Iowa governor helps break ground on $36M Cedar Rapids housing development

CEDAR RAPIDS — Gov. Kim Reynolds joined city officials and a local developer Tuesday to celebrate construction of a $36 million project to transform a long-vacant block in the heart of the New Bohemia District.

The NewBo Loftus project, led by developer Dave Drown, GLD Commercial and Conlon Construction, involved significant collaboration among city officials, state leaders and private partners, said Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz. Reynolds highlighted the state's $2 million investment through workforce housing and brownfield tax credits.

The development is part of a broader revitalization effort in the New Bohemia area, including the NewBo Lofts and Fulton Lofts.

Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell emphasized the importance of the project in providing essential housing and commercial spaces, as well as public art. She said the project is a shining example of the City Council's focus on infill development and enhancing street-level pedestrian activity to support small businesses and tourism.

“For decades, the city, development groups, neighborhood stakeholders have worked to revitalize this land,” O’Donnell said. “ … It's a perfect illustration of the type of project that we need to continue to move our city forward, enhancing the quality of life for our residents here and continuing the momentum that we have in our core neighborhoods.”

The Newbo Loftus project will revitalize the former Loftus Lumber site at 900 Third St. SE, transforming the main street connecting downtown and the NewBo District. Construction is slated to be completed by November 2025.

The project calls for building a five-story mixed-use property that includes 186 market-rate apartments, featuring studio-three bedroom units and two two-story lofts.

“We are thrilled to bring this exciting development to the Newbo District,” Drown, president of GLD Commercial, said in a statement. “Newbo Loftus is designed to enhance the lifestyle of its residents while contributing to the ongoing revitalization of this vibrant community. We look forward to seeing this project come to life and become an integral part of Cedar Rapids.”

Iowa Economic Development Authority grants and city of Cedar Rapids financial incentives are supporting the project. Financing was secured through Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust and Community Savings Bank.

The project is within walking distance of the popular NewBo City Market and accessible to biking trails. It adds to a boom in housing growth in the core neighborhood.

Watts Group’s $20 million NewBo Lofts development has added two 55-unit buildings to the market. Plus, a development team led by Chad Pelley recently completed construction and is leasing units in the $9.8 million Fulton Lofts mixed-use project from 1218 to 1310 Third St. SE near the Olympic South Side Theater.

Local developer High Properties is pursuing a $23.7 million residential and mixed-use facility on city-owned property at 116 16th Ave. SE, across the street from the Kickstand bar and restaurant near the Cedar River Trail. Dubbed the “Vesnice,” which is Czech for village, the plans call for one six-story residential building facing the river with 63 units and one four-story mixed-use building facing Second Street SE with 22 units and 1,443 square feet of commercial space.

Reynolds highlighted the state's efforts in housing development and praised the “robust partnerships” between public and private sectors in supporting downtown revitalization and reclaiming a blighted site.

The governor praised the city as a “living laboratory bursting with truly great ideas; a place where the potential of downtown development is on full display everywhere that you look.”

“It also reflects the many, many years of work that the city has undertaken to leverage the Cedar River as a draw for new residents and businesses alike,” Reynolds said. “And clearly, those efforts are paying off in a really big way.”

The governor highlighted the state's efforts to support housing, including investing $500 million over four to five years to create 5,000 publicly-supported housing units currently under construction across the state.

“I'm proud to say that that's the most in Iowa's history,” Reynolds said. “So we're going to continue to drive housing developments just like this.”

Speaking with reporters afterward, Reynolds highlighted a new program through the Iowa Finance Authority that helps communities identify their housing needs. The data platform provides customized reports that allows communities to explore regional housing landscapes and identify unmet housing needs and priorities.

The governor also mentioned regulatory reforms, including a five-year moratorium on new state rules and regulations, and the consolidation of licensing processes to expedite and streamline development.

“When you're an investor and you're trying to get a project like this done, every time you've got to go to a different agency to get a different license or to get a different permit, that's time and that's money, and it slows the process down,” Reynolds said.

The governor said Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority, also is conducting a review of all state incentive packages to allocate more funds to housing.

“If we're going to bring people to the state of Iowa, if we're going to, you know, encourage businesses to invest or existing businesses to expand, we need workforce and they need housing,” Reynolds said.

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