New Downtown Cedar Rapids Building Takes Step Toward Reality

We'll likely see another big construction project in downtown Cedar Rapids soon,  now that the city council has signed off on financial support for the new building.

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Earlier this week, the Cedar Rapids City Council approved a tax incentive for Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust Company (CRBT) to construct a new building not far from their existing headquarters in downtown Cedar Rapids.

*The current Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust Company headquarters is below. It's located at the corner of 1st Avenue and 5th Street NE.

Plans called for Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust to build a 3-story, 34,000-square-foot building at 616 6th Street NE, at a cost of $19 million. CRBT would be the only tenant of the building, which would house 30 existing full-time employees, as well as provide space to expand to as many as 115.

*The new CRBT headquarters would be built at this corner, currently a parking lot, at 1st Avenue and 6th Street NE. The building would face 1st Avenue, with parking behind it.

According to Cedar Rapids Economic Development Coordinator Scott Mather, the new building is expected to generate $3.4 million in taxes for the city in the decade after completion. The city council agreed to rebate $1.4 million of that money back to Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust.

A development agreement will be presented to the Cedar Rapids City Council in either May or June.

Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust was established in the city in 2001, opening its first location in the GreatAmerica Building downtown. The current headquarters opened late in the spring of 2005.

In 2013, CRBT acquired Community Bank and Trust (previously Community National Bank). Four years later, Guaranty Bank and Trust Company merged into Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust. At the end of 2021, CRBT had more than $2 billion in assets. Today, the company has four locations in Cedar Rapids and one in Marion.

*Below are additional renderings of the project, provided by the City of Cedar Rapids.