs.

City Council member Pat Shey had proposed putting a hold on the demolition of 61 “imminent-threat” homes next to Czech Village – which was slated to begin Monday and now will start on Thursday - to see if the late-hour plan from Jones and Luther to save some of the houses in place might work. On Wednesday, Shey said it was pretty clear at Tuesday evening's City Council meeting that most on the council don't see it his way.

“I got beat up pretty bad,” he said about the Tuesday evening council debate on the Czech Village homes.

Shey said the majority sentiment of the council generally was this: “They don't want to fool with it. Somebody's come in at the last minute with an idea, but it's easiest to tear down the homes and have green space (in their place).”

Shey acknowledged that about half the area in question - from A to B streets SW - is in the proposed construction zone for the new flood-protection system, and he said that even he does not support any investment to keep homes there.

Luther on Wednesday said moving 33 homes from the area between A and C streets SW now appears to be the only option open to he and Jones if some of the homes are to survive. Some ultimately might be found to be unrepairable, he added.

The city has offered to give away some 476 flood-damaged homes, including the 33 in question, to qualified developers and builders in exchange for having the houses renovated and sold. About half are in zones from which they first would need to be moved, though there has been little interest in moving homes.

Luther said Jones' financial model using historic tax credits can make a renovation project work even with the added expense of moving homes. The city has not offered to date to contribute moving expenses to help save these homes, he added.

The city does intend to offer lots newly vacated after home buyouts and demolitions, and Luther said he will inquire about that program as a place to put moved houses.

Greg Eyerly, the city's flood-recovery director, said Wednesday that the City Council greenlight on Tuesday evening will allow the city to demolish 61 flood-damaged homes between A and C streets SW considered “imminent threats” to public health and safety. Money for demolition of these homes comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and must be spent by Nov. 27, he has said.

Federal Community Development Block Grant funds will pay for any of the other demolitions, and Eyerly thought many of rest of the homes next to Czech Village would likely be demolished.

Luther on Wednesday said 114 houses now stand between A and C streets SW at Czech Village, and he thought only a handful of them had been renovated and are now occupied.

After the council's Tuesday evening meeting, Mayor Ron Corbett said seven of the nine members of the council agreed that the homes next to Czech Village were among the hardest hit by the 2008 flood, some have not been cleaned out since and some weren't in the best shape before the flood. It didn't make sense to keep them in the construction zone or 100-year flood plain, the mayor said.

Corbett said he wasn't opposed to moving homes within the city's giveaway program. He also said he envisioned new homes being built between B and C streets SW once the city's flood-protection system is in place.