Casey’s plans larger northwest Cedar Rapids store on Edgewood Road

Nov. 19, 2020 1:54 pm Updated: Nov. 19, 2020 1:55 pm

Casey's General Stores is moving ahead with plans for a much larger convenience store and car wash in northwest Cedar Rapids.

The Ankeny-based company plans to replace a 33-year-old store and fuel islands at 641 Edgewood Road NW with a 4,000-square-foot store, 10 gas dispensers and a 1,429-square-foot car wash.

Casey's on Aug. 31 closed on the $2.5 million purchase of adjacent property and a 9,505-square-foot building at 621 Edgewood Rd. NW owned by Prairie Lakes Church.

Ken DeKeyser, development services manager with the Cedar Rapids Building Department, said Casey's plans to demolish the former church building.

'Rezoning was approved on May 12,” DeKeyser said in an email. 'Site and building plans are still under review. Expect construction next year.”

The 4.12-acre site was rezoned from a suburban residential low single-unit district to a traditional mixed-use center district.

Prairie Lakes, which has six campuses across Iowa, in 2017 bought the church from Edgewood Baptist Church for $277,000. In April 2019, Prairie Lakes decided to close the church after concluding the building no longer was viable due to its physical fragility and lack of desired ministry growth.

Prairie Lakes officials in April 2019 said any proceeds from selling the former church first would go toward an existing $230,000 mortgage on the building, with any leftover money placed in the church's facility reserve fund for future campuses across Iowa.

The former Prairie Lakes church on Edgewood Road NW in Cedar Rapids in April 2020. (The Gazette)

Casey's plans to replace the 33-year-old store and fuel islands at Edgewood Road and F Avenue NW in Cedar Rapids with a 4,000-square-foot store. (The Gazette)