The Venue at Dinkytown - (14th Avenue SE & 5th Street SE)

[FISHMANPET]

I'd really prefer that if we built taller on the 4th st that it be done a couple storefronts at a time with small buildings. Is it parking minimums that prevent that kind of construction these days? Why can't we build a 2-3 story brick building with 2 store fronts on the ground floor, some service or office space on the 2nd floor, and apartments on the third? Maybe if we got a really motivated developer, do it all at once so that they're separate buildings but they can share an elevator or something if that's a concern.

But I don't much faith in the ability for developer to build a whole block development that looks like it was organically built, unless someone can show me a good example.

[Tom H.]

I was under the impression that ADA regulations (e.g. elevators) and buliding codes (e.g. no party walls) are largely responsible for the tendency towards monoliths that we see today, although parking minima are undoubtedly partly to blame as well.

[RailBaronYarr]

I think we had this exact discussion here before. I don't think small floor-plate buildings are being prohibited by ADA. I think the threshold for requiring elevators (major cost adder) is 3,000 sqft per floor or smaller, 3 floors or less. That allows for up to 30' wide frontage, 100' deep. MNdible and I had a cross-fire on how reasonable party wall construction would be for residential in the upper 2 floors (window access being the major limiter, obviously), but that wouldn't preclude offices or a mix of office and residence. Or, a 20' wide building that doesn't share walls but has a walkway between it and the next to allow windows and therefore residential living space. Parking minimums are almost undoubtedly the limiter. Also, financing mechanisms strongly favoring larger institutions (or rather, prohibiting smaller investors from getting the cash to build something). Finally, I would bet that restrictive land-use regulations that limit horizontal expansion of places like Dinkytown (and thus overall supply) have driven purchase prices even for these 1-story commercial buildings to be too high to make it profitable to replace with a 3-story structure (ie you'd only make money with the bigger buildings). Maybe I'm wrong.

It could also be possible that building codes regarding fire safety, electricity, etc make building new structures a little more expensive per sqft, to the point where even the lil' guys wouldn't profit off re-development, but I'm not sure on the details.

[twincitizen]

Another Strib editorial: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/edit ... 12351.html

Beyond congratulating the City Council on their decision, they go on to comment on repetitive architecture, population growth of the core cities in general, form based zoning codes, etc. Really impressive overall that our newspaper's editorial board is able to cover urban issues with such depth.

*Don't read the comments. It immediately turned into a left vs. right flame war. Because anytime a conservative hears "density" it is being forced upon them against their will...or something.

[seanrichardryan]

What does Doran even have to do with this? Or is Doran getting ready to tear down the 4th St facade (in Hawbaker's mind).

Well, he let me join the groups, so I've got that at least.

Something is going in by Doran, but its behind a .paywall. http://finance-commerce.com/2013/08/dor ... dinkytown/

[seanrichardryan]

Article tags include Camdi Vietnamese and Mesa Pizza. So yes, that and the picture lead me to believe Kelly Doran has an option to buy the north side of 4th between the Library and thei alley.

[mulad]

The article says 1315-1319 4th St SE, which would be the two parcels shown below. Potential 6-story, 70-unit apartment, with the intention to begin construction next year with opening planned for 2015.

[twincitizen]

I started a thread: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1487

mulad, can you post that image in the new thread?

[Nathan]

I hadn't seen this article posted. It mentions the owners of Duffy's may consider re-opening the pizza business in the new opus business, saying that it will be a more vibrant business district "with customers"

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2013/ ... -dinkytown

[Tom H.]

How dare you! This doesn't fit The NarrativeTM!

[RailBaronYarr]

Spent some (more) time in downtown Iowa City today. Tons of small businesses, unique/eclectic art studios/shops, etc in brand new buildings height 4+ stories. Tons of chains in 50+ year old buildings. A 14-story residential structure going up in the heart of the main pedestrian area. It was great.

Can I say that the Dinkytown SAP should really identify what 4th and University should be moving forward (aka, NOT a funnel for cars), and potentially lay out a 10-20 year vision for a world-class pedestrian-only space? Maybe 14th from University up to 5th, or 5th running alone new development. Something.

[David Greene]

Spent some (more) time in downtown Iowa City today. Tons of small businesses, unique/eclectic art studios/shops, etc in brand new buildings height 4+ stories. Tons of chains in 50+ year old buildings. A 14-story residential structure going up in the heart of the main pedestrian area. It was great.

Iowa City is fantastic. I would love to see that vibe in Dinkytown.

[lordmoke]

Holy crap, I had no idea how much this land was worth:
http://finance-commerce.com/2013/08/opu ... dinkytown/

[FISHMANPET]

I biked by this morning. Everything is of course closed, and the parking lots are barricaded off as well. Duffy's is going to be having a pizza party this Saturday to thank their customers, but I'm guessing soon after that the wrecking ball will hit. I also saw a women taking pictures of some of the buildings. I hope there are some really good photos of this area, I'd hate for all record of those murals on the HoH building to go away.

Also, here's a picture of the parking sign, just goes to show you how much things change.

[TheUrbanGopher]

In a nostalgia rush, those two houses (especially the one that hosts the hair salon) are actually quite charming. I'm not sad to see them go at all, but they are fairly nice and would probably survive easily if they weren't on this very underutilized block.

[FISHMANPET]

Good grief, someone in the Dinkytown not Megatown group wants to fight the demolition permit for the the HoH building on historic preservation grounds.

[Silophant]

Too late. According to David Levinson's tweet, demo started today.

[go4guy]

Most of HofH was already gone when I was in Dinkytown for lunch yesterday. Appear to be moving pretty fast.

[lordmoke]

Site is cleared. Some pictures over at SSP:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthrea ... 62&page=75

[FISHMANPET]

I went by at lunch today, not much to see, just some holes in the ground. All the buildings are down, but the foundation for the HoH building remains. My guess would be that they can't just rip it out or else the building next door would collapse, so they've got to be careful about what they're doing.