This is a developing story and will be updated.
A sale date has been set for The Chauncey and other downtown Iowa City properties tied to real estate developer Marc Moen and his associates, nearly five months after a district judge approved a foreclosure suit initiated by GreenState Credit Union.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office posted the sale notice Sept. 9 on its website for the following properties:
- The Chauncey, 404 E. College St.
- Plaza Towers, 221 E. College St.
- Park@201, 201 E. Washington St.
- The parking lot adjacent to the downtown Starbucks on the corner of Clinton and Burlington Streets
The sale is slated for Nov. 18 at 9:30 a.m. at the Johnson County Sheriff’s office, 511 S. Capitol St. The listed judgement amount is $26.4 million and the debt has accrued $1.7 million in interest as of Aug. 11, according to court filings.
The buildings are some of the more ambitious architectural endeavors in Iowa City, towering above the downtown area and housing a mix of retail, residential and commercial spaces.
The Chauncey, completed in 2019 for $57 million and reaching 15 stories, currently houses FilmScene, Hotel Chauncey, fix! Coffee, SpareMe Bowl & Arcade and 65 condominiums. Out of those 65 units, 60 will be headed for the auction block, in addition to six parking spaces.
The 14-story Plaza Towers was built in 2005 and features residential apartments, office space, hotelVetro, Bread Garden Market and Formosa Sushi. At the sheriff sale, 73 units and 19 parking spaces will be eligible for bidding.
Park@201, a 14-story building completed in 2014, will have three units available at the sale.
FilmScene pulls one property
GreenState Credit Union filed a foreclosure suit Feb. 4 in the Iowa District Court for Johnson County against Mr. Moen and his associates for allegedly defaulting on approximately $28 million in loans tied to real estate projects. In April, a judge ruled in favor of GreenState, and authorized the sheriff’s sale of the property in August.
Not all the properties listed in the original filing will be headed for the auction block, however.
In early August, nonprofit cinema FilmScene partnered with Resilient Sustainable Future for Iowa City to purchase 118 E. College St. for $2.3 million. Home to the cinema’s second location – FilmScene on the Ped Mall – since 2013, the building was listed in the original suit as “Moen-Jett Real Estate.”
Sheriff sale
According to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office website, bidding is conducted in person. Bidders must have a letter of credit from a financial institution, and the winner must provide a certified check.
The properties will return to the bank if no winning bid is received at the Nov. 18 sale.
