116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Seven projects get $5.6 million in Iowa Economic Development Authority brownfield, grayfield tax credits
Former Marion church project at the top, with $1.5 million
Seven economic development projects in the Corridor — including renovating a historic church in Marion and building an entertainment complex in Cedar Rapids — have received a total of $5.6 million in Iowa Economic Development Authority tax credits, with three of the projects landing $1 million or more.
Leading the way in dollar amount is 1277 Eighth Avenue LLC for its redevelopment of the former First Methodist Episcopal Church in Marion, with $1.5 million credit. A deal to save the church came together at the last minute as its demolition neared.
“You lose that building, you lose part of the soul of Marion,” Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly told The Gazette in April. “It's an iconic structure that helps identify Marion.”
The building, constructed in 1896, most recently was home to the Pentecostals of Greater Cedar Rapids.
The state authority, in granting the credit, noted the “project involves the partial demolition of the former church addition, saving the historic sanctuary and bell tower for renovation into a new upscale restaurant and brewery, and construction of a new six-story multifamily structure that will provide 71 new market rate apartments.”
The tax credit for the church project is contingent upon submission of financing letters within three months.
First and First LLC in Cedar Rapids, the development team working on First and First West — an 11-building, $81.5 million development of city-owned land on the west side of the Cedar River — received a credit of up to $1 million. The land at First Avenue W and First Street SW, adjacent to Interstate 380, has been vacant since the 2008 flood, the authority noted.
Once complete in phases over several years, the development will bring a mix of restaurants, housing, hotel rooms, a Big Grove brewery and other uses in a signature project that provides a gateway from downtown to the west side of the river.
Also awarded up to $1 million in tax credits is DOMOV LCC, for razing of buildings and construction of mixed-use structures at the former Loftus Lumber site, 900 Third St. SE, in the New Bohemia District.
Dave Drown, president of GLD Commercial, is seeking to transform the long-vacant block on the main street connecting downtown Cedar Rapids and NewBo with an approximately $36 million mixed-use building that will add 186 rental units, retail spaces, a rooftop patio and parking.
Drown gave the land another shot at redevelopment after previous plans faltered amid a legal dispute between the O’Connell family, who owns the land, and previously proposed developer Richard Sova of Illinois-based Landover Corp.
The other projects in the Corridor that received brownfield and grayfield tax credits from the authority, which met last Friday, were:
- LTRI LLC — $900,000 toward redevelopment of mostly empty land, from 1218 to 1310 Third St. SE, also in the New Bohemia District in Cedar Rapids, for a four-story mixed-use building. Chad Pelley is spearheading the development group looking to transform the land next to a parking lot adjacent to Brewhemia and The Olympic South Side Theater with commercial space, parking and 34 residential units renting at market rate.
- Williams Synergy Group — $850,000 for redevelopment or razing of three derecho-damaged buildings at 507 Eighth Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids, to create space for an OB/GYN office building.
- Modern Home Builders — $251,000 to tear down a vacant drive-through bank, at 1627 Hamilton St. SW, Cedar Rapids, to make room for four triplexes.
- Butterfield Holdings LLC — $100,000 for redevelopment of a commercial building at 1003-1007 Sixth St. SE, in the Oakhill Jackson neighborhood of Cedar Rapids, into a four-unit condominium.
According to the state authority, brownfield sites are “abandoned, idled or underutilized industrial or commercial properties where real or perceived environmental contamination prevents productive expansion or redevelopment.”
Grayfield sites are defined by the authority as “abandoned public buildings, industrial or commercial properties that are vacant, blighted, obsolete or otherwise underutilized. A grayfield has been developed and has infrastructure in place, but the property's current use is outdated or prevents a better or more efficient use of the property.”
Marissa Payne of The Gazette contributed to this report.
Comments: (319) 398-8307; michaelchevy.castranova@thegazette.com.
Large stained glass windows let light in on at the old First Methodist Episcopal Church in Marion in April. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
Marion’s historic First Methodist Church is pictured with tarps on the roof after it was damaged in the 2020 derecho. (Supplied photo)
A rendering of the First by First West mixed-use development features a Big Grove Brewery and other venues. (Courtesy city of Cedar Rapids)
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