Historic Mott Building in Cedar Rapids getting new life

CEDAR RAPIDS - History was headed under the bus 20 years ago when Linn County purchased the riverfront Mott Building - one of the oldest riverfront commercial buildings in Cedar Rapids - with the intent to demolish it to make way for a new county administration building.

But the county changed its building plans, the wrecking ball never arrived and the Linn County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday happily agreed to sell the 114-year-old, three-story brick building to a restoration company with plans to convert it into 16 higher-end apartments with a first floor for commercial or office use.

Four local businesses competed for the purchase, each with a restoration plan. But the supervisors selected Hobart Historic Restoration over the others at the recommendation of the county's professional staff, which conducted a 'well-researched” analysis of the proposals, said Darrin Gage, the county's director of policy and administration.

Gage told the supervisors that the Hobart company had demonstrated experience in the adaptive reuse and preservation of historic buildings, the financial viability to buy the property and complete the project, a plan to incorporate sustainable practices into the renovation, and an aggressive timeline to start the project.

'I'm thrilled with all the proposals we got,” said Supervisor Lu Barron, the board's chairwoman.

Hobart will pay $500,000 for the building at 42 Seventh Ave. SW that the county paid $395,000 for in 1995, Barron said. The purchase offers ranged in price from $301,000 to $500,000.

'We have a little bit of a return on our investment,” Barron said.

B.J. Hobart, majority owner of Hobart Historic Restoration, said Tuesday that the company has been in Cedar Rapids for one year, but she said her husband, Jim, has done historic restoration work in downtown Dubuque and restored a former church parsonage in Iowa City for another use.

Linn County had placed a value of $300,000 on the Mott Building. But Hobart said she knew her company would need to offer more to try to secure the purchase.

'This is a project that we've looked at and researched for close to three years,” Hobart said. 'We've always admired the building, It was on our wish list for development.”

She said the building sits in an attractive spot with a 'beautiful” view of the river near to downtown, the city's riverfront amphitheater, New Bohemia and Kingston Village.

Hobart intends to preserve the building's original wood beams and wood floors while adding higher-end finishes, lighting and other amenities to the apartments and commercial areas, she said. The Mott site also will provide ample parking for tenants, she added.

Hobart said the renovation of the Mott Building puts the company on 'the front end” of redevelopment in and around the downtown, and she said restoration company's plans for the Mott Building will add much-needed, higher-end, market-rate apartments.

'For young professionals and empty-nesters, I don't see why they'd go anywhere else,” she said.

Beth DeBoom, president of Save CR Heritage, on Tuesday called the plans for the Mott Building 'terrific.”

'This is the best possible outcome,” DeBoom said. 'It is one of our very few remaining riverfront warehouses, which is why we can't lose any more of those.

'And to know that one is going to be saved is pretty important to the future of Cedar Rapids.”

The other companies that submitted proposals and their purchase offers for the Mott Building were:

l Frantz Community Investors, $500,000

l Iowa Windmill and Pump Co. LC, $350,000

l Green Development, $301,000.

The Mott Building was built in 1900 as a shop for a farm windmill company and was part of an industrial district on the west side of the river that emerged after the west-bank town of Kingston became part of Cedar Rapids in 1870-71, said Mark Stoffer Hunter, a Cedar Rapids historian and a member of the city's Historic Preservation Committee.

Hobart said she has her eye on the building next to the Mott Building, the now-city-owned Knutson Building, which was built in 1887 as a condensed milk plant, Stoffer Hunter said.

Hobart also is focused on the downtown Smulekoff's building, which the furniture store is leaving at the end of the month and which the city's flood-recovery buyout program is purchasing.

'I would venture to say several people are interested in that one,” she said. 'That is the crown jewel.”