Two Down, Three to Go: City Narrows Proposals for College/Gilbert Project to Three Finalists

The Iowa City City Council got its first chance Tuesday nightto show its thought process on the projects proposed for the property at the intersection of College and Gilbert Streets occupied by the Wilson's Sports Building and the former location of a bus terminal.

Starting the evening five proposals narrowed by city staff from an original nine, the city council decided to narrow things further by nixing the proposals made by Ryan Companies/Iceberg Development and Sherman Associates.

Gregg Hennigan of the Gazette writes that the city council eliminated the two projects in favor of the three remaining proposals that are more ambitious in scope.

Council members said the five-story building was too small and the other lacked owner-occupied housing. With downtown near the University of Iowa campus, the city is trying to get away from housing aimed at students.

The council wants to “think outside the box, bring something new to downtown,” member Susan Mims said.

Lee Hermiston of the Press-Citizen's report seems to indicate the council members were concerned that the two eliminated proposals may have been too inviting of more student housing, or included potentially ineffective office space instead of something new to the downtown. Hermiston's article includes some councilor comments on finalist 4 Zero 4, as well.

The three projects that remain are:

1. 4 Zero 4, represented by Tim Dwight and Jake Christensen

This proposal is for an eight-story building including the New Pioneer Co-op and the Bike Library on the first floor, two floors of office space, and five floors of efficiency, one- and two-bedroom apartments. 

This proposal is for a LEED Platinum building attempting to achieve net-zero energy living units and energy-efficient commercial space; over 1,300 photovoltaic panels are proposed on the exterior of the building. Tim Dwight is the primary contact for this project.

2. The Chauncey, represented by Steve Rohrbach 

This proposal is for a 20-story building including two movie theaters operated by FilmScene, a bowling alley and cafe on the first floor, three floors of office space, a 35-unit hotel, and 12 floors of studio, one- and two- bedroom residential units.

This proposal is for a mixed-use facility with a target of 20% minimum of the residential units being available for workforce housing. The proposal includes upgrading Chauncey Swan Park. Steve Rohrbach is the primary contact for this proposal.

3. Chauncey Gardens, represented by Jesse Allen

This proposal is for an 18-story building including the New Pioneer Co-op on the first floor, one floor of retail/restaurant, two floors of office space, one floor of resident amenities, and 13 floors of studio, one- and two-bedroom residential units.

This proposal envisions constructing a building on the current Chauncey Swan Park site, and converting the existing Greyhound/Wilson Building/substation site to a new Chauncey Swan Park/outdoor amphitheater. The studio units in the proposal are identified as workforce housing units. Jesse Allen is the primary contact for this proposal.

Here's a link to the proposals in PDF format.

It should be noted that of the three proposals left, only one is under the 10-story height requested by many citizens when they came to speak to the council about the project.

Hennigan reports that all three proposal developers indicated they would seek Tax Increment Financing assistance from the city to help complete the project, with the range between the assistance requested ranging from $5.5 to $13.45 million.

The city staff will analyze the three finalists and rank them for the council based on a set of criteria. The council will take the matter up again at its Jan. 8 meeting.