Can Jesse Allen, the man behind One Park Place, pull off his big idea?

CEDAR RAPIDS - The offer stood out - and quite frankly, up - from the competition.

Developer Jesse Allen's landmark plan for a $103 million, 28-story downtown high rise called One Park Place won over the Cedar Rapids City Council last spring, besting two competing $33 million, 11- and 14-story buildings proposed by well-known local developers Steve Emerson and Fred Timko.

Since then, Allen's One Park Place has been slow going while the city reviews the project's viability. The big question is: Can he pull it off?

”I think we have to think about that,” City Council member Ralph Russell said. 'I do have some concerns about this particular developer's ability to take on and complete a project of this nature. I would have to know more about him than I know now to vote for it. That said, I am in favor of the project.”

Allen, 36, president of Allen Development, proposed not only the tallest private development ever in Cedar Rapids, but also by far his largest. Adding another measure of uncertainty, Allen is mostly unknown in Cedar Rapids, having completed much of his portfolio in Iowa City.

One Park Place, which packs in a punchlist of downtown wants and needs including a grocery store, restaurant, hotel, apartments, condos and parking, has been met with both enthusiasm and a heavy dose of caution from city staff and elected officials, who could be asked to approve some $20 million in public incentives next month.

After a third-party financial feasibility study came back positive, the City Council on Dec. 6 instructed Allen to complete a checklist of tasks, including hiring out marketing studies on housing, commercial, rentals and hotel demand, and showing proof of his financial commitments. Negotiations were to resume in 90 to 120 days - in March or early April - once the checklist is complete.

News about One Park Place largely has been quiet since December, but Allen said he remains confident and on track to submit the information in March.

Allen has a growing portfolio of small and mid-sized commercial and residential projects he began working on in his early 20s. Even as he works on One Park Place, he is juggling the bureaucratic process for a $35 million restoration and addition of the Unitarian Universalist Society Church building in Iowa City, condominium construction on the east side of Iowa City and a small commercial development in Tiffin.

In recent years, Allen has been expanding his region to Tiffin and North Liberty. He had been seeking opportunities to dive into the Cedar Rapids market when he learned of the opportunity to redevelop city-owned land at Third Avenue SE and First Street SE.

Allen took the lead while partnering with Dave Zahradnik, a principal architect at Neumann Monson Architects, on One Park Place.

Still, much of Allen's work has been concentrated in Iowa City where he has his roots.

His extended family was from Iowa City and his parents attended West High School. They moved to a farm in Geneva in north central Iowa early in his life where Allen earned money doing jobs, such as baling hay, for neighbors after completing his own farm chores. After graduating from Hampton High School, he returned to Iowa City for college.

He caught on with a construction crew while attending Kirkwood Community College. Quickly realizing his passion was on the job site, he left school to focus on construction. After hours, he began building his repertoire with contracts for tile, roof, siding and window jobs.

'I took anything anyone would let me do construction-related,” said Allen during an interview earlier this month at his Iowa City office - a restored tin factory with exposed brick walls.

A turning point came when he bought a dilapidated house to fix up and flip. It was in such bad shape that he had to level it to the ground and rebuild from scratch. The endeavor gave him the confidence and experience to become a full-time house builder.

His side jobs dropped off and within a few years he was running his own crews building 20 to 30 houses a year, mostly in Iowa City, he said. Then, as now, people didn't know what to make of the newcomer.

'Nobody knows who you are,” he said. 'It's hard to be the new guy on the block.”

Gary Zuehlke, 69, met Allen when he bought an empty lot in Allen's infill development of mid-to-upper scale homes on the east side of Iowa City, called Rochester Ridge. Allen had been saving the cul-de-sac lot to build his family home but when plans changed Zuehlke was in the 'right place at the right time,” he said.

'He is a very hands-on developer; you could see it from (my) first homeowners' meeting,” Zuehlke said while walking his dog on Teton Circle on a chilly morning. 'Any of the problems others had brought up, he'd already responded to and they'd been fixed. There weren't any unresolved issues, and these are things that differentiate a good developer from bad.”

Allen built 90 percent of the 55 homes in the $4.4 million Rochester Ridge development, Allen said.

He entered the commercial sector with the $3.2 million Burlington Commons, which opened in 2012 with 14 units of three-bedroom condos on Burlington Street in Iowa City.

He moved onto larger and what would become a controversial project on Washington Street in Iowa City. The $7.5 million retail and residential Washington Plaza meant demolishing the popular vegetarian restaurant Red Avocado, Defunct Books and an old Victorian home converted to a business. The project was met with public resistance, but now stands complete.

Jon Sewell, a retired hospital executive, was starting a new career owning D.P. Dough, a pizza and calzone eatery in Washington Plaza. Sewell worked with Allen as landlord to build out the space.

'I worked with Jesse when it was just a green space,” Sewell said. 'We designed how we wanted the space to be and he'd give me ideas of what it would do to the cost. It was amazing, and he brought the project in below budget. I've worked with a lot of project managers over the years, and he was amazing.”

In his portfolio, Allen also includes the $47 million Chauncey Gardens, which would have been his largest project but didn't come to fruition. That came in second place to redevelop a city block at Gilbert and College Streets in Iowa City. Marc Moen's The Chauncey is under construction there now.

John Rummelhart, who was involved in the 18-story Chauncey Gardens pitch, said he thinks Allen is up to taking on the much larger One Park Place.

'On projects of the Chauncey or Cedar Rapids size, you are not building it on your own,” Rummelhart said. 'Picking the right team and one's organizational skills are the most important factors. From my experience, he is more than qualified in choosing the right team, and has the organizational and communicating skills to keep things on schedule.”

Rummelhart described Allen using terms such as 'team player,” 'open to suggestions,” 'straight shooter,” 'good grasp of required scheduling” and 'realistic assumptions when it comes to financing projects.”

Allen said he is not focused on the size of One Park Place, instead looking at it as layers.

'I don't look at it as total dollars, I look at the layers, and several layers are already gone,” Allen said. 'The hotel is sold. Residential is sold. You are left with a small piece that is not.”

Four investors, including Kinseth Hotel and Bread Garden Market, have signed letters promising a total of $10 million in equity and to acquire space in One Park Place. No formal sale documentation has been made public at this point.

Russell and his colleagues on the City Council, which could give a final green light or conversely pump the brakes, remain uncommitted. They support One Park Place, but have proceeded cautiously, more so than with typical projects.

If everything remains on track, the city could strike a development agreement in March or April. An initial framework called for Allen getting $5 million upon completion of One Park Place and $15.5 million in tax rebates over up to 20 years. He initially requested $23 million up front from the city.

The item on Allen's to-do list of most interest is documentation about his lenders: Where is the money coming from and how much?

Allen's One Park Place application included letters of support from three banks and letters of interest from six possible commercial tenants, but city officials are looking for more specific details about his financial guarantees.

'It's a very impressive proposal, but show me the money,” said City Council member Scott Overland.

Allen stayed vague on his financial details, but said he is on track to provide the information. He said he doesn't mind the doubts. He's used to it.

'It's my life story: Can I pull it off?” Allen said. 'I've been challenged my whole life. Sometimes the easiest way is to let actions speak louder than words.”

l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@thegazette.com