Coralville City Council considers redevelopment of ‘premier gateway’ to the city

CORALVILLE — The Coralville City Council is considering how to move forward with redevelopment of a “premier gateway” into the city while also weighing how that work would impact residents who live and work there.

The city sees the 12 acres of land at the corner of First Avenue and Second Street on the Coralville strip as a “gateway into Coralville from the University of Iowa.”

On Tuesday, the council will consider the third and final reading of an ordinance rezoning the land.

Rezoning is the first step of many on the path to redevelopment, but it’s an important one. It establishes a master plan for the site and gives the go-ahead to continue working out specifics for a proposed plan called Gather Iowa.

The Gather Iowa plan is a mixed-use development featuring multifamily housing, retail and restaurants. But concerns have been raised about the possibility that the plan would displace existing minority-owned businesses and the people who live in 34 affordable housing units at the site.

The first consideration of the rezoning passed 4-0 with council member Hai Huynh absent. The second consideration passed 3-1 with Huynh voting against it and council member Mitch Gross absent.

“As we move forward, I think we should consider concrete plans, do some problem solving so that we are not displacing residents in this area, and make sure that we are communicating very well with both the businesses and the residents,” Mayor Meghann Foster said.

Challenges with redeveloping land

The site is in a prime location along the Coralville strip, but there have been challenges around proposed redevelopment of it. City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said there have been “a lot of efforts” over the last eight to 10 years.

Some of the difficulties include its position in the flood plain, replacing streets and other infrastructure and relocating a utility line that cuts across the site.

The 12 acres of land are part of a larger 17-acre site called the southeast commercial area. According to the city’s 2017 master plan, the site “possesses rare and distinctive attributes in relation to location, prominence, and an international cultural heritage and presence.”

The area is currently commercial with some residential and industrial uses, said Dave Johnson, the city’s community development director. A 2014 community plan described the area as auto dependent with dated strip malls and an overabundance of curb cuts.

“Redevelopment of this area will require expansive coordinated planning and design in order to strengthen those connections to the University of Iowa, as well as the region,” Johnson said.

Wholesale redevelopment — rather than parcel by parcel — is what’s needed in the area, Johnson added.

“It's not something that's going to happen overnight,” Hayworth said. “It's going to take months and months to continue to address each of the individual pieces to this puzzle.”

Gather Iowa proposal

The mixed-use development called Gather Iowa includes multifamily residential, retail and restaurant space. Dallas-based Rael Development Corporation is working on the plan with Chicago-based BKV Group and local firm Shive-Hattery.

A landscape concept vision by BKV Group highlights various amenities, including a fire lounge, outdoor dining, entertainment zone, pools, outdoor kitchen, spa and more. There are 905 parking stalls proposed, with 568 of those in a parking structure.

The buildings would be located one foot above the base flood elevation, Johnson said.

Graeme Rael, president and CEO of Rael Development Corporation, told the council in late July the proposal intends to build a place where people can “visit and stay a while.”

“What we really aim to do is create a destination — a neighborhood within a neighborhood,” Rael said. “We tried to design something that is eclectic, meaning different building heights, building types, mix of retail (and) restaurant.”

There are no building elevations at this time, Johnson said. That and other details would be reviewed by city council at a later time when a follow-up site plan is submitted for the project.

Concerns about affordability, displacement

Concerns have been raised during the last two council meetings about affordability and that the redevelopment may displace minority-owned businesses and residents living in affordable housing.

Johnson said he couldn’t speak to the demographics and income level in the area, but there are currently 34 rental permits held by one property holder.

“Thirty-four residents, I believe, could easily be accommodated through affordable opportunities elsewhere in the community,” Johnson said. “If there were more residents than that, I may have a concern.”

Foster, who doesn’t get a vote as mayor, said she can’t support a development that doesn’t preserve “true affordability” in the area.

“I'm not talking about condos that are $200,000 or $180,000,” Foster said. “I'm talking about units that are truly affordable, and I hope that we can, as we look at other sections of the development, come up with some concrete solutions for how we can preserve some of that.”

Foster said the city will need to get creative. She opposes displacing residents without providing an alternative, and she urged the city to communicate with the businesses and residents.

Huynh said she’s spoken to several of the area’s minority business owners and residents. She told the council that the residents she spoke with work for businesses on the Coralville strip because of the walkability.

“Some businesses have been there for as long as 15 years, 17 years, 20 years,” Huynh said. “That's all they know.”

Huynh stressed that if people can’t afford to live and work in Coralville, they won’t be able to stay in the community.

“I cannot advocate for economic development and in the same breath not advocate for true affordability,” she said.

Huynh said she is in favor of making the area look nicer, but she won’t support the rezoning until there is a concrete plan to ensure businesses and residents will have a chance to return if they choose.

Opportunity for redevelopment

While Huynh and Foster advocated for more discussion, other council members said the Gather Iowa redevelopment is an opportunity to move forward on a project that has been years in discussion. Hayworth reminded the council that the landowner previously proposed tearing down the existing structures to build a gas station and fast food.

“They had the right to do that, and they can still do that today,” Hayworth said. “ … That's when we tried to get something more productive out of that property.”

Council member Laurie Goodrich said the city needs to move ahead and there is “room for everyone” in Coralville.

Council member Mike Knudson said while 34 housing units would be eliminated, “we’re probably adding hundreds” of units to the area.

Details to be worked out

Foster said the council still has some time to work out the details of the development and consider plans to communicate with residents and businesses.

“We just need to make sure that we keep our eye on the ball,” she said.

Even if the rezoning passes its final reading on Tuesday, the council will have to go through additional approval phases. Steps down the line include a development ready site plan, which will focus on specific design components like landscaping and building design, Johnson said.

The property is also in an area where tax increment financing — an economic development tool — could be used. Knudson said that’s an important step the council will have to consider.

"That's when we'll have major input into the development of that project and whether there are sections of it that can be carved out as affordable with maybe city resources that come in directly from that TIF,“ Knudson said.

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