Unitarian Universalist Society signs purchase agreement for Coralville site

IOWA CITY - Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City could be relocating the congregation to Coralville.

A Tuesday letter to society members states a $600,000 purchase agreement for 5.5 acres of land at 2355 Oakdale Road in Coralville has been signed.

Jim Olson, vice president of Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City, said members of the congregation who have visited the site have lauded its possibilities.

'The sentiment has been overwhelmingly positive,” he said. 'We've had our ups and our downs but we're really almost blessed that we found this piece of land that fits our needs so well.”

The purchase agreement, with property owners Duane and Jill Miller, is contingent on a vote of approval from the congregation, which will be held May 31. The vote will require 85 percent approval to pass.

Olson said a deal also is coming together to sell the congregation's existing property at 10 S. Gilbert. The funds from the sale - society officials have estimated it to sell for more than $2 million - would be used to buy the new property and building a new church.

'We are negotiating right now,” he said. 'We do have a very interested buyer and we hope we can finally come to an agreement before too long.”

Olson said it's possible the congregation could vote on both the purchase of the Coralville site and sale of Iowa City property in the same vote.

In the coming weeks, society officials will be hosting informational meetings to educate the congregation on the purchase agreement, property and upcoming vote.

Olson said the congregation's opinion on relocating from Iowa City to Coralville will be weighed.

'We serve the larger community, which includes Coralville and North Liberty and way into Johnson County, We'll see what our members think,” he said. 'We want to know if there are concerns, we want to know what they are and we hope to collectively work through any concerns and have a vote on May 31.”

As with previous votes tied to relocating, Olson said it was important to set such a high bar for approval to pass the vote.

'All congregations, when they are confronted with issues of this sort, it can be divisive, there can be people who are not satisfied with the decision and they leave,” Olson said. 'We could have said a simple majority, but we set a very high threshold because we wanted to keep the congregation together and I think by and large we have.”

The property in question is located west of Coralville's 12th Avenue south of Oakdale Boulevard and north of the Lantern Park nursing home.

According to the letter, society officials first explored the site April 15 and, with another developer interested in buying the property, made the purchase offer April 22.

Olson said losing the Larson site in East Iowa City earlier this month was one factor in not letting another prime location get away.

'We knew that there were other parties interested in the Oakdale site, so as not to be disappointed a second time we decided to move quickly,” he said. 'This was just so ideally suited for what we wanted that we thought to would be a real shame if we were once again outbid.”