Iowa City Council hears plans for former church site

IOWA CITY - Student apartments, senior housing, office space and hotel rooms; everything was placed on the table by finalists vying to develop a valuable chunk of Iowa City property.

Four finalists - CA Ventures, Core Campus, Sherman Associates and CG Hanson - wishing to develop roughly 60,000 square feet of land, where the St. Patrick's Catholic Church's parish hall once sat, pitched their respective projects Monday during a special Iowa City Council work session.

The council will begin formally discussing the finalists at a Dec. 2 meeting.

Officials with Core Campus were the first to pitch their proposal, HUB at Iowa City, which includes a 15-story tower with 325 units with more than 629 beds for students, 20,000 square feet of office space, on-site parking and a 170-suite hotel. The Chicago-based firm has offered to pay $4.5 million for the property and is not seeking financial assistance. The project is budgeted at $93 million and is slightly different from the proposal originally received by the city, with the hotel element added in exchange for student housing.

"We do have the experience in this type of product," said Tom Harrington, director of acquisitions. "We see a strong need here for this type of product."

CA Ventures proposes Rise at Riverfront Crossings, a roughly $87.7 million project that would include three high-rise towers: a 144-room hotel with retail and office space and two residential towers with a total of 302 multifamily fully furnished units with 524 beds and underground parking. CA Ventures, based out of Chicago, has offered to buy the property for $5 million and is not seeking any financial aid from the city.

J.J. Smith, chief development officer, said the design process put considerable focus on minimizing the land used in the project - only 46 percent of the site would be covered by structure - to create an open courtyard.

"We wanted to draw people in and create this open space with the courtyard," Smith said. "Separating into two buildings allowed us to have the hotel stand alone."

Both CA Ventures and Core Campus have a portfolio of similar student housing projects in other campus communities and provide 24-hour on site management.

Minnesota-based Sherman Associates proposes a roughly $66.9 million project that would include 91 residential housing units for long-term residents age 25 to 85, a rooftop deck, swimming pool and theater room. The project also would include a six-floor national-brand hotel with 124 rooms and 23,000 square feet of office space. The company is not offering to pay for the property and is seeking up to $3 million in tax abatements and $8 million in tax increment finance assistance and tax credits.

George Sherman, president and owner, touted Sherman Associates' level of experience and expertise in projects similar to what they have proposed for Iowa City.

"Our strength is we do long-term public private partnerships," he said. "We know what we're doing, we know how to develop a quality project."

Sherman defended the proposal's request for city funding to the project, stating the quality of the building comes with increased investment. He also questioned the quality of a hotel that would locate next a student housing facility.

Iowa City's CG Hanson's Linn/Court Lofts senior housing proposal would offer up to 12 floors, all told 330,000 square feet, with residential units for active seniors with encouraged learning and living lifestyle. An added, second tower would include high quality housing and commercial space also would be included in the project. CG Hanson officials say they would strive for a zero TIF project, but will not offer to purchase the site. An updated project cost is being finalized, but the initial estimate with a single tower was about $56.5 million.

"Our goal would be to work with the city with a goal of no TIF," said Charlie Graves, president of CG Hanson.