Burlington's Churchill building apartments delayed, but hoping to welcome tenants in January

Two downtown Burlington housing developments are nearing completion.

By January, Churchill Loft’s 50 market-rate apartment units at 100 N. Fourth St. should be ready to house tenants, Joe Erenberger, a developer with Davenport-based Y&J Properties, told Burlington City Council members Monday. Erenberger requested that a five-year agreement allowing tenants to use a city-owned parking lot that had been scheduled to begin Sept. 1 be postponed until the start of the new year due to the delayed completion of the building.

The council spoke in favor of granting Erenberger's request, noting the progress that's been made on the property.

“Within a month, you'll be able to walk through it and see the whole thing,” Erenberger said.

It was the second time Y&J has requested the start date of the agreement be pushed back. Work on the historic building has been underway since February 2021 and initially had been expected to be completed last May. But supply-chain issues have created delays, Erenberger explained, adding that the elevator inspection will be completed this week.

He said he hopes the certificate of occupancy will be complete by the end of October, at which point lease agreements for the studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units will be pursued. Erenberger does not anticipate it will take long for the building to be filled.

“Everything else has been high in demand, so they should fill up real quick,” he said. “If it fills up like the other one did, we'll be looking for the next one.”

Y&J Properties also owns Blaul Lofts, a 70,000-square-foot building at Fifth and Valley streets whose 60 apartment units were quickly leased once the project was completed in December.

Once the Churchill building is complete, work will begin on the neighboring Ebert building, which will house four units. Erenberger said that project is expected to take about six months.

The outdoor space between the connected buildings will be landscaped.

What to know about the history of the Churchill and Ebert buildings

The Churchill building was constructed in two parts, the first completed in 1907. It was one of the large factories that opened shortly after the turn of the 20th century within two blocks of the railroad tracks along Market Street. It was occupied by Churchill Drug Co. until 1928, when Churchill merged with McKesson & Robbins. At that time, it was believed to be the largest consolidated wholesale drug firm in the U.S.

McKesson sold the property to Burlington Trading Co., which retained ownership until 1982. It was purchased in 2004 by Kevin Bangert, who completed work on the building and opened Moto’s Public House on the ground floor. He sold the property to Y&J in 2018.

The Ebert building was constructed in 1900 as a wagon factory and blacksmith shop by John H. Ebert & Sons. It is a contributing building in the Manufacturing and Wholesale Historic District.

As the wagon manufacturing and blacksmith repair business declined, the business shifted to automotive springs by 1920 before Ebert & Sons expanded into janitorial supplies in the 1940s, changing its name to Ebert Supply Co. in 1950.

After Chris Ebert’s death, his estate transferred ownership of the property in 1955 to Elsie and George Ebert, who sold it to Ewinger Supply Co. in 1957.

Ewinger used the building primarily for storage until 1977, when it was sold to Burlington Trading Co. alongside the Churchill buildings.

Tama Too looking at mid-November completion

The Tama Too building at 300 Jefferson St. is also gearing up for leases.

Sarah Hecox, grant administrator for the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission, told council members the top two stories of the three-story wood-frame building at the corner of Jefferson and Third streets are expected to be complete by mid-November.

“They've done inspections and are working on drywall on the second and third floors,” she said.

It will house 24 apartments: 10 two-bedroom units and 14 one-bedroom units. Thirteen of the units will be rent-controlled, and the rest will be market-rate.

Per the requirements of the $3.5 million Community Development Block Grant that Tama Too has been awarded by the Iowa Economic Development Authority, the living spaces must be fully leased by the end of the year when the grant expires. Hecox said, thus far, about $2.4 million has been spent on the project.

Development and Parks Director Eric Tysland said that work on the ground-floor commercial space will not begin until after the state has signed off on the completion of the upper two stories.

Michaele Niehaus covers business, development, environment and agriculture for The Hawk Eye. She can be reached at mniehaus@thehawkeye.com.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: What to know about downtown Burlington's Churchill and Tama projects