Story and photo by Cindy Hadish
CEDAR RAPIDS –Two commercial buildings that were destined for demolition will be given a second chance.
The change is significant as Cedar Rapids nears the end of demolition funding for flood-damaged structures through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Both buildings, at 720 First Ave. NW and 615 K Ave. NW, were built in the 1920s and purchased by the city as part of the buyout program after the 2008 flood. Groups concerned about losing more of the city’s history came forward to ask that they be removed from the final demolition list.
The city council’s development committee agreed at its meeting Jan. 22 to open up the buildings to a competitive bidding process, but that doesn’t ensure the structures will be saved. A public hearing will be set in February, after which proposals will be sought, with a likely deadline of April 28.
Caleb Mason, a housing redevelopment analyst for the city, said potential developers must meet the threshold fair market values for the properties. For the First Avenue building, that’s $160,543, and $32,865 for the store on K Avenue.
Members of the development committee – Monica Vernon, Pat Shey and newly elected council member Susie Weinacht – agreed that proposals should be sought, as long as certain criteria are met.
Developers should have experience with similar projects and show financial commitment from a bank, for example.
Floodproofing measures will be needed for the K Avenue building, which sits in the 100-year flood plain.
Already, the city has received two letters of interest for the First Avenue property, which is located outside the 500-year flood plain and had only minor flooding in 2008.
Sniggol Holdings, LLC, and the Neighborhood Development Corp. of Cedar Rapids, both expressed interest after the city’s Historic Preservation Commission asked that the building be removed from the demolition list.
Cedar Rapids historian Mark Stoffer Hunter said the building, with more than 9,000 square feet, was used as a warehouse in the past by the Gazette Co. to store newspaper print. More recently, it was Ajram Interiors.
The council’s flood recovery committee had asked that the K Avenue building be taken off the demolition list.
Mr. Stoffer Hunter said the building originally was Zastera Pharmacy. The small corner shop, which has two storefronts facing Ellis Boulevard, housed a barbershop and laundromat before the flood.
“It’s not overly ornamental,” he said of the building, citing marble floors and unique brickwork among its attributes. “It’s the last piece of (commercial) property on that strip there.”
Just across the street, the Ellis Boulevard A&W was demolished last year, after a proposed redevelopment plan failed to come to fruition.
More than 1,200 homes and businesses were razed in Cedar Rapids after the 2008 floods.
“We lost so much,” said Linda Seger, president of the Northwest Neighbors Neighborhood Association. “We’d like to save what’s left.”
The state recently designated Ellis Boulevard as a “viable business corridor,” to allow new construction in the 100-year flood plain.
Ms. Seger, who rebuilt her Eighth Street NW home with the help of family members after the flood, worries that the character of Ellis Boulevard could forever be lost if a large-scale development is built on that block.
Already, the city is considering a four-story senior housing project for the area. High Development is proposing Sonoma Square be built at Ellis Boulevard and J Avenue NW.
Ms. Seger said she is not opposed to affordable senior housing, but would like to see the K Avenue building redeveloped as an ice cream shop, pharmacy, coffee shop or other family-friendly business.
She pointed to the new La Bella Pet Spa, diagonally across from the building at 1200 Ellis Blvd. NW, as an example of the small businesses that previously characterized the pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.
“We have more families now and we’re very diverse,” Ms. Seger said of the influx of new homeowners in the neighborhood. “We want to keep that going.”
For more information, contact Cedar Rapids Housing Redevelopment Analyst, Caleb Mason, at (319) 286-5188 or c.mason@cedar-rapids.org.
