Infill housing on city-owned land
Summary
Two proposals were accepted for small city-owned lots: nine owner-occupied pocket-neighborhood homes on Ellis Boulevard NW and four townhomes on 5th Street SE.
At a glance
- Total mentions
- 6
- Last 30 days
- 3
Discussed at 2 meetings in the last 60 days; most recently Oct 20, 2026.
Impact analysis
Development agreements to be negotiated; six months allowed for each developer.
Homebuyers seeking smaller, more affordable new homes in established neighborhoods.
Objecting residents who say legacy Time Check families are being displaced and affordable single-family homes are not being rebuilt.
Mentions & discussions (6)
City Council - Oct 20, 2026
A seven-unit townhome project near NewBo City Market gets a PUD overlay so each home can be on its own parcel, enabling eventual sales of what may be rentals.
City Council - Oct 6, 2026
Two proposals were accepted for small city-owned lots: nine owner-occupied pocket-neighborhood homes on Ellis Boulevard NW and four townhomes on 5th Street SE.
City Council - Jul 28, 2026
Two city-owned flood-buyout parcels at 8th Street NW were rezoned so Matthew 25 can build two duplexes. Council members pressed for design quality so the affordable units don't visibly read as subsidized housing.
192-unit affordable housing complex among three new developments in Cedar Rapids
192-unit affordable housing complex among three new developments in Cedar Rapids Corridor Business Journal
City Council - Jun 23, 2026
The city is initiating RFPs to sell five vacant parcels for multi-unit housing in the historic Time Check neighborhood. Objectors allege displacement of legacy residents and demand affordable single-family options instead.
City Council - Feb 24, 2026
Two RFPs launched: five small lots near Ellis/I Avenue NW for multi-unit housing, and a half-acre near 4th Street SE/17th Avenue SE for mixed-use development. Proposals due March 24; council selection targeted April 14.
Related development
OFB LLC four-unit residential rezoning
Adds missing-middle housing near Czech Village with a design locked in by condition to match what the council approved.
220 Ellis Boulevard NW redevelopment
Smaller, likely affordably priced new ownership homes on the Northwest Neighborhood's Ellis Boulevard corridor.
The Parkline LLC housing redevelopment
Fills a parcel undevelopable for 20 years with seven market-rate three-bedroom units near NewBo.
City-owned land disposition — 1026, 1221 and 1223 Ellis Boulevard NW and 1216 6th Street NW
Returns long-vacant flood-buyout land to the tax rolls with neighborhood-scale housing.
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