Prairie Heights Project Critic: New urbanism won't sell

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| Sunday, May 22, 2005 12:07 AM CDT | () comments

Tom Saul

Two of the largest private landowners in the 630-acre planning area for Davenport's Prairie Heights subdivision say they remain skeptical of whether its "new urban" concept will sell and are unlikely to follow the city's lead in developing in that style on their property.

One of the owners, Davenport attorney Joe Polaschek, who is part owner of 70 acres in the area near 53rd Street and Eastern Avenue, said he withdrew a proposal to develop 40 acres in the style because city rules are too restrictive and canceled out the benefit of the more densely packed housing he would have been allowed to build.

"I wouldn't build it myself," Polaschek said of the city plan. "I don't think it will sell."

New urbanism emphasizes small lots, small yards, houses crammed close together, front porches close to the street, detached garages on alleyways and streets and neighborhoods that are scaled for people instead of cars so that there is more walking and more interaction among neighbors.

In the coming fiscal year, Davenport will spend nearly $6 million to pave portions of Eastern, 65th/67th Street and begin work on a 120-acre park on 220 acres owned by the city in the Prairie Heights planning area. Pavement of the roads was part of settlement of a lawsuit filed by Eastern Avenue Commercial Developers, or EACD, that accused the city of failing to honor an agreement to build 65th/67th dating from 1997.

Polaschek said Davenport already has plenty of the type of housing planned in Prairie Heights for those who want it in places like McClellan Heights in east Davenport and in many inner city neighborhoods.

Rob Fick, a partner in EACD which owns 180 acres in the Prairie Heights planning area, said he also is not sold on the concept. While he is interested to see how well Prairie Heights is accepted, he said he believes that new urbanism is better suited to a large metropolitan area where there is a larger population of potential buyers to draw from.

"I don't think it will work as well in a smaller market like this one," Fick said last week. "Some of the problems are the detached garages, the narrow lots and no front yards. Those are things that people in this area want."

As a testament to the lack of acceptance of the new urban concept in eastern Iowa up to now, both Fick and Polaschek point to The Peninsula Neighborhood development minutes from Interstate 80 in north Iowa City. It has been in planning for nearly a decade and it is now under construction but has so far sold only a few homes.

Karin Franklin, Iowa City planning director, acknowledged that The Peninsula got off to a slow start. Part of the problem was the initial developer hired by the city.

"It didn't work out with him," she said. "He significantly alienated the local real estate and building community. He wanted to have the building, design and selling all done by one entity."

The city since has selected a new firm called Peninsula Development LLC, she said. Iowa City sells land to the firm for each phases of the project as the previous one is successfully completed. In turn, the developer sells lots to builders and real estate agents who build and sell homes to customers under architecture and appearance guidelines.

Homes are being built in the first phase of The Peninsula, with grading and infrastructure work under way in the second of what will be five phases, said Kevin Morrow, project manager for the developer.

Selection of the new developer and inclusion of local real estate firms and builders has solved some of the acceptance problems, said Jeff Edberg, a broker for Coldwell Banker Real Estate who is marketing condominiums there.

But not all of them. Shawn Maloney, of Maloney Builders and Carpentry of Riverside, Iowa, is building homes in The Peninsula. The crews he brings into the development every day would not be able to afford homes there, he said.

"These are very high end, I don't know who can afford them," Maloney said. "You either have to have two incomes or someone with a very good job."

Condos in The Peninsula will start at $170,000, with single-family homes running has high as whatever a buyer wants to spend, Morrow said. In Davenport's Prairie Heights, residential units over retail space will begin at $95,000 with high-end, single-family homes topping out at $525,000.

Davenport City Administrator Craig Malin called The Peninsula a "bad example" of a new urban development. It is located at the end of a road away from activity and commercial development that residents easily can walk or ride their bicycles to.

Prairie Heights will be located at 53rd and Eastern near a hub of activity in Davenport and will have its own internal commercial development, Malin said. At The Peninsula, a foot bridge is planned across the Iowa River at the development's south end that will allow residents to bike or walk to Iowa City's downtown.

The Peninsula's architecture and color schemes do not favor those found in traditional neighborhoods in the Midwest, Malin said. Instead, the development has the appearance of a community that would more likely be found on the country's East Coast or in the Southwest.

As Davenport's seeks those interested in building and selling homes in Prairie Heights, it will try to avoid some of the pitfalls Iowa City fell into, Malin said. An effort will be made to offer opportunities to local builders and real estate firms. The city ordinance that will guide development is also flexible enough to allow different types and styles of housing that will be attractive to different buyers.

While it probably is true that new urbanism does better in larger metro areas and is it possible that Prairie Heights could have trouble if local developers do not buy into the idea, that is unlikely, Malin said.

"All the research shows that the neighborhoods that hold their value over time are the ones using new urbanism principals," he said. "The private development community is often interested only in selling the next home, rather than building strong neighborhoods that hold their value."

Davenport Alderman Bob McGivern, 6th Ward, who has been a strong proponent of Prairie Heights, said real estate firms in Iowa City "went out of their way to hurt" The Peninsula when they initially were excluded from the project.

"That can be the kiss of death," said McGivern, who told the QUAD-CITY TIMES in April that getting Prairie Heights up and running was one of the things he most wants to accomplish before he leaves the City Council in January.

As the city moved ahead with the subdivision, it will use a "master developer" and probably rely on a mix of out-of-town and local builders and real estate firms to construct and sell homes. He said he has been contacted by "several developers" and a local real estate firm that have shown interest in Prairie Heights.

While the city's older neighborhoods contain housing similar to what will be built in Prairie Heights, some buyers want that style without the hassles that can come with owning an older home.

"There are guys like me who have five thumbs and they want something new that they don't have to mess around with," McGivern said. "I think there will be a significant number of buyers who will want something like what they grew up in but without all the hassles of owning an older home."

Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com.