New Bo plans on move for Iowa Irons Works site

CEDAR RAPIDS - Yet more progress is taking shape in the New Bohemia arts and entertainment district.

The City Council's Development Committee this week backed a plan to seek proposals from developers who will buy and develop the vacant, city-owned site of the former Iowa Iron Works plant on the west side of the 400 block of 12th Avenue SE.

Caleb Mason, the city's redevelopment analyst, told the three-member council committee that 'several” developers have expressed interest in the property.

Those include local developer Joe Ahmann, who is the developer on the new three-story brick office building now under construction across 12th Avenue SE from the Iowa Iron Works site. The new building, which be the new home of Geonetric Inc., a growing local health care software and services company, once was the site of the Iowa Steel plant.

The city acquired both the Iowa Steel and Iowa Iron Works properties more than a decade ago, and with the help of federal and state brownfield money, demolished both plants, cleaned up the sites and readied them for redevelopment.

The council committee, which is chaired by council member Monica Vernon, agreed with Mason that the city should seek proposals for a 'master plan” to develop the entire 4.83-acre Iowa Iron Works parcel that sits between 10th and 12th avenues SE behind the New Bo City Market.

Mason said development proposals in New Bohemia must abide by the special design standards in place in the district, which call for buildings to be built close to the street with parking in the rear. The city also will be looking for a mixed-used plan that includes market-rate housing, Mason said.

Vernon said she wouldn't mind seeing another multistory brick building as part of any development that would 'mirror” the new brick Geonetric office building going up across the street.

'Dream big,” she said the city needed to tell developers.

Mason told council and committee member Pat Shey that the city will keep funds from the sale of the property because this property was purchased before the 2008 flood and was not part of the city's flood-recovery buyout program. The city must return money in some instances when commercial buyout property is resold.

The Iowa Iron Works site has an abandoned rail line between it and the New Bo City Market, and the plan is to remove the rails to make room for some parking. The developer on the Iowa Iron Works site will be required to work with the market on shared parking since the market now has an option to purchase a piece of the site for parking.

The council committee sent the plan for the Iowa Iron Works site to the full City Council, which will conduct a public hearing on the matter on June 24. Development proposals will be expected by Sept. 5 with the council picking a preferred developer on Sept. 23 under the proposed city timeline.

In a second New Bohemia development, the council committee quickly endorsed a plan to change the name of 14th Avenue SE in New Bohemia to 16th Avenue SE. The street name long has been perplexing because 16th Avenue SW, the commercial street in Czech Village, turns into 14th Avenue SE on the other side of the 16th Avenue bridge, which joins Czech Village and New Bohemia.

Seth Gunnerson, a planner for the city, said the city now owns much of the property on 14th Avenue SE through the flood-recovery buyout program, and he said the street name change will affect only a few property owners. The plan is to extend the street to St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, which fronts on the existing 16th Avenue SE, Gunnerson said.

Vernon called it a 'no brainer.” 'I've wondered about that for the longest time,” she said of the street name.

The council committee also asked Jennifer Pratt, the city's interim development director, for an update on the New Bohemia Station project on the site of the former Brosh Funeral Chapel at 1020 and 1028 Third St. SE in New Bohemia.

In January, the council granted developer Allen Lerch an timeline extension with a new project start date of July 1. The project, now an $11.4-million one, is to feature a five-story building with first-floor retail, a ballroom and event center, 40 extended-stay hotel rooms, eight loft apartments and a cinema in the basement.

A year ago, the concept called for a $6.5 million project, featuring a first floor of retail shops, a 14-room extended-stay hotel with ballroom and event center on the second floor, two floors with 26 loft apartments and a cinema in the basement.

The city's Pratt said the city continues to work with Lerch and the Iowa Economic Development Authority on restrictions required for building on the flood-recovery buyout site.

The council committee also this week endorsed the idea of seeking proposals from developers to build housing on the former chipping green area next to Ellis Golf Course and on riverfront buyout property near Ellis Park.

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