Jimmy John’s, coffee shop planned near Kirkwood

CEDAR RAPIDS - The aroma of fresh baked bread could soon be wafting through the Kirkwood Community College campus.

A new Jimmy John's sandwich shop and an unidentified coffee shop are slated for a vacant grassy plot at the southwest corner of 66th Avenue SW and Kirkwood Boulevard SW, across the street from the Cedar Rapids campus. The free smells will be welcome additions for some of the 8,500 students and employees that use the campus.

'I think it would be a great location,” Karen Decker, a student from Marion, said Wednesday from the parking lot outside Linn Hall. 'Our choices are limited with the cafeteria and it's a little expensive, so I think this would be a very good thing.”

The project isn't a done deal yet because it requires a city zoning change, which is encouraging news for some residential neighbors concerned about congestion, light pollution from headlights and a negative effect on property values.

'We are just being pushed aside and our views aren't being heard,” said Dawn Stiffin, acting president of the Preston Terrace Association, noting she will look to move. 'We don't want it here.”

The Jimmy John's building would share the same driveway with the 30 condo units on Preston Terrace Court and an apartment complex and would likely bring semi traffic, she said.

City rules prohibit an entry way on an arterial street, such as Kirkwood Boulevard, so close to an intersection, and an entrance on 66th Street is also prohibited to avoid traffic stacking up, said Johnny Alcivar, a Cedar Rapids development services specialist.

The Cedar Rapids City Council gave unanimous initial approval for a zoning change for the 1.8 acre parcel on Tuesday, but two additional votes are required before the project has a green light. Those are expected to be condensed into one vote on April 12.

Votroubek Real Estate Group is proposing the project, and Kirkwood is supporting the effort. The concept calls for a 9,400-square-foot structure with two drive-thru windows and lanes. The Jimmy John's and coffee shop would occupy the north and south ends of the building with the drive-thrus. Two or three additional tenants, depending on how much space they require, would also occupy the building, said Mark Votroubek of the development group.

The Votroubeks are proprietors of a Jimmy John's location in Marion and would operate this location near Kirkwood as well.

The main procedural hangups are the drive-thru lanes. The area is zoned for commercial use, but the drive-thrus require another layer of approval, which Votroubek said is important to the project. Some City Council members urged the inclusion of blinds to block out vehicle lights, which the developer said is in the plans.

Votroubek said his team is waiting for final approval before pursuing additional tenants, but anticipates strong interest given the location. He said if the project goes through, the building could be ready as soon as this fall, but more likely in spring 2017.

'That parcel of land is just situated in a perfect position with a lot of residential units, Kirkwood right there, and several bigger businesses nearby,” Votroubek said.