Developer making new pitch for Cedar Rapids housing complex

Neighbors along and near a stretch of O Avenue NW will have a new chance to weigh in on a proposed affordable housing complex that they opposed in January.

A St. Paul, Minn., developer, MetroPlains, will be back in front of the City Planning Commission on Aug. 18 to ask the commission to approve its $7.9 million senior housing project on a 2.3-acre site at 1100 O Ave. NW.

Thirty-six of the 45 units will come with “affordable” rents, which has helped MetroPlains secure federal and state funding. On Wednesday, the Iowa Finance Authority's board of directors approved an additional $2.24 million for the project, called Cedar View.

Vern Hanson, a principal with MetroPlains, on Wednesday afternoon said the firm would seek planning commission approval for the project now that it has its funding in place. MetroPlains is asking for a change in the future land map for the site and a change in zoning from single-family to multifamily housing.

The commission makes recommendations to the City Council.

Hanson said he expected a continuation of the debate with neighbors that took place at the commission's January meeting. Neighbors objected over issues of water runoff, traffic and a general sense that the project didn't fit a site that now includes a house on top of a hill.

Some commission members said they needed more information on the project before they could be convinced to support it.

MetroPlains' Cedar View proposal first surfaced last fall along with a proposal from developer Sherman Associates Inc. of Minneapolis. Sherman Associates wanted to put affordable apartments on a 6-acre city-owned site that had been used as a chipping practice area at Ellis Golf Course. Sherman put aside its plans after neighbor objections.

Also Wednesday, the Finance Authority's board approved additional funding for three other affordable housing projects:

• $6.5 million to the Affordable Housing Network in Cedar Rapids to help pay for the renovation of rental units in Cedar Valley and Hawthorne Hills apartment complexes.
• $443,000 to Sherman Associates for the renovation of 90 units at The Roosevelt apartment complex in downtown Cedar Rapids.
• $1.64 million to The Housing Fellowship for 22 units of family housing in its Aniston Village development.