Skyworks Solutions looks to expand Cedar Rapids footprint

CEDAR RAPIDS — A national semiconductor design and manufacturing company is looking to expand its Cedar Rapids footprint and keep more than 100 high-quality jobs in the area.

Hunter Companies LLC of Cedar Rapids is pursuing the development of a 65,000-square-foot office building at 5130 Ushers Ferry Rd. NE for Skyworks Solutions Inc., a wireless semiconductor company focused on radio frequency and cellular system solutions for mobile applications.

The City Planning Commission on Thursday voted to recommend rezoning approximately 8 acres for the development, as well as amending the future land use map to a higher intensity, thereby allowing for a building of this size.

Shannon Thompson, general counsel with Hunter Companies, said Thursday the new facility would be an office building, not a warehouse used for manufacturing or distribution. It would have the option to expand to 85,000 square feet overall.

Skyworks Solutions, she said, now has a design center at 5110 N. River Blvd. NE. The company conducts research and development for semiconductors for mobile devices and produces prototype samples that are sent abroad for manufacture.

Skyworks has a footprint across the U.S. and abroad, but Thompson said the company likes the business climate and employees in Cedar Rapids.

"They want to be on this site,” Thompson said. “Many of their employees live nearby, and they like this side of town, the employees like the ability to run home for lunch and ride their bikes to work. If they can't stay in this area, I don't know if they'll stay in Cedar Rapids.”

Jobs retained

Although an agreement outlining project terms remains in the works, the proposal is expected to retain 142 jobs and add 22 new positions within the city over the next two to three years.

The positions would be high-quality jobs that Caleb Mason, the city’s interim economic development manager, said would pay in the six-figure range.

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz told The Gazette the company has a great history in Cedar Rapids.

“We're looking forward to seeing the company build a new facility and grow in Cedar Rapids, create jobs and opportunity for the citizens of Cedar Rapids,” Pomeranz said.

Hunter Companies has approached Barbara Waterhouse, the owner of an approximately 24-acre property, to buy the roughly 8-acre parcel for the new building.

Traffic impact

As for traffic, a 2017 count — the most recent available — showed average daily traffic of about 2,350 vehicles on this stretch of Ushers Ferry Road, Ken DeKeyser, the city’s economic development services manager, told commissioners.

That compares to the busier Blairs Ferry Road NE with 13,000 to 15,000 vehicles a day.

Plus, DeKeyser said, a review of the Iowa Department of Transportation’s online crash data showed no reported crashes within five years on that road segment.

City staff also modeled peak travel hours, based on location and number of employees, and came up with fewer than 100 trips during the peak hour in the afternoon, DeKeyser said. That level, he said, does not trigger an intense traffic study and suggests minimal traffic impacts.

The project would be treated like infill development since there already is a collector street to the north with Blairs Ferry Road NE, a major arterial, and Highway 100 to the south.

The site plan also will include an easement for a planned trail along the north side of Highway 100. .

Landscape buffering will be used as a transition to the nearly 16 acres of land remaining on the Waterhouse property, given that surrounding land to the north and west are not similar uses.

“It is also located along a transit route, so in the future the city could conceivably add a transit stop there, based on the use and the need,” DeKeyser said.

To address residents’ concerns about flooding, DeKeyser said there will be on-site stormwater management that will detain rainfall and release it to the watershed at a predevelopment level.

Additionally, DeKeyser said annual Federal Emergency Management Agency data on flood plains did not show repetitive losses or damage nearby that would have involved flood insurance.

What’s next?

From here, the Cedar Rapids City Council will set a public hearing at its Sept. 14 meeting. Project terms and incentives would go to the council Sept. 28 for first consideration and possible second and third readings on Oct. 12.

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com