A 40-acre parcel on Coralville's north side that was once earmarked for a new school is on track to become a neighborhood of about 170 homes. The Coralville City Council approved the first reading of a land-use change for the proposed Greenbelt Square Subdivision at its Oct. 27 meeting, clearing the first of three required votes (via KCJJ 1630).
The land sits on the south side of Dubuque Street NE. The Iowa City Community School District bought it in 2018 with plans to build a school there, but the district has since sold it back to Scanlon Family LLC, according to KCJJ.
From school site back to the family farm
The Scanlon family says the parcel is part of a family farm that goes back about 100 years. When the family sold it to the school district in 2018, the deal included a provision giving the family the right to buy it back at fair market value if the district ever decided to sell. That's what happened.
City records lay out what's being asked. Scanlon Family LLC requested an amendment to the Coralville Community Plan's land use map, changing the 40 acres from a Public/Semi-Public designation to Low-Density Residential (city council agenda, Oct. 27). The Planning and Zoning Commission took up the request on Oct. 7 and voted 4-0 to recommend approval, according to the staff memo in the council packet (P&Z agenda, Oct. 7). The council's Oct. 27 vote was the first consideration of the ordinance, No. 2026-1013, which needs two more readings before it takes effect.
What's planned
The development concept the applicant submitted to the city shows 170 units at an average density of 4.25 homes per acre. The city memo describes them as zero-lot attached residential units, which points to homes that share a wall, such as paired units, rather than 170 fully detached houses.
According to KCJJ, each home would have its own yard, with at least one tree required in both the front and back yards. Buyers would pick from four ranch-style plans and one two-story plan.
The main entrance would come off Dubuque Street, across from Liberty High School. A second entrance is planned on the east side, off O'Connell Crescent.
Once the council approves the change a third time, the developers hope to move quickly, KCJJ reported. No builder, construction start date or price range has been announced in the materials reviewed for this story.
Why it matters for Contractors
This is a land-use approval, not a groundbreaking, so there's no work to bid yet. But 170 new homes on the north end of Coralville is a sizable piece of residential work for the Iowa City area, and it's worth tracking now.
A few things to keep in mind:
Watch the next two readings. The council still has to approve the ordinance twice more. Coralville posts council and Planning and Zoning agendas on its Agenda Center at coralville.org, and those packets are where the plat, site plans and any phasing details will show up.
Ranch-heavy plans mean predictable trade work. Four of the five floor plans are ranches, and the city describes the units as attached. For framers, roofers, drywall and finish crews, that tends to mean repeatable work across a lot of units once the builder is set.
Landscaping is baked in. With at least one tree required in every front and back yard, that's 300-plus trees on a 170-unit project, plus sod and yard work. Small landscaping outfits should keep an eye out for who lands the builder contract.
Find the builder early. The Scanlon family owns the land, but who will actually build the homes hasn't been made public. When that's known, that's the door subcontractors need to knock on.