116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids awards incentives to proposed $21M commercial park
Corridor Construction Network also receives incentives for $5.4M expansion
CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids City Council this week awarded incentives to a developer to build a $21 million Airport Commercial Park in southwest Cedar Rapids that would bring new warehouses online in a part of town where industrial development is booming.
The proposal includes construction of five commercial lots along Wright Brothers Boulevard SW as proposed by Iowa Development I LLC, near The Eastern Iowa Airport. This project is on 15 acres generally south of the Iowa National Guard and will include a mix of warehouse buildings, contractor suites and self-storage units.
The project calls for construction on 15 acres — the minimum acreage to be eligible for incentives under the city’s master plan redevelopment economic development program. One warehouse would be 20,000 square feet while another would be 24,000 square feet. There would be four 13,000 square-foot contractor suite buildings.
It includes self-storage units for some of the contractor suite buildings and serves as a small business incubator, city Economic Development Coordinator Scott Mather said.
The development would retain 40 jobs and create 40 new ones, under terms approved by the City Council. The jobs retained are “based on (the developer’s) interactions with existing smaller businesses they’d be able to retain 40 jobs moving to this location and expanding their business,” Mather said. The new jobs are based on the developer’s negotiations with companies outside the state.
The city would provide a 10-year, 50 percent rebate of increased taxes generated by the project. Based on the investment and estimated post-development value, staff estimates the project would generate $3.6 million in total taxes over a 10-year period, of which $1.4 million would be rebated back to the company.
Council member Scott Olson said he was aware of developers who had asked for incentives in this area for spec buildings without a company tied to them, but they didn’t receive the incentives.
“We’re seeing these flex buildings being built all over the city and a lot by the airport of different sizes,” Olson said. “I’m trying to think what’s that fine line where we go with incentives or not incentives?”
Mather said he wasn’t aware of those projects specifically, but this project was eligible because it met the city’s 15-acre minimum.
Corridor Construction Network looks to expand
An entity of Corridor Construction Network, Stone Meyer LLC, also was awarded incentives to expand its operations with a new commercial building at 1265 Wilson Ave. SW.
Corridor Network Construction has had headquarters in Cedar Rapids since 2015 and is looking to expand with a $5.4 million capital investment that would keep 70 jobs and create 20 new ones.
The proposed project involves construction of a 50,000 square-foot commercial building — a 42,000 square-foot warehouse space and an 8,000 square-foot office space. Under the city’s “community benefit” incentives, the city would give a 10-year, 50 percent rebate of increased taxes generated by the project.
Based on the investment and estimated post-development value, staff estimates the project will generate $1.6 million in total taxes over a 10-year period, of which $640,000 would be rebated back to the company.
The council unanimously approved incentives, but Olson recused himself from voting. Olson, a semiretired real estate broker, is no longer involved with the property but he assisted with the developer’s purchase of the land two or three years ago.
Development agreements for both projects are slated to come before the council in June.
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com
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