VIDEO TOUR: Pickle Palace inches closer to completion

The name “Pickle Palace” started as an inside joke.

But as the 37,455-square-foot, three-story entertainment complex on the west side of the Cedar River, in the development now known as Kingston Yard, inches closer to completion, lead developer Graig Cone said the Pickle Palace moniker has earned its permanence.

“For all of our projects, we've always had some kind of nickname that we started with,” Mr. Cone said. “It might just be something goofy. In this case, our joke name was Pickle Palace, and after we referred to it that way for a month or two it started to normalize, and it just stuck.

“I remember turning to my kids and saying, ‘what do you think about just sticking with this name?’” he added. “It's kind of goofy, but it might be a good way to advertise, and we could market it in fun ways. They were all for it, so we just went with it from there. And to tell the truth, I haven't had a lot of people laugh. I thought there'd be more people asking ‘are you serious? That's the name?’ But that hasn’t really happened.”

Progress on the $17 million Pickle Palace, at 101 First Ave. SW, was evident on a recent walk-through tour, with crews working in earnest throughout the three-story building. Mr. Cone said he anticipates taking occupancy of the building in December, with a series of soft openings leading to a full opening sometime in mid to late January 2024.

The west side of the complex’s first floor capitalizes on the nationwide pickleball craze with six pickleball courts, including four indoor courts and two outdoor courts. Large arched windows will offer an abundance of natural light.

Large Pickle Palace murals on the west wall are being created by Des Moines artist Maddy Fusco, who also recently installed an outdoor mural at the Sag Wagon restaurant along Cedar Lake, Mr. Cone said.

The remainder of the first floor includes a large commercial kitchen, which will serve a 7,000-square-foot restaurant on the building’s southeast side. The restaurant hasn’t yet been named, but Mr. Cone said it will be similar in atmosphere to the Black Sheep restaurant, also owned by Mr. Cone’s development group.

The second floor will be dominated by a 5,500-square-foot event space, with its own kitchen. Retractable walls can be utilized to divide the space into as many as three separate areas as needed. A large, solid pewter bar on the second floor is being crafted by La Bastille of Savannah, Georgia, and will incorporate a balcony overlooking the pickleball courts, with a glass-walled railing offering maximum visibility of the on-court action.

Among the top attractions on the third floor is a six-lane duckpin bowling facility, with lanes available for bookings, league play and open bowling. For the uninitiated, duckpin bowling is similar to standard bowling, but incorporates a smaller ball and smaller lane. The game is scored the same as ten-pin bowling, but the player rolls three balls per turn instead of two. The balls are roughly the size of a softball and have no holes in them, and the pins, while similar in silhouette to ten pins, are shorter, slightly thinner, and lighter than their ten-pin equivalents.

“We think the duckpin bowling could be a sneaky hit, maybe as popular as the pickleball courts, to be honest,” Mr. Cone said.

A large lounge, with its own kitchen, will comprise the rest of the third-floor indoor space, with a solid copper bar, also being created by La Bastille. The top floor will also incorporate outdoor rooftop spaces on both the east and west sides. The west-side space will feature artificial turf and will be pet-friendly, with a separate outdoor stairwell from the first floor encompassed by a steel mesh for safety.

Mr. Cone said the third floor, particularly on the east side, will offer outdoor views of downtown Cedar Rapids and the Cedar River, an opportunity largely unavailable elsewhere in the city. He said he expects the Pickle Palace to bring a different, family-friendly and long-awaited vibe to the downtown Cedar Rapids entertainment scene.

“I grew up in this town, and there were two things that I've always known,” Mr. Cone said. “One, we never really took advantage of the river views. I never understood that. We had very limited amenities that had a view of the river, which plays a big role in our city. So that was one thing we tried to accomplish, and I think we’ve done a very good job of that.

“Secondly, I feel like we just don't have enough to do here, compared to, say, Des Moines, especially in the winter,” he added. “I thought there was always a need for that. And it’s not just us, but with Big Grove and the whole area. We’re hoping that when the 20-somethings in this town get out of school and they are deciding what to do, a percentage of them decide to stick around that maybe wouldn't have otherwise. That’s what makes the city thrive, and that's what we're shooting for.“

The Pickle Palace atmosphere is intended to evoke an old-school entertainment vibe, Mr. Cone said, from solid mahogany paneling and vintage-style lighting fixtures to hand-laid hex tile flooring, similar to the design of the Black Sheep restaurant, Mr. Cone said.

A music system will be shared throughout the Kingston Yard complex, including the nearby Big Grove Brewery and the outdoor courtyard.

“Our aim is to create a small community feel when you enter the area, and we feel like shared music will play a big part in that,” Mr. Cone said.

Steph Mehmen will serve as the Pickle Palace general manager, at least through its startup phase, and Mr. Cone said he expects to employ about 130 people overall.

The facility will serve a variety of beers from the Clock House Brewery, also owned by Mr. Cone’s development group, including popular brews such as Witch Slap.

And for those curious about the “pickle” elements of the new facility, Mr. Cone said the Pickle Palace will, indeed, offer a dill pickle-flavored beer.

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job of not overdoing the pickle flavor,” he said. “We’ve had pineapple Witch Slap, and that has a lighter flavor to it. I think we’ll be doing the same thing with the dill pickle side of it.”

Mr. Cone said he’s excited to be working on the Pickle Palace, and the overall Kingston Yard development, with a team that includes Nate Kaeding, director of business development at Build to Suit; Joe Ahmann, president of Ahmann Companies; Matt Swift, CEO and co-founder of Big Grove Brewery; and Mr. Cone’s own family members.

“This is the first time I’ve worked with Matt and Nate, and it’s gone very well, because we have the same vision for the area,” Mr. Cone said. “I’ve done a bunch of stuff with Joe Ahmann, and a lot of it’s not super sexy stuff – The Fountains, Peck’s Landing, places like that. And now my two older kids are finally at an age where they could get involved and sit in on all the meetings. Then at some point, if they want to do projects on their own, they can at least have some experience. It gives us something to do together, something to talk about at dinner, so I think that's worked out pretty well. But again, the main reason for starting the project was just to kind of provide a more family-focused community attraction, and I think we’re accomplishing that.”

Compass Commercial Services of Hiawatha is serving as the Pickle Palace’s general contractor.

Current plans call for the full $100 million-plus Kingston Yard development – including the new Big Grove Brewery, a central plaza and courtyard, a five-story, 130-room full-service hotel, a 600-space parking ramp and multiple mixed-use buildings with retail and residential components – to be completed by the year 2030, developers have said.

Watch the video tour