More Housing Planned for Downtown Davenport - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

More Housing Planned for Downtown Davenport

by Roland Glembine / CBS4 News   

From rundown to renovated that is the proposal for more housing in downtown Davenport. The city council gave the green light for two new projects Wednesday night. Yet they are not a done deal quite yet.

The projects are contingent on the city receiving a share of 30 million dollars of federal money. H.UD is allocating the funds for housing redevelopment in the wake of the 2008 floods.

"It's what people want, they want to live in downtown Davenport."  says developer Joe Erenberger.

That demand has led to several old buildings being renovated into flashy new loft apartments. Erenberger plans to do the same for the old coffee warehouse located at 4th and Iowa. "The idea is to really save this building before any further damage happens to it." said Erenberger. "You will have decks that overlook the river, double sided elevators."

And that is music to city leaders ears who have long pushed to redeveloper Davenport's downtown.

"Those warehouses something needed to be done. It is sad they had to sit those many years." said 5th Ward Alderman Sheilia Burrage. "Once you reach a certain amount (of development) that sort of explodes. That causes more small businesses to open, that generates more revenue, generates more property taxes" added Mayor Bill Gluba.

But for Erenberger it is about saving a bit of Davenport's history. "These are 100 year old buildings. But now we have a chance to step in and make it better for everyone.

Davenport will find out in May if they have received the federal funds. If so construction will begin in July and will take about a year to complete.