Campustown Redevelopment
- Thread starter Haverhill
- Start date
Really glad they opened that back up! Only wish it would've been open while I was in school..
So are they ever going to do something with the space next to Mr. Burrito? It's been a vacant mess for 3 years now. It's a huge eye soar and honestly embarrassing.
yes, a Minneapolis developer is currently in the process of purchasing it.
The Ames Fuzzy Taco was just terrible.
So gone is the randall proposal with the three story brick development? If so I'm glad. Was never thrilled with the way the renderings looked for that thing.
- Mar 27, 2006
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This. It didn't start out that way, but the quality and service went downhill. Going to the Ankeny location showed a stark difference.
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Yea, I wasn’t a fan either. From what I’ve seen this developer does good/nicer work and has worked with some big-name tenants. Will be interesting to see their proposal.
I think the Ames location had problems with staff turnover. Parking was an issue for both customers and staff as well. Also lots of completion for Mexican/Tex Mex nearby
The second one is the only one I really like. Balconies are nice for the occupant, but don't do much to the look of the building.
The building just west of Dunkin' Donuts leaves a lot to be desired IMO. The white panels aren't going to age well. Walking by it on the street already gives the impression it was done on the cheap.
The Iowa City "campustown" and downtown are one and the same. Ames has a distinct downtown and a separate campustown. That is the biggest reason for the differences you see.
Ames campustown lacks parking. There are places I would like to stop, but if parking isn't available I drive on by. Now I have a place within a few blocks of campustown. If it isn't bitter cold, I can easily walk to those businesses. Its a great area if you are walking.
I got a job there for a side job to make some money a few years ago when I was in college. When they hired me, they seemed like they needed to hire people urgently and hired 3 people to work FOH, including me. A week after being hired, I went on vacation for a week, came back and 2 of the people who were hired with me weren’t there anymore, and I was let go a day later because they needed to cut labor because of slow business.
I think what killed them was not having much options for parking aside from paying a meter. Location was probably an issue for them, as it appealed to college students, employees and people who work at Kingland, but I feel the townies weren’t that interested in going to Campustown for dinner.
Yeah, stopped in before a game last month. There was literally no customers in there, and it took 3-4 minutes before someone came out from the back to take our order.
Maybe it would be different if parking wasn’t a nightmare, but there is a 0% chance of me going to Campustown for food. The odds get worse if kids are coming along or it’s during the school year.