EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

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Mayor Tom Hanafan (left) and Matt Gronstal, president of Council Bluffs Savings Bank, remove a piece of the façade from the former Daily Nonpareil building Friday morning. CBSB will renovate and move into the building in 2008

CBSB to make home in former Nonpareil building

  Empty since 2003, a downtown icon has new life with today’s announcement that Council Bluffs Savings Bank is moving to the old Nonpareil building at 117 Pearl St. The building’s face will be restored to the original 1926 brick, with the current façade dismantled, and the south end, added in 1963, demolished with an smaller urban wall to preserve a physical presence where the bank’s drive-thru and parking will be located, according to Matt Gronstal, the bank’s president. The renovation should be completed by the end of the year with the bank looking to be in its new home no later than Jan. 1. The combined public and private cost of the project wasn’t immediately known. “It’s great for us, it’s great for downtown,” said Gronstal. “It’s just a win-win for everybody.” That includes J. Development, the company that put together the deal that made the renovation possible. Gronstal said the bank worked with Julie Stavneak and Jim Royer, J. Development’s co-owners, on the 1892 Apartments project on West Broadway, and knew they were looking for a tenant for the old Nonpareil building. Council Bluffs Savings Bank will be a tenant with an option to buy, Gronstal said. The bank will have the entire building, and may sublease some space, but wants to have the room for future growth.   The renovated building will have approximately 11,400 square feet plus a basement. There will be two drive-thru lanes and a driveup ATM machine. CBSB will close its temporary location on the corner of Fourth and Broadway when the Pearl Street work is complete. “We thought it was a perfect location,” Gronstal said. Schemmer and Associates are the project architects. Council Bluffs Savings Bank opened its Mall of the Bluffs facility in 2004, and Gronstal said the incredible growth recently made it necessary to expand to a second location. The Pearl Street offices will become the bank’s main facility. The mall location will remain open. The Pottawattamie County Development Corporation acquired the property about three years ago and has remained vacant and secured. “We wanted to find a developer that had the experience to successfully complete a comprehensive renovation on the building,” said Sheryl Garst, director of development for the PCDC. “J. Development was selected based on their ability to do just that.” She also praised J. Development for its work with CBSB. “We were fortunate J. Development found a tenant that could wait through this two year process,” Garst said. J. Development’s Royer said it’s estimated that the renovation project will take approximately seven months. Collaboration and imagination were keys in assembling the plan, and the project was made possible through leveraging a variety of funding sources. A large part of the funding comes from tax credits, both New Market Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits. To fill the gap in project costs, J. Development pooled loans from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, PCDC, Tax Increment Financing, and owner equity. The City of Council Bluffs Community Development Department played a critical role by providing the permanent financing through a HUD loan. Community Development Director Don Gross was pleased with they way the project came together and said it has been a struggle to put together a “mosaic” of funding to make it possible. “I think it’s a project that we can build upon,” he said. Mayor Tom Hanafan, said he walked around Bayliss Park on Thursday and was amazed by the transition that has taken place in downtown and what it will mean when the old Nonpareil building reopens. “The whole downtown area has become kind of a blend of the new and the old, preserving that history that we had,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for the community.” The Iowa West Foundation awarded grants to the Pottawattamie County Development Corporation for planning and predevelopment costs. The foundation has provided major funding for PCDC’s downtown revitalization fund that provides gap funding in the form of grants and loans to restore historic buildings. The old Nonpareil Building was designed by Anderson & Spooner Architects of Council Bluffs in 1925 and was first occupied in 1926. The building was originally constructed as the office and printing operation for The Nonpareil newspaper. In 1963, the Nonpareil embarked on a major addition to the south that connected directly to the south façade of the 1926 structure. The entire west façade of the new structure and 1926 structure was covered over with large, windowless precise concrete panels. The entry was relocated to the juncture between the old and the new structure and was only glass fronting Pearl Street. “The synergy that is surrounding Council Bluffs with development and redevelopment is extremely exciting” Stavneak said. “We are thrilled to be a part of the downtown revitalization.” Council Bluffs Savings Bank has $75 million in assets locally. The holding company, that includes Carroll County Savings Bank, Community Bank of Nevada and Citizens State Bank of Fort Dodge, has about $425 million in assets.

– Phil Rooney (Staff Writer The Daily Nonpareil)