Fifty-five acres of new office, hotel and housing developments were announced last Thursday for the Iowa City area. The multi-million dollar project, named Forest View, would be located between Interstate 80 and the Iowa River, where the Forest View Mobile Home Court currently sits. Initial plans show that the mobile homes would be integrated into the development by relocating the homes to nearby land about 200 feet south — a move that isn’t sitting well with residents.
Members of the low-income, 150 people community have been organizing for a voice in the development process. A Facebook event was created to spread word for tonight’s rally at 7 p.m. at City Hall. According to the event description, the rally comes after the landowners sent one resident activist an eviction notice and threatened to call the police on two others for distributing informational leaflets.
Residents plan to communicate the following three expectations of City Hall: “no talks with developers until the retaliation stops, disclose all current plans to residents, and give the Forest View Tenants’ Association a seat at the table in meetings and decisions.”
The project will be headed by Des Moines development firm Blackbird Investments along with local developers and architects.
More information can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/events/193750487691880/
