Ground Level Stores Slowly, But Surely Returning to Downtown Cedar Rapids

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

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By Dave Franzman

Story Created: Dec 2, 2008 at 5:16 PM CST

Story Updated: Dec 2, 2008 at 5:44 PM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS- The last part of downtown Cedar Rapids to return to a pre-flood look will certainly be the stores and businesses at street level. That's where the water got the highest last June and it's also where repairs will take the longest.

But while only a fraction of the street level space downtown is occupied now, there are signs of progress.

Commercial Realtor Scott Olson makes it a point to walk downtown every day. And he's tracked the progress of downtown buildings with street level retail or commercial businesses. And he's getting more encouraged.

You can still find more construction dumpsters than open ground level stores on some streets...but Olson is seeing construction and even more importantly...improvements.

"People are taking advantage of this opportunity to renovate...update their facility and make changes that they may not have made without a flood," he said.

One example of that is the popular food court at the Armstrong's building downtown. The facility flooded last June just reopened Monday.

Owners used the down time to rearrange the layout and added more space for diners and seating options. The first day back in business showed downtown workers are still hungry for more lunch options.

Austin Blues BBQ owner Barb Hartgrave said "it was overwhelming--the amount of people we had come out yesterday (Monday). We had a gal go around and give out menus to everybody and show we were open."

Another restaurant owner decided to shift gears to reopen a business downtown. Kory Nanke owned the C.R. Chophouse upscale restaurant located in the Roosevelt Apartments building. An ownership dispute has put flood repairs to that building in limbo and Nanke doesn't know if, or when, he can try to reopen that restaurant.

So he and a chef have decided to open a pizza place called "LoDo's" in another flooded out building a quarter block away. That might happen in as little as two weeks.

Several large downtown property owners say it may take six months to a year to refill much of the ground level space. But as more businesses reopen, more owners are encouraged to speed up their own plans.

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