Then you shouldn’t need bike trails to get there. That’s the point. If your city gives two shits about it’s residents well-being and keeping more cars off the road, they would create safe biking infrastructure that doesn’t involve trails.
Iowa City takes first look at $66 million apartment building near ped mall
- Thread starter cigaretteman
- Start date
Then you shouldn’t need bike trails to get there. That’s the point. If your city gives two shits about it’s residents well-being and keeping more cars off the road, they would create safe biking infrastructure that doesn’t involve trails.
Everyone has a schedule and reasons for their choices. 6-10 miles is not that far to bike to work. I’ve been doing it for years with 3 kids. I make sacrifices in other areas in order to enjoy a ride before and after work. This weather the past couple weeks helps
- Sep 13, 2002
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I have three that I rotate in the office. Dress shoes, pants, shirts, jackets, and ties all stay in office. I switch out on Mondays and Fridays.
I bike about 4,000 a year. I sweat instantly and am not overweight.
No way could I bike commute any distance without a shower.
I once weighed myself on a scale at work before I left and when I got home I road bike for 40 miles and didn’t drink much and ate nothing. The next morning at work on same scale I weighed 12 pounds less. Didn’t even take a dump.
I know I could lose 20 pounds in a day if challenged. I sweat like crazy.
- Sep 13, 2002
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Kind of shocked me, but the total Sq Miles for the entire Quad Cities metro area is 170. No wonder it's so spread out and sprawl-y.Another swing and a miss!
- Sep 13, 2002
- 99,191
- 208,132
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Every time I bring it up in the Lounge, the same three grumpy posters lose their shit. So I bring it up as often as possible.
Does anyone use the bike sharing in Des Moines? When I lived there I don't think I ever saw someone on one of those bikes.
Another swing and a miss!
First, DSM is 88 square miles. But more importantly, I said DSM metro. Spitballing google maps satellite photos, the DSM takes up about 1/3 of the metro area.
Every time I bring it up in the Lounge, the same three grumpy posters lose their shit. So I bring it up as often as possible.
They have no vision of what the future could look like...all they would need to do is take a trip to Lincoln, NE on game night to see what great DT city planning (in regards to a hoops arena) looks like.
Note: It pains me to give the cornsuckers any sort of credit but the Pinnacle arena and the immediate surrounding area is awesome.
- Sep 13, 2002
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Oh you don't understand - Lincoln is so much bigger, and so close to Omaha - there's no way little old Iowa City could do something like that!
Also, where would people park! It's already IMPOSSIBLE to EVER park in downtown Iowa City! (I brought up the fact that the Kohl Center in Madison is downtown in a much bigger city, with much worse parking and has virtually no surface lots near it and people manage there, but I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about.)
This is me. Over 5,000 miles on two wheels last year and I couldn't bike commute to work if it was 1/2 mile away and downhill both ways! If it weren't an office setting and it would be fine if I was pitting out when I arrived, different story. But that's not the case...hell, I'm pitting out the second I step out of the shower! Very jealous of the non-sweaters of the world.
City leaders praise proposed Ped Mall apartment building for preservation, revitalization potential
Ped Mall Facades (Drawings/renderings courtesy of City of Iowa City)
IOWA CITY — A 170-unit apartment complex proposed for the downtown Iowa City is drawing praise for its potential to both revitalize and preserve the character of the Pedestrian Mall.
The Tailwind Group, based in Mankato, Minn. is proposing a redevelopment project that would span much of the 100 block of East College Street. The apartment building, which is to be approximately 10.5 stories tall, would be built behind the College Block, the Crescent Building and the Dooley Block, according to a city memo. Those buildings house Martini’s, the Union Bar, Revival, Graze, the former Field House Bar and the former Givanni’s Restaurant.
While the College Block has already been designed a National Historic Landmark, Tailwind will designate all three buildings a Local Historic Landmark, making sure they cannot be demolished. That aspect is a highlight for council members Susan Mims and Rockne Cole, who said the city has few regulatory tools for historic preservation downtown.
Drawings/renderings courtesy of City of Iowa City
“There’s very little protection for a lot of our historic structures,” Cole said. “How do we make sure we get that preservation and allow the growth we need in the community? This really achieves that.”
Mims, Cole and Mayor Jim Throgmorton received a presentation on the development from Tailwind Wednesday during a meeting of the council’s economic development committee, of which the three councilors are members. Mims noted that Tailwind also intends to redo the facades of the existing buildings, divide up the space and put in more retail. She said that will revitalize the space, especially during the day time.
“I think it’s a very exciting proposal,” she said. “It got a very positive response form all three council members. Everybody’s response was very positive.”
Wendy Ford, the city’s economic development coordinator said Tailwind is seeking $9 million in Tax Increment Financing for the $65 million project. However, the height of the building doesn’t fall within the TIF policy’s desired height limits of four to six stories.
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In order to get around that, Tailwind is preparing to offer several “exceptional public benefits,” including the historic designation. Among them is achieving Platinum LEED certification for the new apartment building, the highest possible LEED certification and higher than what the TIF policy requires. Ford said it would likely be the first TIF project in the city to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
“Another sustainability aspect of this that sometimes gets underrated is the most sustainable building is the one that already exists,” Ford said. “We’d be preventing buildings from being demolished and landfilled.”
Ford said Tailwind is also working with an arts group on a space that would be programmable for presentations in the building that houses the Union bar. That space was once a ballroom, Ford said.
“This would restore the third floor to a public gathering space and strengthen downtown’s presence as a cultural center,” Ford wrote in a memo to the committee.
Next steps for the project include conducting a financial gap analysis and review by the National Development Council to determine the appropriate amount of TIF to dedicate to the project, a process that could last until the end of this year or early 2020. The developer also will at some point have to go through the Historic Presevation Committee, Planning and Zoning and the city council in order to rezone the properties as Local Historic Landmarks.
“I’m a huge supporter of it,” Cole said of the project. “I’m thrilled they were able to get this to us. I just think it’s going to be a real great opportunity downtown.”
https://www.thegazette.com/subject/...reservation-revitalization-potential-20190829
Ped Mall Facades (Drawings/renderings courtesy of City of Iowa City)
IOWA CITY — A 170-unit apartment complex proposed for the downtown Iowa City is drawing praise for its potential to both revitalize and preserve the character of the Pedestrian Mall.
The Tailwind Group, based in Mankato, Minn. is proposing a redevelopment project that would span much of the 100 block of East College Street. The apartment building, which is to be approximately 10.5 stories tall, would be built behind the College Block, the Crescent Building and the Dooley Block, according to a city memo. Those buildings house Martini’s, the Union Bar, Revival, Graze, the former Field House Bar and the former Givanni’s Restaurant.
While the College Block has already been designed a National Historic Landmark, Tailwind will designate all three buildings a Local Historic Landmark, making sure they cannot be demolished. That aspect is a highlight for council members Susan Mims and Rockne Cole, who said the city has few regulatory tools for historic preservation downtown.
Drawings/renderings courtesy of City of Iowa City
“There’s very little protection for a lot of our historic structures,” Cole said. “How do we make sure we get that preservation and allow the growth we need in the community? This really achieves that.”
Mims, Cole and Mayor Jim Throgmorton received a presentation on the development from Tailwind Wednesday during a meeting of the council’s economic development committee, of which the three councilors are members. Mims noted that Tailwind also intends to redo the facades of the existing buildings, divide up the space and put in more retail. She said that will revitalize the space, especially during the day time.
“I think it’s a very exciting proposal,” she said. “It got a very positive response form all three council members. Everybody’s response was very positive.”
Wendy Ford, the city’s economic development coordinator said Tailwind is seeking $9 million in Tax Increment Financing for the $65 million project. However, the height of the building doesn’t fall within the TIF policy’s desired height limits of four to six stories.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT
In order to get around that, Tailwind is preparing to offer several “exceptional public benefits,” including the historic designation. Among them is achieving Platinum LEED certification for the new apartment building, the highest possible LEED certification and higher than what the TIF policy requires. Ford said it would likely be the first TIF project in the city to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
“Another sustainability aspect of this that sometimes gets underrated is the most sustainable building is the one that already exists,” Ford said. “We’d be preventing buildings from being demolished and landfilled.”
Ford said Tailwind is also working with an arts group on a space that would be programmable for presentations in the building that houses the Union bar. That space was once a ballroom, Ford said.
“This would restore the third floor to a public gathering space and strengthen downtown’s presence as a cultural center,” Ford wrote in a memo to the committee.
Next steps for the project include conducting a financial gap analysis and review by the National Development Council to determine the appropriate amount of TIF to dedicate to the project, a process that could last until the end of this year or early 2020. The developer also will at some point have to go through the Historic Presevation Committee, Planning and Zoning and the city council in order to rezone the properties as Local Historic Landmarks.
“I’m a huge supporter of it,” Cole said of the project. “I’m thrilled they were able to get this to us. I just think it’s going to be a real great opportunity downtown.”
https://www.thegazette.com/subject/...reservation-revitalization-potential-20190829
there is no other way to bike.I only do it to stay in shape
I am in shape enough to swim 1.2 miles and then bike 25.
I bike 10 miles each way to work, year round, and have never taken a shower. You have to be really out of shape or biking way too fast/hard to work up a sweat on a bike commute.
I've thought about getting one of those E bikes myself. I know a guy who built one from a kit. He never sweats...
Its absurd in Iowa City now.....the one chance would have been when they moved the WWTP.
They still have a ton of land around the jail that’s used for parking. You could easily fit a stadium in there.
Btw, there are more bike trails being built everyday around the Iowa City area. They just did out along Hwy 6 and are doing more around Solon.
There is a big biking community that does rides to the two Big Grove breweries in IC and Solon among other great spots, Backpocket, Reds, out to Hills, etc.
Just started a new big pre-Ragbrai ride this past summer, the Big Rove.
https://bigrove.com/
There is a big biking community that does rides to the two Big Grove breweries in IC and Solon among other great spots, Backpocket, Reds, out to Hills, etc.
Just started a new big pre-Ragbrai ride this past summer, the Big Rove.
https://bigrove.com/
