South Downtown developments

Finn · Post by **Finn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:57 am

City leaders hope to see apartments, stores and even a new police station in an industrial area just south of downtown.

But first the soil must be tested for hazardous materials and petroleum.

Two brick buildings once used by International Harvester Co. are eyed for 70 apartments. The building at 1000 S. Main St. is owned by the Pottawattamie County Development Corp., which works with the city. The other building, 1001 S. Sixth St., is owned by a recording equipment company.

New apartments for senior citizens are planned south of the senior center at 714 S. Main St.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:29 am

That'll be great if it works out - I can't imagine they won't find some soil contamination though. I've been thinking those buildings could be redone into a residential building for a long time now, with restaurant/nightclub/retail on the lower level.

loyalomahan · Post by **loyalomahan** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:03 am

Not entirely unrelated question. With winds generally blowing in an eastward direction, how is it that Council Bluffs has not been impacted by the lead/pcp/etc from the ASARCO plant ? Seems odd that all of east Omaha tens of blocks west from the river are designed EPA superfund sites, but no land immediately east across the river has been affected. Or has it and it just hasn't been researched yet?

Finn · Post by **Finn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:57 am

It probably just has not been researched. Also, the fact that a lot of the land along the river is undeveloped or not residential (wooded land between river and levee, golf course, interstae ROW) probably has not initiated the call for any testing.

Finn · Post by **Finn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:01 pm

Pott. Co. Dev. Corp. had a market study done last year for the senior partments, but it was not awarded by the state. They will resubmit this round. They will also be submitting an application for general multi-family apartments with low-income housing tax credits. My old firm did the first study and had some early drawings for some of the additional plans, I will see if I have any copies of the conceptual proposal.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:39 pm

IIRC, the soil testing for lead and whatnot was initiated after several years of blood lead levels in children under the age of 6 showed elevated levels of lead in the eastern portion of the city. The lead in those areas likely came mainly from sources other than Asarco or UP, but....they're the ones with deep pockets to help pay for the cost of cleanup. I'm not aware of any concentrations of elevated blood lead levels being found in CB, but maybe it hasn't been as extensively tested.

And for those not familiar with the area in the story linked by Finn....this is from the assessor's website, with the area linked roughly bounded by 9th Ave on the north, 12th Ave on the south, 8th Street on the west and Main on the east. The Harvester building is at the far left, and should be highlighted. The Senior Center apts would be just north of this map.

http://www.pottco.org/x/map_page?parcel ... 200&map=ON

This is the building the PCD owns:

and this is the building owned by the recording equipment company.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:46 pm

Here is a schematic, courtesy of the Nonpareil, of the proposed plans:

and the story....

South Main to receive facelift courtesy of $400,000 from EPA

Perhaps the most noticeable project will be the renovation of the two five-story brick buildings that used to be the home of an International Harvester plant. One of the buildings is totally vacant, while the other houses a distribution firm, officials said Wednesday.

The plan is to convert both buildings into residential apartments, 35 units in each building. Work could begin as early as next fall on one of the buildings when the city will send out bids on development proposals, it was announced at the meeting.

and

It could also help cities save money in the long term, he said, by opening up centralized areas for development instead of urban sprawl that forces cities to expand their infrastructure needs.

Post by **Brad** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:00 pm

I always thought it would be nice to connect DTCB with all the new development at the Lake Manaua(SP) exit.

By the way.
Whats harder to spell?
Lake Mannaua
or
pottowamie county

The above I am sure are both spelled wrong.

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:03 am

mannawa
pottawotamie?

I like the painting of the tree on that one building.

skibum21 · Post by **skibum21** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:53 am

Swift wrote:mannawa
pottawotamie?

I like the painting of the tree on that one building.

LOL

neither are hard, especially if you live in the meto Pottawattamie is on the license plates. Manawa is how you spell the name of the lake.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 8:06 am

Brad wrote:I always thought it would be nice to connect DTCB with all the new development at the Lake Manaua(sic) exit.

This will make it closer to reality, as the schematic they have would indicate you could take the 16th Ave exit off the South Expressway straight onto Main Street. That stretch from 16th Ave to I-80/29 will be a tough one though, with RR tracks immediately adjacent on one side and residences and commercial on the other of South Expressway. IIRC, that stretch is in the long-range master plan for "entrance" beautifications, which would help soften that corridor.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 10:16 am

It seems like when I go to the Rock Island Train Depot if you go from DTCB there is cool old houses in the hills then you cross the street and you are in an old industrial aarea.

You are right, there are a lot of train tracks in that area. (the whole town for that matter).

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 10:23 am

Brad wrote:It seems like when I go to the Rock Island Train Depot if you go from DTCB there is cool old houses in the hills then you cross the street and you are in an old industrial aarea.

You are right, there are a lot of train tracks in that area. (the whole town for that matter).

You must be talking about S. 3rd Street, where ConAgra owns pretty much everything between 3rd Street and Main, between 9th Ave and 16th Ave.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 10:26 am

I don't know my street names over there very well, but the area I am thinking of has lots of re-development potential.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:02 pm

I assume this is the area you're talking about? (hopefully this works)

Post by **Brad** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:46 pm

That would be the area.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:05 pm

Couldn't find another thread with these senior apartments in it, so here goes:

Construction continues on new apartments

Area folks who belong to The Center on South Main Street can't help but notice what is happening across the street, and they like what they see.

That's because construction is well under way on an affordable living facility intended for people age 55 and older.

"I suspect a lot of our members are interested in living there," said Tom Jensen, the center's director. "We've had around 100 people who said they wanted more information."

The facility, at 822 S. Main St., is to be known as Prime Square Apartments and will offer 50 one-bedroom and 30 two-bedroom units. Features will include a large dining room, activity room, a barber/beauty salon, a computer lab, laundry rooms, a reading room, elevators and indoor parking.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:02 pm

Nearly two years later, it looks like we have a good fit for the area (and certainly better than some ideas floated earlier)...

Vacant building plans on council agenda

A Minneapolis-based company is looking into the possibility of converting one of those two vacant International Harvester buildings, 1000/1010 S. Main St., into apartments where artists could live and work.

"I think it could be a good use for that area," said Mark Norman of the Pottawattamie County Development Corp., which owns those two buildings. "It's a transition area between the commercial downtown area and the more industrialized area to the south. This offers a nice transition between those two uses."

Minneapolis-based Artspace Projects Inc. is a company that specializes in rehabbing buildings into living/working environments for artists, he said.

"Apartments are configured in a way to allow artists to practice their particular medium," Norman said. "It could be sculpture, it could be painting, it could be music or dance - any number of a variety of arts. They would be configured in an open loft design living space with work space in the same room - a big open environment." . . .

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 4:18 pm

Council says yes to artists colony

The idea of building apartments tailored to the needs of artists looks pretty good to the Council Bluffs City Council. . .

The Minneapolis-based Artspace Projects Inc. has plans to create up to 35 live/work apartments in the east building. . .

The apartments will range from efficiencies to one- and two-bedroom units, plus five three-bedroom styles on the ground floor to entice families to move there. . .

There will also be nine working artist studios constructed. . .

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:45 pm

Moving forward with South Main Street development

The Iowa Architectural Foundation is facilitating a Community Design Program this weekend to help the city of Council Bluffs as they move forward with plans to develop the South Main Street District.

"I think there are probably three major issues that the charrette will discuss," said Don Gross, director of Community Development for the city of Council Bluffs.

The first issue involves Artspace Projects Inc. . .

The city will also start on design work for streetscape improvements to create a smooth visual transition from downtown. . . .

Citizens are encouraged to attend one of two public sessions at Community Hall, 205 S. Main St., where they will collaborate with designers on the vision for improvement.

"People interested in historical preservation, property owners in the area and the general public should be there," Gross said.

Historic preservation groups, government leaders, city staff and youth leadership groups will all be asked to contribute throughout Friday, with a public session from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Another public session is Saturday at 5 p.m. . .

The charrette this weekend in community hall will address the future development between Third and Eighth streets and Ninth and 16th avenues.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:58 pm

Mayor Tom Hanafan was given the go-ahead to execute the proper paperwork necessary for the implementation of two federal grants totaling $400,000 to continued ground work to make future development possible in an area south of downtown.

Ground testing for contaminates will be performed in an area bounded by Ninth and 16th avenues and South Third to 12th streets. The city will pay for the work upfront and then be reimbursed by those grants, according to Don Gross, director of Community Development Department.

"It's an area we think could be developed," he said.