Building, expansion picking up along Coralville Strip

CORALVILLE - Several new developments are popping up along Highway 6, in an area known as the Coralville Strip.

'It's right in the heart of everything,” said Jason Deppe, co-owner of Mondo's Draft House. The restaurant is to start construction on a brewery there next month.

Kum and Go plans to open a gas station and convenience store on the Strip in early fall, and the Coralville Used Car Superstore, a McGrath family dealership, is set to expand into an adjacent lot that used to be a Delimart.

According to Jim Kessler, Coralville's building and zoning official, the lot west of IHOP will become Fount Plaza, which will house an Anytime Fitness and a coffee shop. The building has been constructed but developers are working on the interior, he said.

Kessler said there also are two new commercial buildings going up at 2419 Second St., which will be home to retail and possibly a restaurant. The older buildings on that lot have been demolished and cleared, he said, but developers have yet to begin construction on the new structures.

'It shows that our community continues to stay vibrant,” Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said of the additions.

Hayworth said the Coralville Strip is a great place to do business given the large amount of traffic it draws on a daily basis. He noted the intersection of Highway 6 and First Avenue is the busiest in Johnson County.

Joshua Orthel, general sales manager at Coralville Used Car Superstore, said the traffic has spurred sales.

'It's growing, it's growing like crazy,” he said of the Coralville Strip, adding the road is becoming a destination spot.

Orthel said the new lot will allow the dealership to increase its capacity from about 150 cars to just under 300.

'It's a perfect location for us to have a bunch of inventory,” Orthel said.

Kristie Bell, a spokeswoman for Kum and Go, also said the large amount of traffic on Highway 6 made the location an attractive option to the company.

'Coralville is obviously a growing and vibrant community,” Bell said.

Within the last year, Hayworth said he has been seeing a change on the Coralville Strip, with older buildings being demolished to make way for other businesses. He said many of the older buildings had reached the end of their useful lives and the companies would have had to spend a significant amount of money on upgrades.

The city has tried to assist businesses with building permits and site plan reviews, Hayworth said.