Fact Checker: Corbett’s downtown development claims

Introduction

'We had very limited housing options in the downtown, but this has changed dramatically in the last two years. Kingston Commons added 17 housing units. The Second Street SE Rowhomes sold nearly as soon as the paint dried. The upper floors of the Great Furniture Mart Building are being converted into housing. Other housing projects include Coventry Gardens, NewBo Station, the old ESC Building, the Depot, the Metropolitan, Kingston Lofts, the Pennington, the Adam and the Mott Building. When all of these projects come online, we will have added over 200 new places for people to call home in the downtown area.”

Source of claim: Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett made this statement in his Feb. 24 State of the City speech.

Analysis

We're checking whether Corbett is right that once the dozen project he names are complete there will be more than 200 new housing units in the downtown area. To check, we needed to find out how many dwellings are in each property. Cedar Rapids spokeswoman Maria Johnson said Corbett relied on data from the city's Economic Development Services.

Caleb Mason, an economic development analyst for the city, put together a spreadsheet showing housing and economic development projects from 2009 to 2015. Within a section for market-rate housing and mixed-use developments, Mason listed Kingston Commons with a $6 million investment and 17 housing units. Economic Development reported Great Furniture Mart has $5.33 million investment and five units; NewBo Station $4 million and 14 units; Row Houses on Second $1.5 million and six units; Depot $17 million and 46 units; Metropolitan $9.2 million and 41 units; Mott $4.66 million and 16 units; and Kingston Lofts $4.1 million and 23 units.

All together, these projects provide $51.8 million in investment and 168 housing units, according to Mason.

The Fact Checker spot-checked three of the developments with the Cedar Rapids Assessor's website and confirmed the number of housing units matches those reported by Economic Development.

To get to the 'over 200 new places” Corbett described in his speech, he lists a couple of flood-recovery projects covered under the Low Income Housing Credit Program. The Adam and Pennington buildings combined are expected to have 92 affordable housing units, Mason said.

One project Corbett called out in his speech still is in early stages. The developer of the former Educational Services Center, at 346 Second Ave. SW, is working with the Iowa Historic Preservation Office to try to get historic preservation tax credits for the renovation that would include 27 market-rate housing units, Mason said.

'We're well over 200 in those two categories,” Mason said of downtown are housing in market-rate developments and disaster-recovery projects.

The Fact Checker thought Corbett might have been using a little hyperbole when he said the Row Houses on Second sold 'nearly as soon as the paint dried,” but listing agent Candy Wong said the mayor is right.

'They were priced reasonably and, because of a combination of factors, they sold before they were completely done,” Wong said. The six houses with separate entrances and garages were finished last fall and occupied by December, she said.

Conclusion

Downtown housing is viewed as a key to urban revitalization across the country. Cedar Rapids is trying to cater to millennials and empty nesters with new developments in and around downtown, Corbett said. The housing projects he listed in his State of the City address aren't all downtown, by the narrowest definition, but we did not think that was a significant enough quibble to dock him from an A grade

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Criteria

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/office holder or a national candidate/office holder about Iowa, or in advertisements that appear in our market. Claims must be independently verifiable. We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at factchecker@thegazette.com.

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Erin Jordan.