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$3.2 Million Deal Set for Rain Forest

Zack Kucharski

The Gazette

November 11, 2004

[Note: This material is copyright by The Gazette, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Gazette.]



CORALVILLE -- The city of Coralville will pay $3.2 million to the landowners and a tenant occupying the final properties needed for construction of a $180 million indoor rain forest and city-financed hotel and conference center.

The agreement on Wednesday marks somewhat of a milestone for the city which has been negotiating with landowners for nearly two years.

"We're delighted to have the last piece of the puzzle in place and even though it took the form of condemnation, it was an agreed upon result," Coralville City Attorney Don Diehl said Wednesday.

The settlement was reached in the hallway just before the meeting of the Condemnation Commission. Commissioners voted 5 to 1 to accept the settlement.

Without the agreement, the Condemnation Commission would have set the price. Attorneys proposed the settlement numbers.

Under those terms, Coralville will pay $1.35 million to property owners Jere and Ruth Wissink and $1.9 million to tenant Holiday Wrecker Service Inc. Although unlikely, if either side wants to appeal, it has 30 days.

The nine Wissink properties were the largest block the city had to acquire. The combined assessed valuation of the 5.68 acres owned by the Wissinks is about $1.7 million, according to Assessor's Office records.

Des Moines attorney Dan Manning, who represented the Wissinks, wouldn't say what led to the last-minute negotiations.

"All we ever wanted to do was to work things out," he said, declining to comment further.

The city is paying for the property purchases with a $15 million loan approved last month to cover land purchases for the projects. The additional debt, to be repaid using future revenues from tax increment financing districts including the Coral Ridge Mall, was anticipated, city officials have said.

Necessary environmental assessments are being conducted throughout the redevelopment area to determine what clean-up efforts will be necessary before construction can begin.

The $180 million Environmental Project includes a five-acre indoor rain forest and learning center and will be built next to Interstate 80 just east of First Avenue.

Project officials are still working on raising the remaining $90 million needed, project Vice President Nancy Quellhorst said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, city officials are continuing to accept bids for the $63.5 million, 250-room Marriott Hotel and Conference Center to be built near the rain forest.

The hotel and conference center will include 60,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space.

The city is continuing plans for commercial redevelopment and road improvements around the two projects as well as construction of a transportation center, which will include parking to be built next to the projects. 



 
 
 

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