Start dates postponed for Chauncey, Riverfront Crossings projects in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — Two high-profile Iowa City projects are pushing back their construction start dates.

On Tuesday, the Iowa City Council approved amendments to two development agreements to extend the dates for closing, start of construction and final completion — one for the $74 million RISE at Riverfront Crossings project on the corner of Linn and Court streets, the second for the $49 million Chauncey tower on the corner of College and Gilbert streets.

Officials with CASL Holdings, with RISE at Riverfront Crossings, sought an extension to allow for additional time to acquire the project's funding, while Moen Group, the developer behind the Chauncey, have asked to put the project on hold until two lawsuits against the project are settled in court.

THE CHAUNCEY

An extension approved Tuesday by the council for the Chauncey project does not include a specific date, but rather ties the start of construction to within one year of a 'trigger date,' which would be the date when court proceedings tied to the project are settled.

'I think it's very unfortunate that we're here and have to approve these extensions,' Council member Susan Mims said.

Local developer Marc Moen said formal objections filed in court against Chauncey-related rezonings — one filed this spring by the neighboring Trinity Episcopal Church and another filed in 2013 by citizen group Iowa Coalition Against the Shadow — have caused considerable delays, and therefore added costs to the project. Both matters have been dismissed and appealed in court.

'There are things that are beyond our control,' Moen said Tuesday. 'The amendment that we propose ties out deadline to the date that that appeal is resolved. In the meantime we are going to explore every way we can move the project forward sooner.'

Moen said delays have added more than $1 million to the project cost.

'Given the normal length of processing an appeal, I estimate damages in the $2.5 million range if the project is able to go forward at that point, and potentially much more if the delay is fatal to the project,' Moen told The Gazette in November.

Proposed as a 15-story mixed-use tower, the Chauncey would include lower-level parking, apartment units, two movie theaters and a bowling alley. The council has approved $14.2 million — nearly $12.1 million in tax increment finance rebates — in financial aid for the project.

RISE AT RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS

The council on Tuesday also approved an amendment to the $74 million RISE at Riverfront Crossings project, which was approved earlier this year for the city-owned land in the Riverfront Crossings District.

The amendment moves the project construction start date — originally set for last month — to June 2016, to give the developer more time to get the budget and financing for the project in place.

City Attorney Eleanor Dilkes said the extension doesn't make any other changes to the project agreement other than the dates.

The RISE project will consist of two towers — 14 and 15 floors in height — and include 320 residential units, a 152-room hotel and more than 30,000 square feet of retail and office space.

In the agreement, the developer will buy the roughly 60,000 square feet site for its appraised value of $5.5 million. CA Ventures also will provide the city with $1 million for affordable housing elsewhere and dedicate 10 percent of the RISE building's residential units to affordable housing, meaning for those who fall under 80 percent of the median income.