Hotel could be coming to New Bohemia neighborhood

The New Bohemia and Czech Village neighborhoods have never had a full-scale hotel to call their own. That could be changing soon. Representatives of an Eastern Iowa developer say their proposal for a Marriott hotel in NewBo would help a longstanding shortage of lodging and hospitality options in the area, and help open the area to more possibilities for both travelers and business functions. Conlon Construction, based in Dubuque and with offices in Cedar Rapids and Coralville, has submitted a proposal to Cedar Rapids officials for a 150-room Marriott Aloft hotel on what’s known as Lot 44 at 1002 Second St. SE, a three-acre site just southeast of the African American Museum of Iowa that’s currently serving as a parking lot, often used as overflow event parking. Ben Simon, vice president of operations for Conlon, said the hotel proposal has been developed over the past eight months in conjunction with Jacksonville, Illinois-based Hospitality Specialists, after city officials indicated they were receptive to development proposals for the property, which has been owned by Conlon for “a number of years.” “We were able to bring (Hospitality Specialists) into the Cedar Rapids market and introduce the town and the neighborhood, and realized pretty quickly that it would be a good fit for them, a good fit for us and a really good fit for the Aloft brand,” Mr. SImon said. “We've been working for quite a while trying to figure out if the site is the right site, to make sure that we can maximize the area that we have there to place the hotel, but then also see if there's some other things that we can do adjacent to it to fill it out and create a complete development.” That additional development would comprise construction of 10 owner-owned condominium row homes on the property, Mr. Simon said.

Marriott has more than 30 hotel brands in their hospitality portfolio, and the Aloft brand is categorized in the company’s “Select” division. Mr. Simon described Marriott Aloft as “more of a contemporary, sleek hotel design” that generally includes amenities such as a bar, meeting rooms and a pool, but doesn’t typically incorporate an on-site restaurant. The hotel design, with its soaring wing-themed roof design and contemporary decor, would be an ideal fit for a popular, trendy area like the New Bohemia and Czech Village neighborhoods, he said. “It’s one of their newer brands,” Mr. Simon said. “It's a product that fits well into an entertainment district or an arts and cultural district. It's a vibrant, hip-themed hotel that just doesn't really fold into some of the more generic brands that you might see out there.” Mr. Simon said the New Bohemia proposal calls for more rooms than a typical Marriott Aloft hotel property, including the Marriott Aloft being developed by Conlon in Waukee. Most Aloft sites have 110 to 125 rooms, he said. “Part of our strategy to increase the parking on-site was to propose a five-story building that would minimize the footprint of the hotel and maximize the amount of surface parking that we could gain,” he said. “When we did that, it actually had the benefit of increasing the room count a little bit. The exact room count is still being defined, but it is pushing a little bit higher than some of the more prototypical (Aloft) layouts.” Mr. Simon said he wouldn’t expect the Marriott Aloft property to compete with other downtown lodging options, including the 267-room DoubleTree by Hilton hotel and convention center. “I actually think it'll help complement the DoubleTree and the convention space,” he said. “It'll allow for more rooms in the area that will increase the desirability of conventions. If anything, it’ll help serve a need that already exists in the Cedar Rapids downtown area.” If the city-operated parking lot were to be replaced, city officials have expressed concerns about parking capacity in that part of town, particularly during high-demand events. Current projections call for approximately 175 parking spots for hotel guests. Mr. Simon said, and a “shared parking” proposal is already being considered for the property. “We understand there are going to be a few events throughout the year that make parking in the area pretty difficult,” he said, “but I think that the hotel actually works well in this respect. The hotel’s (parking) demand is largely late in the evening and overnight, and a lot of the events that take place are during the day. So I think we’re open to some type of shared parking agreement should the time come, knowing that we want to maximize the usage of the lot ourselves. If there's a way to do that and provide some overflow parking for certain events, I think that's certainly something we'd entertain.” Mr. Simon said the agreement, if pursued, might be a first for Conlon. “I can’t say that I can point to one that we’ve formalized in any way,” he said. The Cedar Rapids proposal, coupled with the Waukee project already under way, bodes well for the rising outlook for the overall hospitality industry, Mr. Simon said. “Some of the hospitality owners and operators are certainly being more selective at how they approach it,” he said. “I think that's another reason why this works so well. It’s not centered on anything in particular, such as business travel, conventions, or NewBo itself. It's a little bit of all of them. So I think it checks a lot of boxes at the same time, to make it a good fit for everybody.” The plan comprises the first redevelopment proposal submitted for the site thus far. According to city documents, the property is currently zoned Urban-Neighborhood General, which allows for a mixed-use development of up to six stories. The property is located in the 100-year floodplain, and will be required to maintain setbacks from the city’s flood protection system. As proposed, the Marriott project conforms with the Czech Village New Bohemia Area Action Plan. The redevelopment process will formally begin with a public hearing at the city council’s meeting June 25, kicking off the formal Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Proposals for the site are due July 26, and the council is expected to review proposals and select a development project at its Aug. 13 meeting, followed by a formal development agreement in the fall. Mr. Simon said if the Marriott hotel proposal for New Bohemia is selected, Conlon would hope to begin construction in early 2025 and open the hotel property in the summer of 2026. “it's important to note that we're at stage one of RFP solicitation, so the city obviously has yet to receive other proposals, and ultimately has yet to approve or award anything,” he said. “We have to get through that stage before we really dial in some of those things. But should we be selected, our intention would be to get right into design.”