116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Commercial development, charter school planned for former Transamerica site in northeast Cedar Rapids
Twenty acres of the property will be used for construction of Cedar Rapids Prep, a new charter school opening in August
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CEDAR RAPIDS — After hearing concerns from four residents, the Cedar Rapids City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution authorizing financial incentives for development of the former Transamerica site in northeast Cedar Rapids.
The plan for the site includes a mix of commercial lots on 30 acres on the east side of the property, along Edgewood Road. It also would renovate the two existing commercial towers still standing on the site and it would build public streets within the development. The total investment by the developer is expected to be $70 million.
The 51-acre property at the intersection of Edgewood Road and 42nd Street NE was formerly home to Transamerica. The company relocated its operations to southwest Cedar Rapids starting in 2016. It put the property up for sale in March 2021.
Three office buildings on the property that were damaged in the August 2020 derecho were demolished in 2021. Two other buildings on the north end of the property remain standing.
EOP Development LLC bought the property in July 2022 for $7.02 million. Its principal is Kerry Panozzo, a Davenport-based franchisee of HomeSmart Residential and Commercial Realty.
In addition to commercial development on the site, EOP Development LLC has signed a contract with Opportunity Education Network, a nonprofit foundation, to open a public charter school at the site.
Cedar Rapids Prep will initially will be located in one of the former Transamerica office buildings, 4515 North River Blvd. NE. According to a news release from the school, the building is currently undergoing “extensive renovations” that will be complete before its August 2025 opening date.
Construction of a new building and “expansive campus” will begin on a 19-acre lot in the spring. Scott Mather, city economic development coordinator, told the Cedar Rapids City Council Tuesday that the school site will be on the west side of the Transamerica property.
“With college-level labs and STEM spaces, a new turf stadium, a premier e-sports center, outdoor classrooms that embrace the beauty of our natural landscape, and so much more, we’re providing an environment where students can thrive and prepare for the future,” Cedar Rapids Prep Principal Justin Blietz said in a news release.
Blietz, the former principal at Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy in the Cedar Rapids school district, resigned last year to lead the new school.
In its first year, Cedar Rapids Prep will serve students in sixth and seventh grades, with about 150 students in each grade. It will expand by one grade each year until it is serving students in grades 6-12.
The school will focus on “providing a premier college prep foundation with robust extracurricular offerings and state-of- the-art facilities,” according to a news release. The school will not have a religious or political affiliation, and there will be no academic prerequisites for admission.
Mather said he learned of the developer’s agreement with the charter school on Monday. Because the school is a public charter school that will not pay taxes, that part of the site development is not eligible for tax incentives from the city.
Mather noted that a seven-acre lot on the property that’s home to a grove of mature trees will not be developed. Those trees will remain in place.
Specifics about development tenants not yet known
It is unclear which businesses may occupy the 30-acre commercial development on the site. Those plans bothered some of the neighbors who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting.
Dave Watson, who lives near the site, spoke during public comment and later told The Gazette that the "school is an awesome fit for the neighborhood,“ but he objects to restaurants and gas stations on the site. He believes it will add to existing traffic problems, especially at what he called the dangerous intersection of Edgewood Road and 42nd St. NE.
Watson claimed the development will be the only one in Cedar Rapids surrounded by a neighborhood.
Jeff Beer, who owns a restaurant on 42nd Street NE — The Pines Pizza and Pub — criticized the city offering tax incentives for development. He said the city shouldn’t be “subsidizing a project that was going to be built anyway.”
Britta Sandberg, another neighbor, questioned a mix of gas stations and fast food restaurants next to a school.
Bill Micheel, the city’s economic and development services director, said it’s not unusual to not know which businesses will be part of the development.
“Understanding who the tenants are going to be is not a common occurrence for these types of developments ... Occasionally we’ll know one big anchor tenant, but that’s typically it,” Micheel said. “The purpose for this particular agenda item is to understand if there is support for the project in general and then authorize staff to move forward in negotiating the development agreement, which will lay out more specifics.”
The project is expected to create 100 new jobs and maintain 40 jobs.
The commercial portion of the development may generate $26 million in taxes over 10 years. Of that, $10 million would be rebated to the developer under the initial plans outlined Tuesday.
Council members unanimously approved a resolution of support for the agreement. Two council members — Scott Olson and Ann Poe — were absent Tuesday. A development agreement still will have to be approved by the council.
Construction could start in May and would be done in phases, wrapping up in May 2031.
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