More riverfront housing in the works

By Tory Brecht and Kay Luna | Thursday, May 10, 2007

The Davenport developers behind the high-end Oneida Landing condominium tower also are working on a more affordable riverfront housing project nearby.

JJ and Pat Condon — both real estate agents for Mel Foster Co. — told the Davenport Levee Commission on Wednesday they are working with the owner of One River Place to redevelop the underutilized building into a mixed-use retail and condo project.

One River Place’s biggest tenant, the Visiting Nurses Association, moved out last spring after heavy rains caused a drain to back up, filling the office with 6 inches of water.

The building’s current owner, who lives in Chicago, hired the Condons to do a feasibility study of the building. She may remain a partner or may sell the building outright, JJ Condon said.

The Condons — a father-son team — want to create five retail spaces on the first floor, 10 housing units on the second floor and eight housing units on the third floor.

Unlike the Oneida Landing condominiums — which range in price from $214,000 to $750,000 — the One River Place units would be targeted toward people in a more affordable price range, between $100,000 and $200,000, JJ Condon said. Some units could be sold for under $100,000, he said.

Pat Condon has penciled out a design for the project, including the addition of apartments ranging from studio units with

pull-out Murphy beds to three-bedroom units with two bathrooms on the upper floors.

Preliminary plans also call for major improvements on the first floor, with hopes of luring a bicycle shop, restaurant or café to the space, along with the addition of upper-floor exterior balconies.

Right now, the building is “kind of a dinosaur,” Pat Condon said, much like the old KSTT Building nearby that Condon redeveloped into office space in 2004.

Part of the charm is the old building’s features peeking through the remodeled rooms, and the  riverfront views, with “everything right outside your doorstep,” JJ Condon said.

One of the biggest criticisms of the Oneida Landing project — which still must get rezoning approval from the city and a land swap from the levee commission before breaking ground — is its high unit prices, making it accessible only to the elite,  JJ Condon said.

“We’re hoping to make this part of a district that can help make Davenport’s riverfront vision a reality,” he said, noting that One River Place at 1225 E. River Drive, is separated from the Oneida Landing tower by a parking lot and the boathouse restaurant.

Meantime, the Condons are beginning to take pre-construction orders on the eight-story, $18 million Oneida Landing project. JJ Condon said people who sign up early will be eligible for discounts or amenity upgrades.

“The public has been really receptive to this,” he said. “I’ve actually had to fend off some calls because we weren’t really ready yet. Hopefully, I’ll be able to begin calling those people back.”

Floor plans and project details are available at the Oneida Landing Web site, www.oneidalanding.com, with units named after riverboats such as the Delta Queen, Quinlan and Effie Afton.

Once half of the 34 planned units are spoken for, the Condons plan to move forward with their rezoning request.

“It’s kind of a chicken-and-egg thing. We don’t want to go for city rezoning then not have the project go forward,” Pat Condon said. He added that if demand for riverfront housing is brisk, it sends an even clearer message that residential rather than light industrial zoning is appropriate for the Oneida location.

Mayor Ed Winborn said both projects are intriguing.

“We’re excited,” he said. “Hopefully you get some customers, then we can bring it before the council.”

Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com. Kay Luna can be contacted at (563) 383-2323 or kluna@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at www.qctimes.com.