City discloses 9 proposals for downtown corner

IOWA CITY - Housing, hotel rooms, offices, retail stores and New Pioneer Co-op, New Pioneer Co-op, New Pioneer Co-op, New Pioneer Co-op.

Those are some of the features included in projects from nine development teams vying for the chance to development city-owned land on the northeast corner of the intersection of College and Gilbert streets. Four of the nine proposals include New Pioneer Co-op, which has said it wants to relocate from its current grocery store nearby.

The land previously was home to a bus depot, sporting goods store and automobile repair shop but has been mostly vacant for years. Now it's become a key piece of the city's attempt to spur redevelopment downtown with an emphasis on owner-occupied housing, retail stores and high-end office space.

Story continues below slideshow:

Any of the projects would be visually striking, and some would be among the tallest, or the tallest, buildings in a district where most structures are no more than a few stories high.

The city received the proposals one week ago and still needs to do a lot of due diligence on them, transportation planner John Yapp said.

A review committee consisting of city staff, two City Council members and an outside financial consultant will evaluate the projects over the next three to four weeks. A shortlist of finalists will be picked to make presentations to the council, which will select the development team to work with, Yapp said.

The whole process may take several months.

“There's a lot of information and a lot of proposals, and it will take us some time to evaluate them,” he said.

Here's a summary of the proposals provided by the city in a news release:

4 Zero 4 Development: This proposal is for an eight-story building including New Pioneer Co-op and the Bike Library on the first floor, two floors of office space, and five floors of efficiency, one- and two-bedroom apartments.

This proposal is for a LEED Platinum building attempting to achieve net-zero energy living units and energy-efficient commercial space. Over 1,300 photovoltaic panels are proposed on the exterior of the building. Tim Dwight is the primary contact for this project.

Burns/MDK Development: This proposal is for a 13-story building with grocery/retail on the first floor, one floor of office space proposed for a video-game developer, and up to 11 floors of studio, one- and two-bedroom residential units, a combination of rental apartments and condos.

This proposal is for a mixed-use facility with a target of 5 percent to 10 percent of the residential units being for workforce housing. Robert Burns is the primary contact.

Campus Acquisitions: This proposal is for a 15-story building with a grocery store on first and second floors, two floors of office space, one floor of lobby and residential amenities, and 10 floors of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments.

The proposal indicates the office space will be targeting business incubator organizations, technology and new companies with flexible design features. Tom Scott is the primary contact.

The Chauncey LLC: This proposal is for a 20-story building that has two movie theaters, a bowling alley and cafe on the first floor, two floors of office space, a 35-unit hotel, and 12 floors of studio, one- and two- bedroom residential units.

This proposal is for a mixed-use facility with a target of at least 20 percent of the residential units being available for workforce housing. The proposal includes upgrading Chauncey Swan Park. Steve Rohrbach is the primary contact.

Chauncey Gardens LLC: This proposal is for an 18-story building including the New Pioneer Co-op on the first floor, one floor of retail/restaurant, two floors of office space, one floor of resident amenities, and 13 floors of studio, one- and two-bedroom residential units.

This proposal envisions constructing a building on the current Chauncey Swan Park site and converting the existing area with the Greyhound/Wilson building and substation to a new Chauncey Swan Park and outdoor amphitheater. The studio units in the proposal are identified as workforce housing units. Jesse Allen is the primary contact.

GILCOL LLC: This proposal is for a six-story building including commercial space on the first and second floors and four floors of one- and two-bedroom condominium apartments.

The proposal states the desire to create an attractive and functional mixed-use building, with commercial uses at the street level and a mix of one- and two-bedroom residential units in the upper floors. Jeff Clark is the primary contact.

Ryan Companies/Iceberg Development: This proposal is for a five-story building including the New Pioneer Co-op on the first floor and four floors of studio, one- and two-bedroom condos.

The proposal indicates a desire to pursue LEED certification for the building, including a green roof, solar panels and a roof-top cistern collection system. Jim Bergman and Marc Gullickson are the primary contacts.

SagaCity: This proposal is for a five-story, 199-unit upscale hotel with meeting rooms on the first floor.

The proposal notes pursuing LEED certification for the structure and states that anticipated occupancies could bring up to 40,000 visitors annually. Lincoln McIlravy is the primary contact.

Sherman Associates: This proposal is for a 13-story building including New Pioneer Co-op on the first floor, one floor of office space and 11 floors of workforce housing rental units.

The proposal indicates a desire for 100 percent of the residential units to be targeted for workforce housing. A second option presented in the proposal is for a six-story building with the co-op on the first floor and five floors of residential. George Sherman is the primary contact.