Development of the HUB, a project that originally promised to bring dozens of new housing units to the former site of a mobile home park near the heart of Hiawatha, has been canceled by mutual agreement between the developer and the city.
The Hiawatha City Council voted unanimously May 21 to approve a request from The HUB, LLC to terminate their development agreement with the city for the project, according to a council memo from city finance director Cindy Daack.
The $30 million project was set to be built in five phases over five years at 155 Robins Road, at the site of the former Oak Brook mobile community. It was to be part of the city’s Village Center concept, an effort to establish a more defined city center for Hiawatha.
Plans for the HUB project called for a mix of an estimated 60 housing units and several commercial spaces.
“City staff has met with the developers with The HUB, LLC regarding their project along Robins Road … and they would like to terminate the development agreement we have in place with them,” the memo said. “We already amended the agreement twice, pushing back the start and completion dates of phase 1 and phase 2.”
According to the memo, the city of Hiawatha will buy back all of the property at the same cost it was sold for, including one lot along A Avenue for $230,519 and a second lot along Fay Street $170,000. The total repurchase price of $400,519 will be paid from the city’s Capital Projects Fund.
The city and the HUB originally reached a development agreement for the project Jan. 6, 2021, and that agreement was amended May 5, 2021 and again April 19, 2023.
Hiawatha city manager Dennis Marks said the first phase of the project was originally set to begin in January 2022, with start dates for subsequent phases running through 2027. Final completion was expected by 2029, Mr. Marks said.
The project had also been awarded $663,900 in workforce housing tax credits, he added.
The Hub was the second development project proposed for the site, Mr. Marks said. The Gazette reported in July 2021 that the city had approved a $72 million mixed-use development project for the site, which would have been the biggest private investment in the city’s history.
Hiawatha Midtown was planned to have town houses, condos and apartments as well as commercial space across over seven acres. But the project was scrapped when grant funding and some private funding didn’t materialize, according to The Gazette.
The city will now pursue another developer for the area and will likely issue a new development Request for Proposals, though that might not happen until later this year.
“This provides us an opportunity to take another look and see what our opportunities are to develop that area,” Mr. Marks said. “It’s still envisioned, and will continue to be envisioned, as our town center.”
Another phase of the Village Center project, a 48-unit mixed-use development at 255 Robins Road that includes an Anytime Fitness on the first floor, has already been completed.
In addition, the Hiawatha council approved a preliminary plat and a resolution of support for workforce housing tax credits for what was termed the Igram Village, which is set to bring 48 housing units east of North Center Point Road and north of Northwood Drive, just north of Cedar Graphics.
The projects are helping to meet Hiawatha’s growing housing demand. A housing study completed in February 2020 projected that Hiawatha would need 387 additional housing units to meet demand by 2024, and another 437 units would be needed by 2029.
“There’s a shortage of housing units (throughout) Linn County,” Mr. Marks said. “Even once we hit the number that was anticipated for us in 2029, we still have to meet the regional need with core housing and affordable housing to attract people to the area and keep them.”
