A row of houses along Sicily Court, with North Liberty’s iconic water tower looms in the background. (Brian Ray/ The Gazette)

By Dave DeWitte, The Gazette

North Liberty Mayor Tom Salm admitted, “went through a transition period.

“We’ve known for a long time that we’re thought of as a bedroom community. It (the rapid growth) kind of got away from us for a while. For the last four to six years, North Liberty has caught up with infrastructure issues in water, sewer, and those kinds of things.”

North Liberty’s goal as it attempts to reshape its image is to become known as a “family city,” Salm said.

Pilates studios, coffee houses, upscale restaurants and medical offices are sprouting in the city that was little more than a crossroads 35 years ago.

Housing in North Liberty seems to appeal to younger families, according to developer and real estate agent Gary Watts of Watts Development Group, one of the community’s most active developers. He said the age demographic is one of the reasons the community has so many affordably priced housing options.

A 80-unit “mature living” community for adults 55 and older is already under development.

The commuter city about midway between Iowa City/Coralville and Cedar Rapids has had limited success attracting manufacturers and had a big win several years ago when truckload carrier Heartland Express moved its headquarters from Coralville. Economic development efforts made headlines last year when one of North Liberty’s most ambitious economic development gambits to date was challenged in court.

A group of business owners filed a legal challenge to the city’s plans to buy 64 acres near I-380 for $11.3 million in connection with an incentive package to bring a 100,000-square-foot operations center for the University of Iowa Community Credit Union to the city.

The lawsuit was unsuccessful, but it highlighted frictions related to rising taxes as North Liberty not only catches up with infrastructure needs, but adds the amenities that will make it the more complete family community its leaders want.

Salm says North Liberty will be developing a third city park — the 40-acre Penn Meadows Park for which land was recently acquired on the west side of town. It’s also planning more recreational trails, a library expansion and a new city hall.

Retail offerings such as a new Hills Bank and Trust and a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant are in the cards, Salm said, and Walgreen’s has a site for a possible store. A Hy-Vee store is coming to the Coralville side of Forevergreen Road, at the south boundary of North Liberty.

The facts of North Liberty’s growth are staggering. The city’s population rose at about 15 times the national average rate from 2000 to 2010, jumping 149.2 percent from 5,637 residents to 13,375 residents.

City leaders expect growth to continue at a more sedate rate of 400 to 500 per year for the foreseeable future, Salm said.

North Liberty’s location makes it perfect for households in which one spouse works in Cedar Rapids and the other in the Iowa City/Coralville area. But for developers, it serves as a kind of relief valve to the high value of development land in nearby urban centers.

Salm says some developments have included the bare minimum to meet North Liberty’s planning standards, while a few have gone well beyond to help create a better community.

Developer Gary Watts, who is praised by Salm for exceeding minimum standards, says the city isn’t taking any shortcuts.
“They’re very concerned about their community,” said Watts, who develops in North Liberty through Prime Ventures.

“They want it done right. They think things through.”

Watts’s Liberty Centre development stands in a community replete with plain vanilla strip-style commercial centers and cookie-cutter subdivisions. It features ponds with fountains developed in cooperation with the city.

Optometrist Ryan Veatch of Iowa City plans to open an eye clinic in his 24,000-square-foot Stonebridge Promenade retail development within Liberty Centre at West Cherry Street and Highway 965 by the end of the year.

Veatch could have leased space in an existing strip center to house his Blink Vision Center, but he wanted to make a compelling architectural statement, and hopes it will help set higher standards for future developments.

The majority of clients at Veatch’s temporary Blink Vision location in Coralville are from North Liberty. Veatch said moving to North Liberty will let him serve them more conveniently, and won’t inconvenience customers from other parts of the Corridor because North Liberty is so accessible from I-380.

“I haven’t done a development before, but I’m going big,” Veatch said. “I have a lot of faith it will do well.”

Veatch gains his confidence from North Liberty’s growth trajectory. Leasing interest has been strong in the two commercial buildings for things such as restaurants and service businesses.

Another Coralville business that recently moved out to North Liberty is Capanna Coffee, which moved in April from the Grand Rail strip center into a newer strip development at Highway 965 and Penn Street.

Owner Mike McCain said sales in North Liberty have outpaced Capanna’s sales Coralville, but the patterns of business are completely different from at the other Capanna Coffee on downtown Iowa City’s pedestrian mall.

The rise of taxes to help fund the city’s growth has rankled some business owners.

“You find yourself just working for the city,” said Steven McCoy of Steven McCoy Construction, who recently has been crusading for a new ward system of electing city council members because so many existing council members are close neighbors. He believes the city spends too freely on land for projects and for staff salaries, among other things.

City leaders say taxes remain favorable compared to North Liberty’s larger neighbors, and they say tax objectors remain a small minority.

Work continues on a new strip center complex being built by Dr. Ryan Veach at the corner of Cherry Street and State Highway 965. The complex with be the new home of Veach's Blink Vision eye care practice. (Brian Ray/ The Gazette)

University of Iowa Hospitals employee Barry Buschelman moved to North Liberty about 20 years ago because property was more affordable than in Iowa City. The town had barely over 3,000 residents and one elementary school.

Buschelman is pleased on balance by the changes in the community over the years, even with the arrival of hundreds of look-alike condominiums and scores of businesses in commercial strips.

He says North Liberty offers much more now, although he still does the bulk of his shopping in Iowa City.

As with most other growing communities in the Corridor, North Liberty has made ample use of tax increment financing to help development.

TIF provides a legal mechanism to set aside the increment of property tax revenue added by development of a property above its undeveloped value to pay back some of the costs of installing development infrastructure for a determined period after a project is built.

McCoy says the city’s use of tax increment financing to attract developments has contributed to higher taxes on existing businesses. Gov. Terry Branstad’s commercial property tax rollback plans are aimed partly at winding down the use of tax increment financing, but city officials say they’re hard pressed not to offer tax increment financing when rival communities offer it.

The future direction of North Liberty development may depend partly on its success in securing a new interchange at I-380 and Forevergreen Road at the city’s south end. The city’s rapid growth have led to rush-hour congestion on Highway 965 and Penn Street, two of the main arteries through town — a problem almost unthinkable a decade ago.

Projects are already in the works to widen Highway 965 into an urban arterial with a center turn lane, curbs, gutters and sidewalks. Mayor Tom Salm said the project will be a costly one that may take about 15 years, and will be interspersed with projects to improve traffic flow on Penn Street and other key arteries.

Watts is currently working on platting and zoning of Melrose Terrace, a new 60-unit condominium development in Liberty’s Gate that will have five floor plans.

He sees North Liberty continuing to grow at a sustainable pace in the years ahead. He expects developers to offer a wider continuum of housing options.

“It’s just coming of age right now,” he says.