City recommends terminating lease for The Wedge

IOWA CITY - Iowa City staff have recommended that downtown pizzeria The Wedge be released from its lease obligations with the city.

If approved by the Iowa City Council during its Tuesday meeting, the lease for The Wedge Downtown, in the city-owned space at 136 S. Dubuque St., will end Oct. 31.

Officials with The Wedge approached the city earlier this year to request a termination of the lease, which is slated to run through April 2016.

Geoff Fruin, assistant to the city manager, said the request had come as somewhat of a surprise.

'From our standpoint The Wedge has been a model tenant, they've made all payments on time,” Fruin said. 'They requested (a lease termination) and we felt it was in both parties' best interest to terminate the lease.”

Steve Harding, owner of The Wedge, which also operates a pizzeria on South Riverside Drive, has not indicated why he requested a termination of the downtown lease. He could not be reached Thursday for comment.

The Wedge Downtown is in the second year of a three-year lease with a rent at $6,267 per month for the 4,580-square-foot space.

The restaurant is in commercial space that is part of the Iowa City Public Library building that has been rented out since 2006.

The city gave The Wedge a $40,000 low-interest Community Development Block Grant in 2008 to help open the downtown location.

In order to have the lease terminated, The Wedge paid off the remaining $4,000 of the loan earlier this week, Fruin said.

Jeff Davidson, Iowa City economic development administrator, said about six area business, many representing restaurants, have already expressed interest in the space.

'Obviously we have an interest in getting the space leased out as quickly as possible,” Davidson said. 'I think the city's main intent is getting an active tenant in the space ... We'll just have to see what the possibilities are.”

Fruin said a rental agreement with a future tenant would be comparable to The Wedge's. 'I think for any type of permanent lease that we may find there, we're going to look to achieve a market rate rent.”

That said, Fruin acknowledged that it's likely the space will remain vacant for a few months during the transition, with the city losing about $8,300 per month in rent and property taxes while the space remains vacant.