New Pi to stay downtown, consider third location
By Pat Shaver
IOWA CITY — A decision by Iowa City officials has left one long-time business wondering what’s next and a fairly new nonprofit planning for a staple entertainment option downtown.
The Iowa City City Council selected the Chauncey project as the preferred developer
for a major downtown development at the corner of College and Gilbert streets at its meeting Jan. 8.
After several months of planning and public input, the council chose the proposed 20-story building, which will feature two movie theaters and two six-lane bowling alleys, as well as a café and housing.
At its Jan. 8 formal meeting, the council chose the proposal over two others, which would have both featured the New Pioneer Co-op.
The 283,322-square-foot building will cost about $53 million. The building will include office space, a 35-unit hotel, along with 12 floors of residential units. Developer Marc Moen will lead the project. Mr. Moen has completed several large development projects downtown, including Plaza Towers and the Vogel House.
“I’m acutely aware that we could be criticized if we pursue another project with someone who has done a project with the city before,” said Mayor Matt Hayek. “But at the end of the day, we have an obligation to gauge the proposals on merits.”
The council scored each project based on: finances, mix of uses, design elements, mass and scale and the applicant’s statement.
The three finalist development proposals were narrowed down from five by the city council at its Dec. 19 meeting.
“The co-op, although I would love to find other ways to work with that incredible asset, (I don’t want to) make the mistake to look at any one particular occupant of a building being singled out and separated out as a strong reason to go with one or another,” Mr. Hayek said. “We are making that a building that will hopefully last a century. I think we have to take a very broad look at this.”
The majority of the council agreed they liked the mixed-use features of the project and that it offers entertainment options for students and residents downtown that
aren’t bars.
“I would certainly encourage the other two (applicants) and any others to keep looking at properties,” said Councilor Susan Mims. “We had some great applicants and we would like to see you back.”
Five of the six council members who voted preferred the Chauncey project, with the Chauncey Gardens proposal as an alternate. Councilor Jim Throgmorton said he supported the 4 Zero 4 proposal because of its modest height and mass and its links to different community groups.
“I certainly respect the will of the majority, but I think it’s a mistake,” he said.
City staff will now enter into negotiations with the Chauncey team. If those negotiations don’t work out, they will work with the Chauncey Gardens as an alternate.
The Chauncey Gardens proposal includes an 18-story building with the New Pioneer Co-op on the first floor, another floor dedicated to retail and restaurant space and two floors for offices.
A downtown theater
The Chauncey’s main entertainment tenant is FilmScene, a non-profit movie theater. The organization, founded by Andy Brodie and Andrew Sherburne in the fall of 2011, plans to operate a full-time, community-supported cinema that will showcase American independent and international filmmaking.
“Obviously we’re excited and thrilled to bring our vision to downtown Iowa City,” Mr. Sherburne said. “It’s a really great opportunity and a really dynamic space.”
Each of the two theaters will span two stories of the building. In addition to showing films, FilmScene plans to offer programming such as filmmaking seminars and other community events. They also plan to partner with the University of Iowa to offer theater space for classes.
“We want to create an environment and space that allows people to discuss the films and connect with each other,” Mr. Sherburne said. “The experience isn’t over when the credits roll.”
With the council’s decision last week the co-founders and the organization’s board can more aggressively fundraise and form partnerships with groups to prepare for the Chauncey opening.
“That building will be a two- to threeyear process from today. Of course, we’re not the developer, it’s not our building but we’ll be an anchor tenant,” Mr. Brodie said.
Meanwhile, they have been quietly working on opening a theater in the former Vito’s building in downtown Iowa City, also being developed by Mr. Moen. They expect that to open late summer or early fall 2013.
“We knew it would take awhile to build something. We didn’t want to wait three years to have our own space,” Mr. Brodie said.
The space on East College Street will feature an 85-seat theater with a café and lounge space.
What’s next for New Pioneer
After pursing the College/Gilbert site for three years, long-time downtown business New Pioneer Co-op is reevaluating its expansion plans.
Matt Hartz, general manager of New Pioneer Co-op, said the most likely solution is seeking a third location, somewhere in the company’s trade area, which includes Iowa City and other nearby towns. The organization’s board of directors will likely meet this week to consider its next steps for growth.
“We’re hugely disappointed in the council decision, but we’re not deflated,” Mr. Hartz said.
“We’ve wanted to expand and grow in downtown Iowa City and we believe we are a strong anchor in any development. We’re an existing business with years of track record.”
Opening a third location wouldn’t impact the other two, he said.
“We want to stay downtown. There are very few sites, this (College/Gilbert site) is the only site that could accommodate a supermarket,” he said. “We’re not leaving downtown, that’s for sure. We’ll be at our current location for years to come,” Mr. Hartz said. “But we cannot expand at all there.”
If New Pioneer was approved for the College/Gilbert site, they would have brought $6 million in additional revenue a year and added 40 jobs, he said. The Iowa City and Coralville stores bring in about $24 million in revenue a year.
New Pioneer’s site at 22 S. Van Buren St. is 6 feet below the 100-foot flood plain and because of that the business cannot expand on that building.
“Certainly we can’t grow there. We’ve been stagnant for a number of years, while some costs continue to rise at that site,” he said. “Our sales per square foot are off the charts, which means it’s a very cramped store for our customers and a challenging facility for our employees to work in.”
Although the city council selected the Chauncey Gardens project, which included New Pioneer, as an alternative option if negotiations with the preferred developer don’t work out, Mr. Hartz said the natural grocery store is planning as if the city’s negotiations with the preferred developer are successful.
“We aren’t going to wait for that whole process to work out; we’re beginning with plan B right away. In the event that the first proposal fails a year down the road, it’s possible we may not be there because we’ve already identified another route,” Mr. Hartz said.
