HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-11-22 Correspondence19�
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Staff Report
Offer to Purchase Chauncey Swan Plaza
November 22, 1974
The following is presented as -an economic analysis of the offer to purchase
37,800 sq. ft. of Chauncey Swan Plaza. In preparing for this report an appraisal
was obtained which addressed the various circumstances of this transaction as they
related to making a judgement on the value of the land to be sold for housing for
the elderly.
Appraisal at Fair Market Value
With present zoning the appraiser is of the opinion that $6.66 per square
foot. is the proper value, or $250,000. The most relevant comparison is a like
amount for C -B zoned property at the corner.of College and Linn Streets.
This value estimate does not consider the change in zoning that would be
required under the proposal to reuse the property for housing for the elderly.
Appraisal for Housing for the Elderly
This appraisal assumes a reuse for housing for the elderly which will require
R3 -B or CB zoning. There are basically three methods to determine value that can
be considered as follows:
A. Land Residual Method- the appraiser feels that this would be the best
method of valuing land, but that it involves estimating building costs,
net income, and return on capitol invested, all of which are not available
at this time. This method is probably the most desirable for the developer
because the land value is determined upon actual investment. In theory
the value of the land could range from a negative amount to an amount
equal to or greater than fair market value.
B. Set Value Method - the City has previously agreed to sell land for a
similar use at $3.00 'per sq. ft. to another developer. By establishing
the price for Chauncey Swan Plaza; property at the same price per square
foot would maintain`a condition of parity between developers. However,
there are disadvantages for the 'City as follows:
1. No consideration would be given to the actual value difference
between the two parcels.
2.
No consideration would be given to'planning.already completed for
this area upon which a"substantial public and private investment
has been made to date. 'Including property purchases and demolition
costs for individual parcels 'in this block and the Civic Center
block of $189,560, the.total'public amount invested in this area
is $904,486. Also to be considered is the cost of replacing parking
lost by this sale, and the economic value of property remaining
In summary, the factors involved in evaluating the offer that has been made
have to be weighed against the possibility and desirability of locating 62 units
of elderly housing at this location. The indicated fair market value under
present zoning conditions would be $250,000. The estimated value given the
:intended reuse could range from a negativeamount to fair market value depending
upon the method by which the `'value was estimated. If the City Council decides to
accept the offer being considered,'it is recommended that a price of no less
than $3.00 per square feet be established.
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Page 2 _ '- r, �:. '
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`under City ownership All of<the amount invested to date has
come from:parking revenues, $1392560 of which is considered to be
a loan from the'parking.revenue fund which was to be repayed in
the future.
C. Fair Market Value Method - after proper zoning is established the
property could be re -appraised and offered to a developer at the
established fair market value.
In summary, the factors involved in evaluating the offer that has been made
have to be weighed against the possibility and desirability of locating 62 units
of elderly housing at this location. The indicated fair market value under
present zoning conditions would be $250,000. The estimated value given the
:intended reuse could range from a negativeamount to fair market value depending
upon the method by which the `'value was estimated. If the City Council decides to
accept the offer being considered,'it is recommended that a price of no less
than $3.00 per square feet be established.
Iowa City
HOME
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Of
UNIVERSITY -'
Of e
IOWA _.
November
22
1974
Mayor Czarnecki and the City Council
Civic Center
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
Dear Mayor and Councilpersons,
1'1
A lei
Commerce
P.O. BOX 673
IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240
PHONE 337.9637
The Redevelopment Committee of the.Iowa City Chamber of Commerce met
on November 19, 1974 with members of the Urban Renewal staff. This
committee recommended to the Board of Directors of the Iowa City
Chamber of Commerce, following this meeting with the City staff that
the Board of Directors go on record, and urge the City Council of
Iowa City to endorse:
1. Not allowing the construction of senior citizen housing on
the site currently occupied by the Chauncey Swan Plaza. This
highly developed parking facility should continue in its
present function of providing parking places in the central
area, and much needed revenue to the Parking System of Iowa
City.
2• That the Council not delay in action on this matter because
of the time schedule -with the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban.Development. We have already failed in two previous
attempts at trying to construct housing for senior citizens and
we feel this is our last opportunity under present federal
regulations, which offer better financial feasibility than
future regulations do.
3• That a need for housing for senior citizens is understood and
appreciated by all; so it would be a great boost for the
Urban Renewal program if early construction and development
of this phase of the program 'were completed expeditiously.
4. That the area of South Dubuque Street between Burlington and
Court appears to be appropriate for this type of project.
This was indicated by the City Council's prior decision to
ACCREDITED
CHAMBER Of COMMERCE
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sell this property for this purpose. This decision was well
founded'because.it was reached as a result of a recommendation
of the City staff and consultations with senior citizens.
5. Time is of the'essence, and decision and action are needed
howl The program has had a great deal of input and now
what we need is outputl
The Board of Directors of -the Iowa City Chamber of Commerce, at their
November 21,_1974 meeting unanimously endorsed this Redevelopment
Committee proposal. We submit this proposal to you at this time, as
a statement of the Chamber's position on this matter and urge you to
act in this manner.
Cordially,
bra- ��--
Byron Ross
President
Iowa City Chamber of Commerce
BR/dk
1
ENVIRONMENTAL ,
EXCELLENCE
NOW
PR OOJECT
November 22, 1974
Civic Center, Iowa City, Iowa 52240
STATEMENT TO: mayor Edgar R. Czarnecki and
Members of the City Council
STATEMENT BY: Nancy Seiberling, Coordinator of Project GREEN
Ude have a dilemma to resolve and I'm sure that
all parties involved are not looking for a swan song on
any level - whether it's selling Chauncey Swan Plaza for
a song - or obstructing immediate progress toward low income
housing. If we will openly and with good heart search for
the greatest good for the largest number we shall find our
way out of this dilemma and get on with the building of the
low income housing all of us want to see established as soon
as possible.
It is now two city managers and three city
councils since the beginning of the Chauncey Swan Plaza.
Only two members of this present council were in office
when this project had its begginnings in the fall of 1970.
It came about as the councilvotedto replace the College
Street Bridge.
Project GREEN initiated a new concept for the area
between Washington and Burlington, bounded by Gilbert and
Van Buren Streets. This marked the emergence of a time of
emphasizing -protection of the environment, restricting the
use of automobiles, identifying and protecting open spaces.
Project GREEN pointed out that as a result of
what now could be called avantgarde thinking in 1839, the
first Iowa City plan designatedthree areas as open
space: North Market, Central Market and South Market. One
of these open spaces is now part of the Civic Center's
frontyard. - and the Recreation Center's backyard. Although
no records d,dscribe its being used actually as a market -
Leag'i
To: Cite Council of Iowa City
LG lJl 'W LJ1111
227/2 EAST WASHINGTON. STREET
IOWA CITY. IOWA 52240
From- League of !,,'omen Voters of Johnson County
Faith Knowler, President
Re: Housing Project for Uderly
F
i Y7
November 12, 1974 V
fV
The League of .-Tomen Voters has.long been concerned with meeting the housing
needs of low income citizens, particularly those who are paying more than one-fourth
of their income for housing.
We are pleased to learn that several businesses and groups have picked up the
necessary papers to bid on the sixty-two units of subsidized housing for the elderly
and handicapped --funding for which was obtained by the Iowa City 'r'oisin;; Commission
and the Housing Coordinator. The Human Relations Commission document 'IiiinoritJ
Status Report" of July, 1973 states that there were 618 elderly persons in Iowa
City whose income was below the poverty level --a figure which indicates that the
current program plus the funded sixty-two units are still insufficient to meet the
housing need. ;e urge citizens to support efforts to obtain housing even in add-
ition to these two programs.
Delays in processing the papers involved in the fur_dino of the sixty-t,•ro units
could result in jeopardizing the funds promised to the City by F:U;. Therefore, the
League urges the Council that no delays be considered.
Also, we remind'the Council that considerable money and effort have been invested to
develop Chauncey S:•ran Plaza for parking and green space and that it has not been de-
si-ned as a site for housing. The League considers it to be in the public ,00--?. to
retain this area in accordance with the plan developed several ,years ago.
School of Art
and Art HWory
Area 319: 3534550
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
IOWA CITY, IOWA 52242
November 22, 1974
The Mayor and Members of the City Council of Iowa City
Civic Center
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
Dear 111r. Mayor and Council Members:
In recent weeks my wife and I have become aware of the Council's
impending decision regarding the sale of Chauncey Swan Plaza.
Like all local citizens we are constant beneficiaries of the effective
civic contributions of Project Green, but we are not members of that
or any other organization which would put us in direct touch with
the functioning of local governmental agencies. Typically, we are
not often aware of the agenda of Council meetings, and we discover
its action after the fact. Yet, in this case, our own personal
concern alerted us tbL the subject of this meeting. We believe the
prospect of the city selling Chauncey Swan Plaza to a private developer
is unthinkable. There is no conceivable reason which should persuade
the Council Members to entertain such a proposal.
In the summer of 1965, my wife end I made plans to move to Iowa City
where I was to join the faculty of the University of Iowa School of
Art. For several weeks prior to our move we perused copies of the
Iowa City Press Cit.zen, looking for housing. Our anticipation of
making Iowa City our hometown was heightened by a continuous series
of news stories, articles and letters relating to the town's plans
for civic revitalization.....urban renewal. We felt that the presence
of the university, with its highly respected academic life, its
internationally known Writers' Workshop, Art School, science programs
and medical facilities, would lend a cultured, enlightened and
cosmopolitan flavor to the environment. We believed, from reading the
local Dress, that we were entering a community whose citizens and
governmental agencies would be correspondingly progressive and aware
of what it takes to make a town more than a conglomeration of houses,
streets, automobiles and businesses. Planning ahead, through urban
renewal, for the community's quality of life implied to us that
serious consideration would be given to the visual qualities of the
town. As artists, my wife and I feel good environmental design to be
an essential and inseperable part of what makes life worth living.
Isere we are in 19�4, and what can we say of those expectations we
fostered a decade ago? What do we have today to show for the last
ten years of ideas, planning and work toward a revitalized downtown?
As visible, immediate and permanent evidence, we citizens can see and
make use of Chauncey Swan Plaza. Finally we see our expectations
materialized. We have a parking lot and park, handsomely designed to
become more beautiful with each year's growth of trees and shrubs;
its flower beds, laden with blooms, changing seasonally. I3ere, there
is incorporated attractive and effective lighting, pleasantly designed
parking meters, subtle but significant variati&ns in the use of
materials (bricks, gravel, railroad ties, paved surfaces) and space
(walls, stairs, walkways, and very signif icantly....a variety in the
directional placement of the parked vehicle3). To add to these outstand-
ing design qualities, incorporating beauty and function, a further
indication of the plaza+s permanence and importance to our community
was the recent national competition for a large scale, major sculptural
work to be designed and executed for the plaza.
Beyond the immediate scope of these contributions of the plaza, the
projected plans for a "Governmental Campus" .... visibly and physically
connecting the Civic Center, Chauncey Swan Plaza, the Public Library
and its adjacent parking facility, and the Recreation Center....
indicate the essential role of the plaza. It is no longer a piece of
land, available for development in some new, unexpected and unplanned
direction. For this Council to contemplate such a move is equivalent
to selling part of city park. It would be reneging on the commitYment
to an already existing community resource. Chauncey Swan Plaza is not
on the drawing board, or just a good idea. It already exists and works,
as evidence of your commitment to the revitalization of the city.
To sell the plaza would be to undermine our faith and trust in that
commitjement of the Council.
Sincerely and
cc: Project Green
Patrick
November 5, 1974
Members of the City, Counci1: -
As you know. I have hada long and continuing interest
in elderly housing in,Iowa City.
At present, I ame Sa�ertrt9 offering to buy all of
lots 4 -and `3, plus the nest�46 feet of lots 2 and 7,
in Block 43 in Irnia Ci.t;1, Kowa for $113,400, subject
to it being developed f ?r the present Section 23,
Leased Housing Program Offering,
If you would look `favorably;upon this proposal, I trust
you will schedule a public hearing following your usual
legal procedures.
In turn, if you schedule a public hearing, I request
that you extend the date to receive bids to either Oe-
cenber 11 or 18..
It is my intention at this time, if you are of the mind
to _look favorablyupon this proposal, to set up a non—
profit corporation for purposes of developing this site
as a location for the 62 units of elderly housing, thus
assuring the citizens of this:ccmmunity that the 62 units
would be available to serve the needy of this community,
even if federal subsidy ends.
Again, let.me indicate thatI trust, you will look with
favor upon this proposal.
Sincerely,
Robert L. Welsh
217 IOWA AVE: BOX 887 r IOWA CIT�i.,'IO W, A 5,224 1
MINISTER:
ROBERT L. WELSH
ALL BELIEVERS IN CHRIST
The City of Iowa City., Iowa
Civic Center
Iowa City., Iowa
November 8., 1974
Attached is a check for $500.00., to be used as down payment
on purchase of land if we,, or our assignee, are the successful
bidders on the present 62 unit leased housing program.
If the offer to purchase all of lots 4 and 3, plus the west
46 feet of lots 2 and 7. in Block 43 in Iowa City., Iowa is
not accepted, these,funds are to be returned at that time. If
we., or our assignee, are.not selected for any reason as the
developers of the 62 unitsthesefunds are to be returned at
that time.
Sincerely.,