The redevelopment of the historic former Guaranty Bank in downtown Cedar Rapids has been awarded a $10 million-plus state tax credit.
The tax credit, totaling $10,534,036, was announced Tuesday, Nov. 18 by the Iowa Economic Development Authority through the Historic Preservation Tax Credit program, which “provides a state income tax credit to encourage the rehabilitation of historic buildings while maintaining the architectural features that make them significant.”
Developer Steve Emerson and his firm, Aspect Investments, have announced a $30 million project to transform the Guaranty Bank building at 222 Third St. SE into a multi-use development. The neighboring Strand Theatre building, at 314 Third Ave. SE, has already been transformed into the House of Iron, a commercial fitness center that opened in July 2025.
The Cedar Rapids City Council voted unanimously in September 2024 to approve a term sheet for the projects.
Mr. Emerson purchased both buildings, as well as the former Dragon restaurant building at 329 Second Ave. SE, in June 2023 for a total of $2.8 million.
Guaranty Bank closed its operations in the building in 2017 after the bank was acquired by Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust earlier that year in a $44.2 million deal. The building was originally constructed in 1895.
Previous plans for the property, which called for a boutique hotel with as many as 200 rooms and a pair of restaurants, failed to materialize after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Emerson’s plan for the Guaranty Bank building includes commercial space on the first floor and 70 market-rate apartments on the third through sixth floors. It will also involve exterior masonry renovations and custom windows to match the building’s larger historic windows
The IEDA also announced a historic preservation tax credit of $335,122 for restoring three early 1900s Servants’ Village structures — the Servants’ Duplex, Lord & Burnham Greenhouse and Bookbindery — at the historic Brucemore property in Cedar Rapids. The restoration will “stabilize the buildings, repair exteriors and support ongoing public education, tours and cultural programming.”
In total, the IEDA announced more than $23 million in awards to revitalize 11 historic properties across the state — from a former high school in Jefferson, Iowa to a $25 million project to renovate the 1925 Rath Packing Co. administration building in Waterloo — once the corporate headquarters for one of the nation’s largest meatpacking operations — into 87 affordable apartments.
The most recent application round opened in July, with $42,750,000 available for awards. IEDA received 23 applications requesting more than $49 million in tax credits. Projects were evaluated on readiness, financing, and local support and participation.
