Coralville businesses close, relocate to make way for flood wall

CORALVILLE - When he opened the Bar'ber Shop Tavern last July, Daniel Dickel was prepared for some hiccups. Opening a restaurant is risky - some 60 percent of new ones fail in the first year.

His restaurant is now one of those, but not because business wasn't going well. In March, less than a year after opening, he learned Coralville planned to raze the building he was renting space in. On June 12, the Bar'ber Shop closed.

Coralville City Attorney Kevin Olson said the city has to demolish the building at 208 First Ave. - which has stood near the corner of First Avenue and Highway 6 since the 1960s - to make way for the last major flood mitigation project. The building, which saw heavy damage in the 2008 flood, butts up to Clear Creek.

'We tried to find ways to not demolish this building,” Olson said. 'The problem with this building ... it's built right up to the bank.”

The city plans to build a flood levy along the south side of Clear Creek from First Avenue to Highway 6.

Olson said the only option was to buy the property.

'Basically, we buy the building and the land from the landlord, and for each tenant, I work with them to get relocation expenses,” Olson said. Tenants also will be compensated for any lease terminations, Olson said.

Still, the news was hard to take, Dickel said.

'I was devastated. It was a horrible day,” he said.

He signed a lease on the building on January 2015 and spent the next six months renovating the space, which, true to its name, used to be a barbershop before being inundated during the 2008 flood.

Dickel declined to say how much the city was compensating him for the relocation. The money will be released only when he has a new space secured and a building permit, he said.

In the meantime, his eight employees are out of a job and the business will not be bringing in money. He's not sure where or when it might reopen. He and his chef, James Kinkade, had discussed opening a small brewery and tap room someday, so they now may accelerate that idea.

'The chunk of time it takes to start a business - you start that over from zero,” Dickel said. 'All the risk we put into this, everything we gambled ... we have to hope the next thing works.”

Olson said he was sympathetic to that concern, but lost income is not eligible for reimbursement.

The building, owned by Bob Fox, has three other tenants. Fox did not return calls for comment Thursday.

Tenant Taj International Food will move to Coral Plaza, at 2419 Second St., Coralville, in August.

Bala Gautam, whose daughter, Pooja Gautam Chapagai, owns the business, said he was worried about the move. His daughter bought the store in 2008, and a store selling Indian food has been in that location for 12 years under different owners.

'I think it will take some time for people to find us,” he said. 'People know to come here.”

Still, he said he understands the need.

'In 2008 people were boating through this parking lot,” he said. 'We should help the city, and the city also should help us.”

The city is indeed helping with relocation expenses, and Chapagai said she hopes the more visible new location will lead to increased traffic to offset her higher rent.

The cost to the city for buying the land and relocating the building's tenants has not yet been finalized, Olson said. The city also is securing easements along Clear Creek from First Avenue to Highway 6 for the roughly $8.6 million levy project, which will be begin later this year.

Other tenants in the building include Eye Level Learning Center, which is also moving to Coral Plaza, and Milio's Sandwiches. Milio's staff said they could not comment on its plans.