116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
News Track: With a new name and new businesses, Iowa City district celebrates milestones
Dec. 24, 2023 6:00 am, Updated: Dec. 25, 2023 7:58 am
Seven new businesses, new banners, a new mural, a new name and new events marked the first year of a multiyear effort to revitalize Iowa City’s South of 6 Business District.
In 2024, the district looks to launch a new strategic planning process to map out future improvements, amenities and investment within the area.
Background
A self-imposed taxing district — called a SSMID — was launched in spring 2022, creating a tool for property owners and businesses to fund improvements and services to revitalize the area, spur economic development and support local entrepreneurs in Iowa City’s South District. The money collected from the levy will be used to revitalize the Pepperwood Plaza area south of Highway 6 between Broadway and Keokuk streets. The district contains just under 50 properties, from churches to nonprofits to restaurants, shops, salons, banks and others.
Such districts have been established in downtown Iowa City, downtown Cedar Rapids and in the Czech Village/New Bohemia area of Cedar Rapids.
The district secured a 501(c)6 nonprofit status last spring, and hired an executive director.
With an emphasis on "improvement," the group has worked with the city of Iowa City to launch a five-year revitalization effort. The initial focus will be on visual and aesthetic improvements with an eye toward awareness and making things easier to find.
Beyond that, the goal is to generally raise property values with more occupancy, more options and continuing goodwill generated by the South District Neighborhood Association, said Executive Director Angie Jordan.
The taxing district has an annual budget of roughly $100,000 and has raised nearly $99,000 in grant funding, sponsorship and donations.
"Our SSMID is set for five years, so after five years, we have to prove that tax levy that creates the annual budget was a worthy investment for the commercial property owners,“ Jordan said. ”So just within our year and a half, you know we have been able to show that having a SSMID really helps to leverage the private investment to access not just funds but a seat at so many tables, not just locally, but even at the state level,“ attending events hosted by the Iowa League of Cities.
“So just really having a presence and hoping to also inform other larger economic development entities, like Greater Iowa City Inc. … to help inform what does inclusive economic development look like?” Jordan said.
What’s happened since
Iowa City’s South District has a new name, re-branding last spring as the South of 6 Business District. The group launched a website (southof6.org) and social media accounts, and completed a master development planning process.
The South District Market, a mini-food hall, hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting in March. Real estate firm SouthGate Cos. transformed the former Slumberland into an indoor market that can accommodate multiple food and retail vendors, a common area, office and storage space. Four vendors are open in the market, including a soul food restaurant, a bakery, a new cafe and a shop from a local artist who specializes in home décor, household items and more.
There's also a new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant being constructed nearby, and new banners have been put throughout the area promoting the new district.
The district also installed a new mural on the outdoor patio space that once was the Econo Foods.
Jordan says the group sees South of 6 as a multicultural ecosystem that celebrates diversity and innovation to enhance the Iowa City experience as a whole.
South of 6 has identified three priorities to reach that goal:
- Establishing a calendar of events to increase vehicular, bicycle and foot traffic in the district and bring people in from other parts of the surrounding area to shop, work, dine and study in the business district
- Creating and maintaining art, entertainment and wayfinding and place-making in the district that supports a diverse, welcoming community
- Fostering a collaborative culture among current businesses, recruiting new business and advocating at the city, county, state and national level to support economic development
The district also hosted a lunch-and-learn educational series, “coffee connections,” to build relationships between businesses and property owners and aspiring businesses. This summer, South of 6 sponsored a pop-up “diversity market” to “help incubate small businesses that are oftentimes marginalized,” Jordan said.
It also partnered in the fourth annual South District Neighborhood Association’s leisure bike ride series, “which is a way for folks within the neighborhood, or just the greater Iowa City area in general, to explore the entire South side of town — from our wetlands to our parks to our trails and green faces, as well as our business districts.”
South of 6 also wrote letters in support of the Domestic Violence Intervention Program as its finishes up a capital campaign for construction of a new emergency shelter, and for Dream City Iowa in its application for $3 million in federal pandemic relief money from the city of Iowa City to acquire and renovate a building in the district that it leases. The renovations would include creating spaces for entrepreneurs and businesses to host events and work within.
ImOn Communications launched free public Wi-Fi at Pepperwood Plaza in the district. The free internet connection is available outside the plaza’s South District Market and outside Dream City, 611 Southgate Ave.
What’s next?
South of 6 recently hired Slingshot Architecture to create a master development plan that will help inform a strategic plan the district will begin formulating in the new year.
"We're really excited to see that plan fit into our strategic plan, which we're partnering with the University of Iowa's nonprofit resource center,“ Jordan said.
The master plan identified six pilot projects, from signage to sidewalk and pedestrian crossing to more murals and public art, along with a pocket park and outdoor event space.
“Now, in the new year, with $250,000 from the city of Iowa City, we actually have resources where we can start implementing some of these pilot projects, that'll again help to inform future improvements that we want beyond just five years,” Jordan said. “And the strategic plan really helps to create a container around all these ideas. So that we have, you know, milestones and markers and fundraising goals and capacity building within the organization” to carry out potential improvement projects.
She said South of 6 looks forward building awareness about investments being made in the district and “really setting a pace that shows, ‘Hey, these businesses and these folks are making the first investment.’
“What other entities out there in our in our community want to join this team?” Jordan said. “I'm really excited to continue building our team so that we can have sustainable change that's informed and positively impacts the folks who are in this district now, and the folks who maybe will relocate here with their business or, you know, become residents on this side of town.”
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
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