Westdale work steps up

CEDAR RAPIDS - The $90 million redevelopment of Westdale Mall has shifted into high gear with a combination of exterior and interior activity.

Frew Development and city officials broke ground Friday for the 10-year project, which will include retail, commercial, office, entertainment, residential, hotel, green space and connecting trails.

The Cedar Rapids City Council agreed to provide $5 million in upfront money for Westdale and will recoup the money from tax-incentive revenue that comes with the added value of the redevelopment.

John Frew, president of Frew Development Group in Denver, Colo., on Friday said seven 'pad” sites along the Edgewood Road SW side of the property have been sold. He confirmed that Chick-fil-A and U.S. Bank will occupy two of the sites, but he declined to identify the remaining buyers.

Chick-fil-A, an original tenant of Westdale's in 1979, has been constructing stand-alone buildings with drive-up windows, similar to its Lindale Mall venue, as part of its current business model.

U.S. Bank is relocating to Westdale because the building housing its existing office at 2350 Edgewood Rd. SW was acquired by F&M Bank of Manchester, which has offices in northeast and downtown Cedar Rapids.

Airtight, watertight

Leading up to Friday's groundbreaking were a series of actions - most behind the scenes - required to prepare for demolition of the main portion of the mall.

Construction of three semi-permanent walls separating the main portion of the mall from JCPenney, Younkers and the former Von Maur building began weeks ago and is progressing rapidly, according to Lisa Rowe, vice president-retail for Frew Development Group and Westdale's general manager.

'The walls are designed to be an airtight and watertight barrier,” Rowe said. 'They will protect the stores from debris and the elements when the in-line portion of the mall is demolished.

'We wanted to build the walls once and add vestibules when they become exterior entrances to the stand-alone buildings after the mall has been demolished.”

JCPenney and Younkers have signed lease extension agreements to remain at Westdale. They will remain open for business during the redevelopment process.

Rowe said some selective demolition has begun inside the mall, primarily in the areas where Miron Construction crews have been building the separation walls. Work has begun to drain and reclaim coolant from heating, cooling and ventilating equipment on the roof of the mall in preparation for demolition.

Demolition of the main section of the mall is expected to begin in about two weeks and take four to six weeks to complete.

D.W. Zinser in Walford has filed documents with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources detailing the planned disposal of building materials from the demolition,

Ring road

Outside the 35-year-old mall, crews from D.W. Zinser have been removing asphalt, bushes and grass between the mall's southeast entrance off Edgewood Road SW and U.S. Bank. Installation of new underground utilities to serve future tenants will begin shortly in that area.

Rowe said the first phase of site work - creation of the seven pads along Edgewood Road SW and construction of a portion of a new ring road that will connect 13 pad sites around the perimeter of the property - is scheduled for completion on Nov. 15.

Construction of Chick-fil-A, U.S. Bank and other buildings on the pads is expected to begin yet this fall, weather permitting. The new structures are expected to open in spring 2015.

Alliant Energy switched the electrical service to a new underground power line on Aug. 19, and the main portion of the mall has been disconnected from power and natural gas. The project, originally planned for June 30, was delayed while utility crews worked to repair storm damage.

Alliant crews worked for about a week to remove more than 100 electric meters from the mall. Each tenant of the mall, which closed on March 31, had separate electrical service.

Rowe said Westdale still plans to lease the former Von Maur building. The latter had been rumored to be the future location of Smulekoff's Home Store, but the longtime downtown retailer announced plans last month to close by the end of the year.

Von Maur closed its Westdale store in January 2007. Rowe said the 99,000-square-foot, two-story building has been gutted and prepared for future use.

'We have explored several different design options with that building,” she said. 'We have designs for a single tenant or a tenant on the top floor and storefront multiple tenants on the lower level.

'We've had interest from a number of retailers for several of those options.”