Vision for Coralville’s Iowa River Landing continues after decades of progress

CORALVILLE — The vision for the Iowa River Landing more than 30 years ago — when the land was an industrial area with warehouses and abandoned buildings — was to renovate it to become a spot for entertainment, hospitality and retail.

Major parts of the vision from the 1980s have been fulfilled with shopping, restaurants, housing and the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Conference Center. The Xtream Arena, another major piece that opened in 2020, has hosted a variety of high profile events since it opened.

In February, the economic impact for the area was about $4.5 million from just over 14,000 visitors, which is “definitely higher” than other months, said Nick Pfeiffer, vice president of public affairs at Think Iowa City.

The city is anticipating $3.8 million in hotel-motel tax revenue for this current fiscal year, which is a record, Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said. The previous record was just under $3.1 million in fiscal year 2019.

And there is more planned for the area in the coming years.

“This has been a long-term vision,” Hayworth said. “We had mayors and council members that have been involved in this from the '80s until now. … They were all supportive and consistent, and they wanted to see this done. I think that's an important part of this is that there was a vision, and now it's being implemented.”

Work dates back to 1980s

The Iowa River Landing in the 1980s was run down. And “everything you wouldn’t want in your community was all in one spot,” Hayworth said.

The old industrial park in “really bad disrepair” prompted the Coralville City Council and mayor to set some goals for what the area could be, Hayworth said.

Among the first goals was to renovate and upgrade the area, especially with it being an entrance not only to Coralville but to the University of Iowa and Iowa City along Interstate 80. A couple of years later, the goal of a convention center was added.

“Hospitality had always been a huge part of Coralville's economy, and so they wanted to do a convention center to support that part of the economy,” Hayworth said.

Through various federal, state and local partnerships, the plan for redevelopment began in the late 1980s. The city’s brownfield redevelopment has received national and regional recognition for addressing environmental challenges and transforming the area.

“It took time and effort and visioning to put all the pieces together, to take over the properties, to redevelop the land, to clean up the land,” Pfeiffer said. “There was significant environmental needs that needed to be addressed based on the previous use.”

Hyatt Regency renovation

One of the anchors of the Iowa River Landing is getting a refresh this year.

Renovations at the Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel and Conference Center began in February, general manager Matt Traetow said in a statement. The renovations on the 286 guest rooms and suites will be completed in late summer 2023.

“This renovation will blend Hyatt’s sophisticated cultural and culinary style with Iowa City’s rich arts, culture, and literary scene,” Traetow said. “That unique combination, along with the area’s natural beauty, has inspired every aspect of the renovation.”

The city-owned hotel was rebranded in 2021 from the Coralville Marriott and Conference Center to the Hyatt Regency. A renovation was anticipated as part of the rebranding.

The budget for the renovation is $11 million, and the loans will be paid back to the city with hotel revenues over 10 years, Hayworth said.

Hayworth added that the guest room renovation will be a “major refresh” for the hotel with new furniture, carpets, bathroom finishes and more. The fitness center has been moved and expanded, and the pool area has been redone.

“The last piece that is still to be worked on is the complete redo of the restaurant and coffee shop,” Hayworth said.

The hotel is an important piece because some of the events held at Xtream Arena wouldn’t be possible without a full-service hotel with amenities, Hayworth said.

“Whether it's a concert or it's a sports event, people expect to have good facilities,” he added.

Both Pfeiffer and Hayworth said it helps to have other hotels in the area too.

“It takes a village to host large events like that, and the hotels there locally support each other and make it a really welcoming, good experience no matter what hotel they're staying in,” Pfeiffer said.

Interest growing for businesses, events

Pfeiffer said the Xtream Arena has had “really nice successes” with larger events in recent months. This includes girls’ state wrestling, state volleyball, wrestling World Cup, Big Ten women’s gymnastics and others.

“Those all filled the arena almost to capacity and were daylong, if not weekend-long, events,” Pfeiffer said. “ … It means people will stay at least a night, maybe two nights, in hotels. They would have some downtime in between events where they can go shopping or visit the local restaurants, and that's what really creates that economic impact that we're looking for.”

Concerts have been slower to come back after the pandemic but are starting to pick back up, Pfeiffer said.

Deanna Printy, commercial property manager for Iowa River Landing, said sales and traffic in the area are both doing very well. The area is “mostly back to normal” following the COVID-19 pandemic, but retailers and restaurants are still facing staffing shortages and hiring challenges, she added.

New businesses coming to the area include Mexican restaurant Blue Agave and fitness center The Gym, Printy said. She added that the area is having “a lot of interest” from prospective businesses.

“The events that we have, the success that the businesses are currently having, will only make that grow and make more businesses want to come in,” Pfeiffer said.

What’s next for the area?

In addition to continued retail opportunities, Hayworth said two major ongoing components are more housing and recreation by the Iowa River.

“We want to have an outdoor amphitheater there, ” Hayworth said. “We want to have additional trails through that area. Just a lot of different ways that you'll be able to enjoy recreation in that area.”

The city has a master plan for a riverfront park north of the Iowa River Power’s parking lot.

Last year, Think Iowa City worked with Coralville, Iowa City and Johnson County to submit an application to the state’s Destination Iowa program focused on making the Iowa River a signature attraction for residents and visitors.

While the project was not chosen to receive funding, Pfeiffer said “we're definitely looking for ways to fund” the various aspects of the project, including plans for a park in Coralville.

“It may take longer, but we're still active on all those,” he said.

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