116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Plans for mixed-use complex taking shape at former Transamerica site in northeast Cedar Rapids
Preliminary plat coming to City Planning Commission next week
CEDAR RAPIDS — Preliminary site plans are taking shape for a mixed-use development at the former Transamerica site on Edgewood Road and 42nd Street NE, where more than two years ago some neighbors organized in opposition to a local developer’s proposal and prompted the property’s sale to another developer.
As the project is in relatively early planning stages, specific commercial tenants and plans for multifamily residential units are still in the works. But some residents again are raising concerns about the proposed project’s impacts on traffic, light pollution, tree removal and stormwater management.
Officials with Hiawatha-based Hall and Hall Engineers last week met with nearby residents to review the project’s preliminary plat, which is slated to come before the Cedar Rapids City Planning Commission at 3 p.m. April 4 at City Hall, 101 First St. SE.
The panel decides whether or not to approve the preliminary plat, which outlines a general plan for the site’s use and allows for street and infrastructure planning. This does not come before the Cedar Rapids City Council until the final plat is ready.
The site is zoned S-MR — Suburban Mixed Use Regional Center — which allows for a variety of uses, including multifamily, retail and office uses. It accommodates larger-scale buildings and a greater intensity and density of uses than in neighborhood or community commercial mixed-use districts.
Plans for first development failed after resident opposition
This is the second redevelopment attempt at the site since the 51-acre property was first listed for sale in March 2021. Hunter Companies, a commercial developer in Cedar Rapids, was under contract to buy the site that year, but backed out of plans for a primarily commercial mixed-use development after residents mobilized in strong opposition to the proposal.
EOP Development LLC in August 2022 purchased the site for $7.02 million, the entity’s principal Kerry Panozzo previously said. He is the Davenport-based franchisee of HomeSmart Residential and Commercial Realty.
“... the developer encouraged having some kind of transitional zoning, which would go from having commercial space up near Edgewood Road and then transition to a multifamily residential use to the west where we abut the neighborhood,” said Loren Hoffman, senior project planner with Hall and Hall.
This development is planned to be about 60 percent commercial and 40 percent residential, Hoffman said. Commercial uses are being determined, but permitted uses include educational, health care and commercial uses including child/adult care, retail, restaurants, hotel, gas station, vehicle sales and maintenance.
Single-family residential is not allowed, but for multifamily residential, city code requires eight to 40 units per acre within the S-MR zone district. There are no firm plans yet for the number of units that could be built.
The three existing buildings are proposed to be incorporated into the subdivision. The most adjacent parking lots are planned to stay, but the lots farther away are likely to be removed.
Street improvements could begin this summer
Construction on the public street improvements serving the commercial sites is slated to start late this summer. Work on individual commercial sites would begin fall 2024 on one or two lots at the earliest, but likely not until spring 2025. There is no timeline set for the multifamily portion.
As part of the preliminary plat process, Hoffman said a traffic study is underway to gather existing data and traffic counts, and make projections on how anticipated uses will affect traffic.
It will generally include Edgewood Road NE between Glass Road and Highway 100 as well as the 42nd Street and North River Boulevard NE road segments that border the project. Four existing access points and one new point also will be assessed as part of the study.
“The goal of that is to produce what kind of improvements need to be made to entrances and exits out of this development as well as any improvements that may be needed in the vicinity of this project,” Hoffman said.
New streets are proposed — one in the north/south direction up to the commercial portion on the east side, then another in the east/west direction where the driveway into the development connects to Edgewood Road NE in the middle of property.
Resident: ‘We just want to be able to enjoy our homes’
Dave Watson, a nearby resident who has organized a Facebook group pertaining to the site, said residents continue to be wary of traffic impacts and wanted no more traffic entering onto 42nd Street NE.
“We just want to be able to enjoy our homes,” Watson said. “We’ve got skin in the game too. It’s their homes, it’s their families, it’s their investments in the land that we own.”
Watson said he favors eliminating the connection onto 42nd Street NE, but Hoffman said “we envision there’s going to be quite a bit of traffic that will enter this development to frequent commercial spaces” proposed along 42nd Street NE. That would force more traffic onto Edgewood Road NE.
If improvements are needed to that intersection, the traffic study will outline them and the city would determine what costs the developer is responsible for, Hoffman said. The Edgewood Road and 42nd Street NE intersection already has automated traffic cameras at this intersection, from both northbound and southbound approaches on Edgewood.
Watson also raised concerns about removal of mature trees on the site. As development plans are still being firmed up, the number of trees that could be removed is unknown.
Hoffman said “the developer is fully aware of tree mitigation requirements,” which are based on city code at the time the preliminary plat is approved. He said building locations can be adjusted for tree impact.
The council on Tuesday approved zoning changes updating tree removal requirements, which call for tree canopy removed from a site to be replaced at a rate of one tree of at least 1.5 inch caliper per 1,000 square feet of canopy removed. Caliper refers to the diameter of a tree's trunk. Significant trees removed must be replaced in a number and size that replaces the caliper inches of all destroyed trees.
Ultimately, Watson said, residents want to see a development that promotes access to green space and is made into a destination that draws people instead of being built to the brim with commercial and residential space.
As an example, he used the Kingston Yard mixed-use development in Kingston Village, — commonly known as First and First West, located in a prime corner on First Street and First Avenue West — that is attracting residents and visitors downtown with Pickle Palace bar and grill and a Big Grove Brewery. Other uses including a hotel, plaza space and mixed-use buildings are planned.
“Why not make a development on the corner of 42nd and Edgewood that fits into the neighborhood where people really want to come there because it's different, not just another strip mall?” Watson said.
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com
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