116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa City setting the stage for developments in north part of city
IOWA CITY - A new Tax Increment Financing district has been established in Iowa City's north side, part of burgeoning development in the area.
The Iowa City Council unanimously adopted a TIF district in the Foster Road Urban Renewal Area.
The district will allow the city to use increased property taxes of developments or property improvements to aid urban renewal projects, like the extension of Foster Road, within the district.
Also concerning the north side of the city, the council continued its public hearing to May 15 on the rezoning of a redevelopment at 1705 Prairie du Chien Rd.
The project is expected to displace about nine households in Hawkeye Trailer Court, according to a memo sent to the council by Sarah Walz, assistant planner.
T.K. Ford told the council he has lived in the trailer court for 35 years because it's the 'cheapest place in town.”
Ford, 66, said he pays a lot rental of $175 and that he's hoping to find a spot in an affordable housing development in Riverside, south of Iowa City, because he can't afford to live anywhere else in Iowa City.
'It's just something to deal with,” Ford said. 'Like any move, it's just a super hassle for a little bit.”
The Foster Road extension from Dubuque Street to Prairie du Chien Road is a $3.2 million project that is a part of the city's North District Plan.
'It will open up the possibility of new development in this part of the district,” the plan states. 'The traffic capacity of an extended Foster Road could accommodate development of small apartments, town houses and single-family homes in this area.”
The development triggering the Foster Road extension is a 53.29 acre subdivision directly to the north of 1705 Prairie du Chien. It will include senior housing as well as town house units, according to Walz's memo to the council.
The extension is a development-driven project, meaning that if the development it's connected to, near Prairie du Chien Road, falls through, so would the extension, Public Works Director Ron Knoche has told The Gazette.
The city council also voted 7-0 Tuesday to approve another TIF district in the Riverside Drive Urban Renewal Area,
l Comments: (319) 339-3172; maddy.arnold@thegazette.com
Nine occupied manufactured homes are currently at 1705 Prairie du Chien in Iowa City, which may be rezoned for the construction of 24 units of low density multifamily housing. Photographed on Friday, April 27, 2018. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)
Two affordable home communities — Forest View Trailer Court and Hawkeye Trailer Court, just north of downtown Iowa City — are facing redevelopment. Highlighted by an upcoming extension of Foster Road and renaming of Bjaysville Lane, the section of Iowa City near Dubuque Street's I-80 interchange is seeing numerous development projects. 80, Prairie du Chien Rd.
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