New housing planned in Taylor neighborhood in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — Developers will be building affordable housing projects on two city-owned properties in the Taylor neighborhood.

The Cedar Rapids City Council this week authorized negotiation of development agreements and sale of the properties in the southwest quadrant.

Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity is planning to build two single-unit, detached dwellings at 1140 C St. SW.

Each of the two-bedroom, one-bathroom units will be 1,855 square feet. They’ll have unfinished basements and a single stall attached garage, city planner Trent Cerra said.

The development agreement stipulates the units will be owner-occupied and sold to people earning 30 percent to 60 percent of the area’s median income. The city lots will be sold for $1 to maintain the housing affordability.

Construction is tentatively slated to start in the fall or winter of 2024.

The other proposal is from JPAC Investments. It proposes building two detached, single-unit dwellings at 1223 First St. SW. The 1,200-square-foot units will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, an unfinished basement and single-stall garage.

The agreement with that city states the owner-occupied units will be developed through Homes for Iowa Program.

Through a partnership with the Neighborhood Finance Corp., the homebuyers can be offered up to $25,000 in forgivable loans for down payment assistance and upgrades.

Construction is tentatively planned to start this summer.

The city acquired both properties in 2010. Cedar Rapids issued a request for proposals in November for the properties.

A stakeholder review panel — with a Taylor Neighborhood Association representative and two financial lenders — reviewed and recommended the projects.

Council signs off on Sub-Zero agreement

The council also signed off on a development agreement for Wisconsin-based refrigeration and high-end appliance company Sub-Zero’s massive new light manufacturing facility near The Eastern Iowa Airport.

The company, new to Iowa, is building a $140.6 million, 400,000-square-foot building at 10015 Sixth St. SW. The company is planning to create 192 full-time jobs, 127 of them paying at or above the high-quality jobs rate of $24.20 an hour.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority board has awarded $2.56 million in investment tax credits and sales and use tax credits to Sub-Zero.

The state also approved giving Sub-Zero a $1.135 million forgivable loan at the end of a seven-year contract period. That’s contingent on the city’s local match of a 20-year, 75 percent tax break on the increment taxable value generated by the project — an estimated net value of $15.4 million.

Construction is expected to start in August and wrap up by August 2025.

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