Integrated DNA Technologies moves into former Harley-Davidson store in Coralville

A former motorcycle sales floor may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the ideal place for a company that synthesizes custom nucleic acid.

However, officials with Coralville's Integrated DNA Technologies say the former McGrath Hawkeye Harley-Davidson store at 2812 Commerce Drive will make for the perfect home as the company - which creates custom pieces of DNA used in research and development - continues to expand beyond the walls of its nearby home at 1710 Commercial Park.

'The space is a good fit because it already has a repair/manufacturing area and the main floor is suitable for our office needs,” said Jeanine Jensen, IDT manager of corporate communications and sustainability. 'Its location across the street from our manufacturing building also is a major plus.”

Jensen said IDT's plan is to consolidate engineering and instrument production functions to the Commerce Drive building.

The former bike shop became available following McGrath Hawkeye Harley-Davidson's decision to build a new facility - which bears similarities to several University of Iowa landmarks including Kinnick Stadium - at 120 Westcor Drive, which hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.

Mike McGrath, with McGrath Powersports, said the new location is a massive improvement over the former building, which was built in 2000 and home to Hawkeye Harley-Davidson since 2013.

'The business had just outgrown it's old location on all accounts,” McGrath said. 'On all accounts it's triple the space we had at the other dealership ... We're able to do some things and offer some things to our customers that we just couldn't before.”

Roughly 40 of the 600 employees for McGrath will work in the Harley-Davidson facility, he said.

McGrath added that coordinating the sale of their old store to IDT, which closed Tuesday, worked great for both parties.

'They were terrific to work with through the whole process,” he said.

Now IDT officials will begin internal remodeling at the former bike shop and hope to begin operations within the next 3-4 months.

IDT began in almost 30 years ago as a small contract research firm that moved into the Commercial Park building in 1989, two years after it was founded. The company how employs nearly 600 people in Coralville and has expanded to facilities in San Diego, Cali., Leuven, Belgium and Singapore.