Downtown Cedar Rapids needs more ‘focus,’ panel decides

• Downtown should have an executive director and physical storefront that elevate the district’s identity, a panel decided.
• Downtown stakeholders have been considering whether or not to house the city center’s managing entity within the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance.
• Ultimately, the panel determined it would stay with the alliance while taking these steps to carve out a more distinct downtown identity.

CEDAR RAPIDS — To fuel downtown Cedar Rapids’ revitalization as it emerges from the pandemic, a local panel is looking to hire an executive director, occupy a space in the city center and raise private dollars to fund initiatives that make the urban core more vibrant.

The Downtown Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District Commission — a mayor-appointed panel that decides how businesses’ tax dollars are spent within the core district — and business leaders with a stake in the city center agreed Cedar Rapids needs to better emphasize its downtown identity.

This committee studying downtown operations approved a report Wednesday to move forward with action steps.

As city and downtown stakeholders look to implement a newly adopted Downtown Vision Plan outlining a five-year effort to revitalize downtown, some — but not all — City Council members including Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell have said they view the structure of the downtown panel as key to implementing the plan.

Adopted in December, the plan outlines about 70 initiatives to transition the city center into more of a mixed-use district with restaurants, housing, retail and entertainment. It envisions activating Third Street SE and using the Second Avenue Bridge as a festival street to host community gatherings as some of the action items.

The heart of Cedar Rapids — like other downtowns nationwide — has faced hurdles in rebounding from the pandemic. The public health threat diminished worker traffic in the office-heavy downtown and stalled momentum on major development projects, such as the transformation of the historic Guaranty Bank block. Developer Steve Emerson last summer purchased the properties and is turning them into commercial space and market-rate rental units.

The decision puts to rest the monthslong assessment of whether the mayor-appointed Downtown SSMID should stay housed within the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance. That could have changed who is responsible for routine matters such as maintenance or who runs major events like the farmers markets.

Better emphasizing the downtown identity while keeping it within the alliance aligns with a recommendation that Denver-based consultant Progressive Urban Management Associates gave in the downtown plan. To strengthen downtown services, the plan suggested “a strengthened public/private downtown management approach.”

Consultants weighed the pros and cons of the existing management structure and suggested two alternatives: creating a more distinct downtown business center within the alliance or having the SSMID contract with an independent nonprofit.

“If you have that presence in downtown of an executive director and a staff, I think that helps gain an understanding of the needs of downtown and creates a further closeness between the community and downtown interests and the SSMID,” City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said. “At a time when downtowns are working to attract entities to occupy downtown office space, this is a tremendously positive step to see the SSMID have its own focused office in the downtown area in addition to the EA and the city.”

SSMID Commission member Randy Rings, managing director of TrueNorth’s First MainStreet Insurance platform, said the group conducting the operational analysis didn’t want to “start from ground zero” under a new managing entity or stay entirely as is. So the group decided to focus on making downtown operations better.

The new plan made now “the right time for an operational review,” Rings said in a statement. “I believe we did a good job of considering the historical perspective as well as future needs and goals...”

The SSMID’s executive committee — Rings, SSMID Chair James Klein and commission member Ted Kepros — approved the makeup of the panel making this recommendation. In addition to those three, others asked to serve on the committee include:

“The recommendations provide a robust path forward that will help us build on and sustain the great momentum in our downtown core...” Klein said in a statement.

Executive director to bring ‘focus’

Downtown needs an executive director — “somebody whose job it is to wake up every day and think of our district” — to determine how to make it a more vibrant destination, Rings said.

Rings said a hiring team will form in the next month or so to craft a job description for the executive director and whether to use a search firm to fill the job.

“We think we need an executive director to help set the direction and make sure those things move forward,” Rings said.

Pomeranz and O’Donnell have committed to working with the SSMID to chip in city dollars and leverage the commission’s investment, Rings said. Specific numbers are not yet determined. This combined investment will fund the director’s salary.

“This new executive director position, dedicated solely to our downtown’s needs, highlights collaborative dedication to accelerating the Downtown Vision Plan,” O’Donnell said in a statement. “We are confident this new, focused leadership approach will contribute to increased success downtown.”

The committee also is looking to move downtown activities into a storefront downtown that carves out downtown as distinct from the alliance and is easy for residents and visitors to access.

The storefront has not yet been identified, but alliance Executive Director Doug Neumann said there are several opportunities.

“That’s not necessarily great news,” he said, referring to office vacancies, “but there are some places that are going to work.”

Private fundraising to fuel redevelopment

When the director is in place, the committee recommended forming a “Friends of Downtown” group focused on efforts and activities within district boundaries and to accept tax-deductible donations.

The committee also recommended creating a plan to activate unused street-level storefronts and to spur more comprehensive redevelopment and recruitment of businesses to fill empty spaces.

That could be accomplished by working with local development groups such as 2001 Development Corp. to lead the creation of a newly funded organization devoted to vacant and underused properties within downtown, the organizational analysis found.

The SSMID receives about $770,000 in tax dollars a year from the district where taxes are levied on property owners for beautification projects, programming and maintenance. City and other dollars will be key to making other improvements while devoting more resources toward this downtown focus, Rings said.

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