By: Kylen Mills
kmills@cbs4qc.com
The Iowa
Economic Development Authority may give away millions of dollars of funding for
new housing, and the City of Davenport
is ready to make their case.
The
IEDA are offering disaster recovery funding for communities affected by the
2008 floods.
Wednesday night Davenport City Council
could decide what two housing proposals to send along.
Four
developers applied and made presentations, but the city can only select two.
The
city engineering staff and the Community Development Committee agree on the two
they recommend.
One
project they chose would rehab an existing building at 500 Iowa St and turn it into 37 mixed
income apartments.
The
other involves rehabbing a building on 402 E 4th St, that would become 45 mixed
income units.
Both
buildings are located in the historic warehouse district.
The
buildings don't need to have flood damage to receive money.
The
funds are meant to encourage new housing because many families were displaced
by the floods.
City Alderman
Bill Boom says these housing options are much needed in Davenport.
"It
brings stability. These were either underutilized or unutilized buildings for a
long period of time. As I said earlier maintenance was not necessarily a high
priority," said Boom.
Wednesday night city council should vote on whether to move forward with the two projects that
were recommended. The meeting is at 5:30pm at City Hall.
City
leaders say unless there's a motion for another option, city staff will then
prepare the final proposals for the state which are due March 1st.
