Looking for a place to rent / buy near University of Iowa Hospital (Iowa City: apartments)

[Pontsu]

I will soon move from Chicago to Iowa to take a job in the Univ. of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. I am looking for a place that is as close to the hospital as possible. I am married but don't have kids. My wife and I prefer to find a place near the water, and in a nice neighborhood. We are looking for a 2 to 3 bedroom unit. We prefer condo over house because of lower maintenance effort. The plan is to rent initially and once I know the area well I will buy. Please share with us your insight. Thanks.

[1stpontiac]

Hi Pontsu,

Close to the hospital, you might look over in the University Heights area. There are some condos and apartment buildings around Grandview Court, Sunset, St. and Oakview St. I know Lepic Kroeger Realtors were trying to sell the units. They are fairly new renovations, but the developer ran into money problems toward the end of the renovation, so look with critical eye. Off hand, I don't know who is managing any rentals there, or if it is all just individual owners that might be listed on craigslist. There are also some apartment buildings around Woodside Drive, but I'm not sure how heavily student-dominated those are.

If you are willing to live just a touch further away, I used to live on the SW corner near Westside Dr. There are a number of townhouses and condos out there and it is a quiet, pleasant neighborhood. That's a 10 min bike ride or a short (20 min in, 10 min home) bus ride.

Otherwise, if downtown is more your style (and you've got some money to burn) you could look at the Plaza Towers. I'm just assuming that costs a fortune to get in there.

And a side note to keep an eye on: A developer wants to build condos and businesses at the site of the church at the corner of Sunset and Melrose. Its been contenious (many neighbors are highly opposed, although the city did grant him the permits) and the church still has to finalize its sale. That would be several years off, at best, but could be nice places in a great location if it does happen.

Unfortunately, I can't think of really any condos along the water. Parson's Properties does have a couple buildings right up the hill from the river (look for the ones on Ridgeland Ave). Several frats right there, though, as well.

[Pontsu]

Thank you very much for your reply.

If you were to pick a neighborhood that is generally considered to be the most desirable, and with the highest probability of gaining property value in a relatively short term ~ < 5 years, what would that be?

By the way, I checked out Plaza Tower as you had suggested, and they only have two units currently available. Neither of which suits my need. However, I do like the contemporary, upscale style of the buildings. Are there properties similar to Plaza Tower that you can recommend?

Lastly, what do you think about the Peninsula Neighborhood?

Thanks again for the help! I appreciate it!

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by Pontsu

Thank you very much for your reply.

If you were to pick a neighborhood that is generally considered to be the most desirable, and with the highest probability of gaining property value in a relatively short term ~ < 5 years, what would that be?

By the way, I checked out Plaza Tower as you had suggested, and they only have two units currently available. Neither of which suits my need. However, I do like the contemporary, upscale style of the buildings. Are there properties similar to Plaza Tower that you can recommend?

Lastly, what do you think about the Peninsula Neighborhood?

Thanks again for the help! I appreciate it!

That's a good question (the first one) and I'd have to defer to a realtor for that. I don't necessarily have a sense that there are particular hot-spots. I guess the newest growth areas would be all the new building to the west, beyond Scott Blvd. That's getting to be quite a ways from the hospital, though. Its hard to imagine the Manville Heights area (basically, bounded by the Iowa River and Highway 2) losing value, due to its nice homes stock and proximity to the hospital. However, there aren't really condos up there, and you pay a premium for houses.

Plaza Towers would be pretty unique in the city. I can't think of anything else quite like it. Probably the next closest would be the condos above the new Coralville Performing Arts Center. At least I think there are condos on the upper floors...google won't confirm or tell me if they are completed yet. Like I said before, there is a potential for something on Sunset and Melrose, but not for a few more years.

Pennisula Neighborhood: To be real honest, I was a little creeped out by the neighborhood the first time I stumbled across it while out on a run. I felt like I stumbled onto a set for Stepford Wives or Pleasantville or something. That's probably not particularly fair, though Some more objective thoughts on the neighborhood

+ Everything is new and clean
+ Modern neo-urban neighborhood design (park space, variety of housing, space for light retail)
+ Close to dog park
- Very isolated...only one road in/out, although there is a walking bridge from the dog park over to 1st Ave.
- Empty. This may have changed since I last was up there, but none of the commercial spots were taken and it seemed like much of the residential stuff was still empty. I can't imagine putting a business up there which would only be visible to the 300 people who live on the top of the hill, so I wouldn't expect that to change anytime soon.
- Flood concerns. That one road in/out flooded last time around. I think it was raised, but I'd look at that very closely.

Personally, that area is just too isolated to appeal to me at all. Also, if you are into disc golf, DO NOT use the course by the dog park there. It is awful and you will get punished by thousands of bug bites.

[Slanderous]

Originally Posted by Pontsu

Thank you very much for your reply.
Are there properties similar to Plaza Tower that you can recommend?

The Moen Group has some other properties that are similar to the Plaza Towers, although I think most of them are rental properties.

Apartments in Iowa City and Luxury Condos for Rent Downtown by Moen Group

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by Slanderous

The Moen Group has some other properties that are similar to the Plaza Towers, although I think most of them are rental properties.

Apartments in Iowa City and Luxury Condos for Rent Downtown by Moen Group

Funny, I've walked by some of those buildings dozens of times and never looked up enough to have it dawn on me that there were several floors of residential above me!