Touring the sure bets and future booms

Last fall, when he was running for a City Council seat, architect/commercial real estate broker Scott Olson told our editorial board that he frequently takes visiting clients on a tour of the Cedar Rapids metro area. Since then, I've been hoping to take that tour.

It finally happened Friday when Olson, now a council member representing District 4 on the west side, picked me up in his Cadillac.

I've been on many types of tours. Curators telling me about art. Park rangers explaining flora and fauna. And now, for the first time, I've seen commercial real estate pitched in its natural habitat, explained by a guy who talks only slightly faster than he drives.

“Ground zero," as Olson puts it, for commercial real estate in Cedar Rapids is at the intersection of First Avenue and Collins Road/Highway 100. Olson says several national restaurant and retail chains would love to locate in the Collins Road corridor. Trouble is, he said, there is simply no land available now. So if you're wondering why your favorite chain joint hasn't come to town, Olson says that's probably the reason why.

Of course, there are other busy commercial areas with growth potential. We cruised through most of them. But Collins, in the eyes of professional site selectors, is a sure bet. And because those folks' livelihood, or at least their bonuses, now depends on the success of the stores or restaurants built on the sites they select, they're much less likely to take chances. Especially in a dodgy economy.

Olson believes the next ground zero is taking shape along Edgewood Road, between Williams Boulevard and U.S. Highway 30. Housing is filling up the rolling landscape to the southwest. The 33rd Avenue extension opens up even more development in areas already reached by city services.

And smack in the middle sits Westdale Mall, with its acres of potential. Olson envisions keeping about 400,000 square feet of the mall's retail space in place while tearing out the rest to make room for restaurants, offices, multifamily housing, you name it.

“This can all boom,” Olson said. "We've got to get it off dead center. You can see the potential."

Several chain restaurants, he said, are making plans to locate in the Edgewood vicinity. After hearing so much about chains, I asked Olson about a rumor or two I'd heard about new locally owned eateries. He said the market here just isn't kind to those ventures. “This is a fast food town,” Olson said. Sigh. My kids will be thrilled.

Regardless of what I like or don't like about this commercial real estate game and its chain of cold economic calculations, I did enjoy the optimism of Olson's pitch. I've gotten so used to all the “this town ain't what it used to be” stuff lately that listening to someone talk about possibilities and future booms was a refreshing. 

And it made me crave a Whopper, for some reason.