5-Story Mixed-Use Building Proposed For Near NewBo City Market

The construction boom in the NewBo area, and throughout downtown Cedar Rapids, looks like it will continue with a huge new proposed building, along with today's groundbreaking of a previously announced project.

A local investment group has announced plans for a $36 million building just a couple of blocks away from NewBo City Market. The Loftus building would be in the 900 block of 3rd St. S.E., where Loftus Lumber was once located. It would be built in the area shown in the image below.

Google Maps

At Tuesday's Cedar Rapids City Council meeting, the city's Economic Development Analyst, Caleb Mason, presented a project term sheet for the proposed building. Dave Drown, President of GLD Commercial, and a group of local investors are behind the project. The group is called DOMOV, LLC. Mason said during the meeting that DOMOV is Czech for 'home.'

Plans call for a 5-story mixed-use building that would have 11,000 square feet for businesses on the ground floor. The building would offer 186 market-rate apartments, varying in size from studio to three-bedroom, a rooftop patio, and other tenant amenities, as well as some covered parking.

On Tuesday, the Cedar Rapids City Council gave approval to the term sheet that calls for full reimbursement of the increased taxes up to $6.4 million or 20 years.

Mason says the developers will also be applying for Workforce Housing Tax Credits and Brownfield/Grayfield Redevelopment Tax Credits with a development agreement expected to be in front of the city council this September. He said construction would begin in April of 2023 with the project taking about 16 to 18 months to complete. Renderings of the proposed building, as well as today's groundbreaking in the same quadrant of Cedar Rapids, are below.

5-Story Mixed-Use Building Proposed For Near NewBo City Market

The very large $36 million building would be built in the 900 block of 3rd Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids. Once the home of Loftus Lumber, it's just two blocks from NewBo City Market.

Our news partner KCRG reports that groundbreaking will be happening this afternoon at 3 p.m. for the NewBo Lofts. We first told you about that 2-building project (photo gallery below), that will go up in the 400 block of 16th Ave. SE, in December of 2021.

NewBo Lofts Development

A pair of buildings will be constructed at 455 16th Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids. They will comprise a total of 110 multi-family units. Tentative construction plans call for work to begin in spring or early summer 2022 and to be complete and ready for occupancy in the summer of 2024.

Work also continues in the downtown area on the 1st and 1st project along 1st Street and 1st Ave. SW. That project started in April. Construction also continues on Annex on the Square, which broke ground in mid-December of 2021. Photo galleries on both of those projects are below.

Development by 1st and 1st, LLC

The Cedar Rapids City Council advanced the project on Tuesday, April 12. Below are renderings of the $81.5 million development from the City Council presentation as well as renderings from the fall of 2021. Construction started in May of 2022 and be completed in three phases over approximately eight years.

*The first 5 images are from the April 2021 City Council presentation. The others are from September of 2021 and are noted in the title of each photo.

*By the time construction started in May of 2022, the total price tag had risen to more than $100 million.

Annex on the Square

What's long been known as the Banjo Block in downtown Cedar Rapids is being demolished in favor of a mixed-use property. The $49 million development will cover the entire block across from the Cedar Rapids Public Library at the corner of 4th Avenue and 5th Street SE.

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