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Cedar Rapids developer looks to build $23.7 million mixed-use project in NewBo District
Project would add 85 market-rate rental units
Marissa Payne
Jun. 28, 2023 5:00 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS — Local developer Darryl High is looking to build a $23.7 million residential and mixed-use facility on city-owned property in the New Bohemia District that will capitalize on the neighborhood’s history and activity.
The Cedar Rapids City Council on Tuesday accepted a proposal from High Properties for the disposition of city-owned property at 116 16th Ave. SE, across the street from Kickstand near the Cedar River Trail.
High Properties proposed one six-story residential building facing the river with 63 units and one four-story mixed-use building facing Second Street SE with 22 units and 1,443 square feet of commercial space.
The units would be market-rate rentals.
The development — dubbed the Vesnice, which is Czech for village — also would feature an elevated 12,054-square-foot garden terrace and a 2,000-square-foot roof terrace.
“It’s a very important piece of property where it’s located in between Czech Village and the NewBo District,” said High, principal and founder of High Properties. “It’s highly visible, and we knew when the city came out with the request for proposals that we needed to dig deep and put together not only a good proposal but a good team.”
Coralville-based Conlon Construction and Iowa City-based Neumann Monson Architects joined forces with High Properties to design the project.
Something different
High said this team wanted to make the development look different from other large multifamily buildings, and came up with the split design with row homes on the street-facing side and the larger building in the back with the terrace patio in the middle.
Additionally, the team wanted to take advantage of some of “the best views in Linn County” by the Cedar River and amenities, including the trail network, Mount Trashmore and nearby retailers such as SOKO Outfitters that all support those looking for an active lifestyle.
“You can live there and most likely if you want to participate in the community, biking and kayaking seems to growing every day in Cedar Rapids and this is an important location for that,” High said.
A review panel — with representatives from The District and Czech Village-New Bohemia Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District, a financial lender and a non-competing developer — evaluated the proposal and recommended it for approval by the council.
High said the development team is looking to have the full design done in September or October, with construction likely to start in April 2024.
‘It’s very personal’
“We feel very honored to be selected and feel like it’s a large responsibility to do a good job,” High said. “It’s very personal to me to be selected for this project by the stakeholders of NewBo, the neighborhood and the city. We want to … deliver a project that they’re all happy with and proud of.”
City staff will negotiate preliminary terms of the proposed project and return to council at a later date to sign off on those deal points.
Council member Dale Todd, who represents District 3 which encompasses NewBo and much of the urban core, said the design pushes the envelope.
“With this design, for me, it signifies a new level, a new phase for NewBo, for downtown,” Todd said.
Housing need
In its pitch to the group, the High Properties development team cited the Maxfield Research and Consulting annual housing analysis, completed for the city in 2022, showing demand for 5,536 housing units between now and 2030.
“The need for additional rental units remains high as new workers relocate to this area,” the development team wrote.
This development, once given final approval, will be among several others coming to fruition in the area.
The redevelopment of the Loftus Lumber site on Third Street SE — under a development team led by Dave Drown — will add a mixed-use facility with 180 rental units.
A development team led by Chad Pelley recently broke ground on the $9.8 million Fulton Lofts mixed-use project from 1218 to 1310 Third St. SE near the Olympic South Side Theater.
And Coralville-based Watts Group’s $20 million NewBo Lofts development soon will add two 55-unit buildings to the market.
Southwest project
The council also signed off on financial incentives with Modern Home Builders for construction of three four-plex units at 1627 Hamilton St. SW, the former U.S. Bank site.
Preliminary terms call for a $4 million investment to build 12 market-rate rental units. The three-bedroom units will be 1,514 square feet, with two-and-a-half bathrooms and a two-stall garage.
The city will reimburse 100 percent of the tax increments up to a net present value of $600,000 or 20 consecutive annual payments.
City staff will bring a development agreement to the council for consideration at a later date.
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com