Cedar Rapids council approves developer for apartment units at former Ambroz site

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Cedar Rapids City Council is moving forward with a developer to bring housing where the old Ambroz Recreation Center and the old Buchanan School off Mount Vernon Road used to operate.

Aspect Architecture was approved on Tuesday for a proposal to bring apartment units to 2000 Mount Vernon Road SE, which would include demolishing the current building.

However, many people who live in the Vernon Heights neighborhood were concerned about the details of the initial plan.

After several public comments were made about specifics of the project, the council decided to approve Aspect Architecture as the developer, but with an updated term sheet to better meet the needs of the community.

Several neighbors spoke with Iowa's News Now ahead of the decision and bringing their concerns to the council.

Grace Karns lives just feet away from the edge of the property line where the apartments would be.

She was worried about the plans, including the construction and the four-story height that could block the sun from her garden.

"You can already hear the Mount Vernon Rd. Construction that's already happening, and that's you know, understandable, but I can't imagine that being literally right next door," said Karns.

The council later discussed at the meeting bringing the complex down to three stories.

Jennifer Trembath said she spent her entire Monday asking around the neighborhood about the initial plans. She said about 70 households were unaware of the proposed plan and were against it.

"These are people who have homes that are well taken care of, we care about our neighborhood. The last thing we want is a 52 unit apartment complex built right where we live," said Trembath.

Mark Anderslant is just one of the neighbors who was unaware of the proposal and he said there are better ways the land could be used.

"You can think of lots of ways of using the space that would be consistent with the neighborhood, from putting houses similar to the surrounding houses in the same space, or Habitat for Humanity houses, or making this into a community garden," said Anderslant.

Historian Mark Stoffer Hunter said the building has been around for over a century. It started as a school then transitioned into the Ambroz Rec Center.

The rec center stopped operations in 2016 and has been sitting vacant since.

The property has seen a few proposals that never came to fruition up until now.

"Any neighborhood with a school building like this, in a city like Cedar Rapids, is important to the integrity of that particular neighborhood. The neighborhood really grew up around the Buchanan school building, especially starting in the 1920s, so it means a lot to the heart and soul and character of that neighborhood," said Stoffer Hunter.

Carson McGee just moved to the neighborhood last year, and he said there are other needs in the community.

"The neighborhood, it doesn't seem like it's ready to facilitate such a huge lift. We have infrastructure that's not really ready for it, and it just goes against, you know, the neighborhood charm that we fell in love with when we moved in the neighborhood," said McGee.

Council Member Ashley Vanorny said she's already gotten more than 30 emails about the project.

"I really appreciate the community engagement, that is a government working well when people emailing us," Vanorny said. "We have a really important opportunity here. So while you've been engaged, there is an opportunity to reinvest in the Vernon Heights Community Neighborhood Association that is going to be a really important point in the development of this project."

City council documents do show a neighborhood representative was on the committee to discuss these plans.

City council said they'll work with the developer to preserve historical elements of the building before its demolition. It is unclear when the updated term sheet will be made available.

The original plan's timeline had construction starting in September of this year, with its completion slated for October 2025.