Does it make sense to give taxpayer-funded TIF money to rich people like Marc Moen to build ugly, energy-inefficient monstrosities in a transitional area where skyscrapers are not supposed to be built according to the city's own comprehensive plan? Cutting a 20-story skyscraper to 15 stories should not merit an increase in TIF money to Moen.
The building is still too tall, too ugly, and too energy-inefficient. At least one or two of the defeated contenders, the building projects that weren't chosen for the location, were more energy-efficient (at least 50% more energy-efficient in one case) and far more attractive.
Why Marc Moen's design? And why the TIF? Other developers weren't asking for nearly as much money. It just looks like favoritism, pure and simple.
Opponents call the building "the Shadow," because that's what it will be. According to a church spokesperson, the Moen building will block out the light for sacred places of respite and comfort like Trinity Episcopal Church. The light that now flows through stained glass windows will be gone.
Mary Gravatt, another opponent, pointed out at the city council meeting Tuesday night, July 15, 2014, that the Shadow will cause more ice on Gilbert Street. I can attest that there is already an ice problem that makes downtown Iowa City a forbidding place for pedestrians and shoppers during the winter.
Jim Knapp's comments were particularly interesting. He referred to the "sweetheart deal" with Moen, which is certainly what it looks like. Knapp said that Moen doesn't meet standards required by other developers and asserted that Moen did not present audited financial records. Knapp alleged that he sued to get Moen's financial records and won the suit. Knapp asked whether Moen has the money he's asking the city for.
A woman who lives on College Street (didn't catch her name) said that Moen wants to locate his 15-story building in a high-density neighborhood that is supposed to be a transitional neighborhood. Transitional zones are part of the city's comprehensive plan, she reminded the city council, as many others have done before.
"If you disregard [the city's comprehensive plan for transitional zones] in Moen's case, doesn't that imply that you'll disregard it again if Longfellow Elementary School is torn down and you put up a high rise?" she asked.
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