HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL COMMUNICATION - HWY 63 EXPANSION PROJECT CITY OF WATERLOO
Council Communication
City Council Meeting: April 5
Prepared: March 31, 2010
Dept. Head Signature.
# of Attachments:
SUBJECT: Acquisition of Property in the Highway 63 Expansion Project
Submitted by: Noel Anderson
Recommended City Council Action: To approve the acquisition of 1707 Logan, 1711 Logan,
1745 Logan, 1302 Logan, 1232 Logan, 1353 Logan all in the Highway 63 Expansion Project Area.
Summary Statement:As apart of the Highway 63 Expansion Project, the Iowa Department of
Transportation has purchased approximately 30 homes along the Logan Avenue. The homes were
put out for bid but only one sold; the remaining properties will be demolished. However, City staff
has been working with the Highway Community Development Corporation to try and develop a
plan to move the homes to City owned lots in an effort to retain affordable housing and to put
homes back on the tax roles. As a result, a developer has been identified and has agreed to work
with the City to move the homes to City owned Lots. Being that the bid process has expired, the
I.D.O.T. can only transfer property directly to the City and then the City can transfer to any
willing developer to get the homes moved. It is staff's intention to offer$1.00 for each of the
properties for a total of$6.00. However, for the property at 1302 Logan, the City would be
required to provide a $5,000 performance bond.
Expenditure Required: $5,600
$6.00 total bid amount plus $5,000 Performance bond for Historic home at 1302 Logan.
Source of Funds: Planning: Department Budget-Land and Right of Way.
Policy Issue: Affordable Housing
Alternative: Not to acquire homes and the houses are demolished.
Background Information:
Overview of Waterloo house reuse project for HWY 63 improvement
project in Waterloo, Iowa
The US Hwy 63 improvement project in the 1200 and 1700 blocks of Waterloo has resulted in the need
to remove multiple single family houses. At a late stage of the property acquisition process,Jeremy
Patterson House Movers, Inc. was brought in by the Highway 63 Gateway Community Development
Corporation to discuss the possibilities for house relocations and rehabilitation for reuse.
Jeremy Patterson and staff have visited the community multiple times to examine how a project could
be put together to accomplish this goal. Meetings have been held with the city Planning, Housing and
Building Departments office staff.Tours of the interiors of the prospective homes were arranged for the
properties. Jeremy Patterson brought in a developer they are working with in other communities. CJE
Properties has inspected the properties and has identified over a half dozen they would be interested in
redeveloping.The city planning department staff have toured the moving company and developer
around to inspect multiple city owned vacant lots.
A development agreement between the redeveloper and the City of Waterloo is being put forward to
the City Council and Mayor for approval to proceed as soon as possible.The timeline to remove the
houses from the DOT project area is short.
Partners in this project are;
CJE Properties, Iowa City, IA; The CJE Properties development company is a company that specializes in
redevelopment of historic and relocated housing.The company believes that reutilization of existing
building stock is preferred to the demolition and new construction of housing. It has worked with
Jeremy Patterson House Movers, Inc.to accomplish similar projects.
Jeremy Patterson House Movers, Inc. is an Iowa based structural moving company from Washington, IA.
The company principals have a combined experience of over 100 years in the moving business. The
company is the largest Iowa structural moving company and second largest in the nation with crews in
the gulf coast and the southern Atlantic coast.The project proposal is to move multiple homes to new
city owned lots over a several day period in a row by the time the properties need cleared in order to
meet the DOT project deadline.
Highway 63 Gateway Community Development Corporation is a non-profit, community-focused
organization that revitalizes distressed neighborhoods and encourages neighborhood sustainability.The
CDC fulfills its mission by facilitating commercial and residential development through building
rehabilitation, new construction, and in-fill development. The development corporation will work to
facilitate the project through interfacing with the City as well as working to find financial incentives for
the project developer.
City of Waterloo—Departments of planning, housing and building.