Big Grove Brewery, Pickle Palace ready to open Kingston Yard development in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — This month marks the opening of some of the biggest new tenants of Kingston Yard, christening the $81.5 million mixed-use development in an area of the Kingston Village neighborhood colloquially known as First and First West.

With Big Grove Brewery opening this week, Pickle Palace opening at the end of the month and many more developments well underway, big visions converging at First Street and First Avenue West on land previously earmarked for a casino are taking shape in Cedar Rapids’ urban core, across the river from downtown.

“The whole Kingston Yard site will move the needle in this town just a little bit,” said Graig Cone, co-owner of the multilevel Pickle Palace entertainment and dining complex. “(Young professionals) getting out of college are going to be a little more likely to stick around, which is what I think makes good cities thrive.”

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Big Grove Brewery

After positioning itself for significant statewide growth with a new distribution center in Iowa City, Big Grove Brewery is getting back to the schedule it had in mind years ago.

Iowa’s biggest craft beer brand by sales opens its fourth taproom and restaurant in Cedar Rapids Thursday at 170 First St. SW. With seating for 250 inside and 350 on an expansive outdoor patio, the new location featuring a modern industrial aesthetic will pioneer a rare brewing technique.

Its open fermentation tanks, visible to visitors through the glass in a controlled area, will use a technique only used by a handful of breweries in the United States. The result is a clean, crisp beer that pays homage to a tradition still common in European countries like Germany and the Czech Republic.

“Here, it’s much more of a nod toward the past and how that beer was truly made in the beginning,” said Dave Moore, chief growth officer of Big Grove Brewery. “I think we’re going to draw Cedar Rapids, but I think we’re also going to draw tourists. I expect this to be very popular.”

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Moore said that the brand planned to expand to Cedar Rapids after it opened in Iowa City, but was interrupted by the derecho of 2020.

“Des Moines kind of fell into our lap,” he said.

A unique menu at the helm of Executive Chef Shawn Towley will honor the Czech and German heritage of Cedar Rapids through fun twists on blue collar traditions — turning a Reuben into a bao bun Reuben, or putting a new spin on a patty melt with Korean kimchi.

“It’s very familiar to people, with a little twist,” Towley said.

Pickle Palace

With three floors encompassing an enormous 37,455 square feet, the palace sitting most visibly on the corner of First Street and First Avenue West will allow patrons to choose their own adventure.

Pickle Palace is tentatively planning a soft opening by invitation in late December, with plans to gradually open each floor to the public, one by one, through January.

The first floor, with more than 17,000 square feet, will house a casual, sit-down restaurant adjacent to the building’s namesake pickleball court — a floor behind staggering walls that can accommodate up to four games at a time. Play will be first come, first served, with benefits to VIP members allowing them to schedule time on the court in advance.

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The second floor features a bar overlooking the court, where spectators can peer over the railing. Special event space will be available nearby in a large room overlooking the Cedar River with floor to ceiling windows.

The third floor’s 11,000 square feet will be occupied by a six-lane duckpin bowling alley, a British-themed pub and extensive rooftop patio space that showcases a view of every major downtown landmark by the river on the east side. With firepits, turf and planned entertainment, the west side will make the most of warmer weather while overlooking a ground level stage for other programming in Kingston Yard.

“The river has played a huge role in this. The city has not capitalized on the river from both a recreational and a view standpoint,” said interim general manager Steph Mehmen, who manages Black Sheep Social Club. “People don’t even know how cool the views are of the Cedar, it’s taken for granted.”

The city's new Downtown Vision Plan, a five-year guide for downtown revitalization, calls for embracing the Cedar River by taking steps such as adding patio or rooftop dining spaces overlooking the river.

Nods to the same upscale aesthetic embraced at co-owner Cone’s Black Sheep Social Club can be seen throughout each floor, from turn of the century tile designs to tongue-in-cheek wallpaper prints in the restrooms.

“Overall, it’s an experience when you walk in,” said marketing director Katie Johnson. “You kind of feel transported, in a sense.”

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They hope to make Pickle Palace an entertainment destination that helps Cedar Rapids retain its young professionals. Cone, who owns the venture with his children Sydney and Brody, said it’s a passion project to give back to the city, even if it doesn’t turn a large profit.

“I saw a need for something which may not ever be profitable, but I think it’s something the city needed,” the Cedar Rapids native said.

First Street West will open to traffic on both sides this week, in time for Big Grove’s opening, pending weather, according to the city. There may need to be traffic control at the site for development to wrap up.

Mixed-use buildings underway

Joe Ahmann, president of Ahmann Companies and a member of the development team, said apartments in a five-story mixed-use building will start to be leased around February, starting with the top floor, which is awaiting electrical service. There will be 21 units per floor, all market-rate rentals.

The lower two floors will offer approximately 39,000 square feet of commercial space combined. Activity is starting to pick up for leasing these commercial spaces, Ahmann said, with the goal being to open those by next summer.

Leases are being finalized for ground-floor commercial tenants. The second floor was converted from residential to commercial, but can be converted back to residential space if needed.

Work is starting on a six-story building that will attach to the current mixed-use facility, connecting on the west end of it. The foundation is being put in now, with units hopefully renting in late 2024 or early 2025. That will add 51 residential units and around 24,000 square feet of commercial space. There will be one or two commercial floors, which Ahmann said will be finalized early next year.

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Overall, the two mixed-use buildings will add 114 market-rate rental units to the market, with the potential for 128 if another floor is converted.

Hotel rooms coming

Because of the changes coming with the city’s flood wall along a now-elevated First Street NW and modifications to First Avenue W, the developers earlier this year changed plans for the location of a future hotel. Now, it'll be situated along Second Avenue SW.

Ahmann said there have been delays with closing on the land while sorting out a private easement. Officials hope to start construction on the hotel in early 2024 and complete it in 2025 — adding downtown hotel rooms that city officials say are needed to attract larger events.

Plaza space

Work started this year on the plaza that will serve as a central gathering area for the site with lighting and family-friendly activities.

That space will have some unique touches with old steel railroad trusses Ahmann found from the early 1900s being used for the roof of a stage going on the plaza. There also will be an area with old photos honoring the history of the Kingston Village area — named after what long ago was the village of Kingston.

A walkway will guide visitors from the stage to the mixed-use building. The first phase of the park including the stage will likely be opened by June, allowing activities to start there next summer.

Once the hotel and the city’s permanent parking ramp are done, Ahmann said crews will finish the second phase of the park, which will take it to the edge of the ramp.

Parking in progress

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said the public parking ramp is in the planning stages with OPN Architects. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2024. The city is using $6 million of its $9 million state Reinvestment District funds toward that project. The parking ramp will go up at Second Avenue and Third Street SW and is anticipated to have about 550 stalls.

Until that is complete, an area on the north block of the development on the opposite side of First Avenue W will be used as temporary parking for the south block — giving patrons a place to park until the ramp is completed. A lighted crosswalk will guide visitors to the development. It also will allow surface parking for residents until the ramp is complete. Ahmann said permanent parking should be done likely later in 2025, before the hotel is completed.

North block planning

With the south block ahead of schedule, more planning is expected in 2024 to determine what takes shape on the three buildings planned for the block north of First Avenue West.

“We’ve left that pretty flexible in use with the city to see where the market goes on the south block,” said Ahmann.

Until the parking ramp is complete, and depending on the state of the economy and interest rates, he said it’s unlikely much work can happen on the block because the hotel guests and mixed-use tenants will need the temporary parking.

There’s a possibility of a second hotel and a mix of commercial as well as rental and for-sale residential space. Parking will determine the density of north block, which has already been affected by street changes and flood control.

“It’s a fine line we have to walk there,” Ahmann said. “If we have to take some parking out, we'll do it … because you don't want to turn down progress.”

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.