Iowa City picks top two developers for property at Linn & Court streets

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Council has narrowed the list of finalists vying to develop the Linn and Court Streets property from four to two, placing favor on the two proposals looking to build hotels and housing for student and young professionals.

The council agreed Tuesday to have city staff begin negotiations with CA Ventures and Core Campus to see which developer can come back with the most appealing proposal.

"It probably keeps the process competitive and it keeps the process lively in terms of being able to encourage the best possible offer that we can get for the city," Iowa City Manager Tom Markus said. "I think that gives us some ability to work the system in terms of refining their projects. They're very conceptual at this point."

Tuesday's work session marked the full council's first official discussion over the four finalists - CA Ventures, Core Campus, Sherman Associates and CG Hanson - looking to develop roughly 60,000 square feet of land, where the St. Patrick's Catholic Church's parish hall once sat, on the corner of Linn and Court Streets. Representatives with all four pitched their proposals during a special November meeting.

Ultimately, the council agreed that HUB at Iowa City and Rise at Riverfront Crossings - both projects that don't ask for tax increment financing and offer to buy the property for $5 million - as the preferred finalists.

CA Ventures has proposed Rise at Riverfront Crossings, a $87.7 million project consisting of three high-rise towers: a 144-room hotel with retail and office space and two residential towers with a total of 302 multifamily fully furnished units with 524 beds and underground parking.

The $93 million HUB at Iowa City, proposed by Core Campus, would include a 15-story tower with 325 units with more than 629 beds for students, 20,000 square feet of office space, on-site parking and a 170-suite hotel.

The two developers not moving on to the next phase of choosing the final developer are Sherman Associates and CG Hanson.

Sherman Associates proposed a $66.9 million project that would include 91 residential housing units for long-term residents age 25-85, a rooftop deck, swimming pool and theater room. Also included in the proposal was a six-floor national-brand hotel with 124 rooms and 23,000 square feet of office space.

Iowa City's CG Hanson's Linn/Court Lofts senior housing proposal would offer up to 12 floors, all told 330,000 square feet, with residential units for active seniors with encouraged learning and living lifestyle. An added, second tower would include high quality housing and commercial space also would be included in the project.

Councilors cited the lack of a more finalized proposal from CG Hanson and the close to $18 million in assistance being sought by Sherman Associates as key issues to their removal from the list.

"I'm not interested in giving them $18 million in TIF," council member Susan Mims said of Sherman Associates.

More detailed proposals from CA Ventures and Core Campus will be presented to the council at a later meeting.