Retrofit Atlas

Garden apartments · Iowa

Columbia at Mechanicsville Station

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedRetrofit builtMechanicsville, IA

Completed 41-acre garden-apartment redevelopment on former McDaniel-Glenn Homes site; no active development opportunity remains. · summary, model-written

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Site profile3 elements · what this site is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Place
Shrinking countyThis site: -0.1% census-acs · all sites with this
Strategy
RedevelopedThis site: Replaced the 41 acres (17 ha) 588-unit McDaniel-Glenn Homes record · all sites with this
New use
HousingThis site: …new_use field newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

StatusRetrofit builtnewtypes-extraction reported
StrategyRedevelopedWikipedia no source
New useshousingWikipedia no source
What is there nowReplaced the 41 acres (17 ha) 588-unit McDaniel-Glenn Homesnewtypes-extraction reported

History and original facts

Closed2006newtypes-extraction reported
Acres41.0newtypes-extraction reported
CountyCedar County
Census division4 · West North Central
NotesDraft from Wikipedia, model-extracted, unreviewed: The 41-acre, 588-unit McDaniel-Glenn Homes in Mechanicsville were torn down in 2006 and replaced by Columbia at Mechanicsville Station.

Not yet recorded: GLA, year opened, original developer, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.

Planning

No zoning change, subsidy or policy tool recorded for this site.

Site context

Housing permits, Cedar County (IA), 20245 units in 5+ unit buildings, 24 in 2–4, 20 single-family; 2023: 63 in 5+Census BPS
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)568 jobs in 49 establishments; average annual pay $32,803; employment location quotient 1.10; employment -4.1% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 2022455 jobs; 36 in retail trade, 30 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 19031450200)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 53rd income percentile as adults; 0.8% incarcerated at the 2010 count (360 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)not a low-access tract at 1 mile; 100% of residents more than 1 mile from a supermarket; poverty rate 5.8%; median family income $83,558; 81 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
SchoolsNorth Cedar Community School District (PK-12); 1 public school within 1 mile: North Cedar Mechanicsville Elem CtrNCES EDGE
Elevation918 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025125 county-logged events: 66 thunderstorm wind, 39 hail, 13 tornado, 4 flash flood; $353,000 property damage reported; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 52306, 2026-09median list price $247,925 (+56.3% on the year); 2 active listings; median 70 days on market; 0% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 202355 establishments (-7%); 569 jobs (-4%)Census CBP
Housing market in the countytypical home value $254,794 (+6% 1 yr, +30% 5 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)5,600 vehicles a day on US 30 E (principal arterial, 2 lanes); 867 trucks; 33 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Columbia at Mechanicsville Station replaced the 2006-closed McDaniel-Glenn Homes (588 units, 41 acres) with new garden-apartment housing. The redevelopment is complete (status: built), with recent construction permits (2023-2024) totaling 20-63 units per year. The site’s opportunity score (0.0) is attributed to the retrofit being already built, its 41-acre size, and housing use. Context shows Cedar County housing values rising (5.5% YoY), but the site itself is no longer active for new development. Peer comparisons (e.g., Cottonwood Mall, Los Arcos Mall) reference similar-sized, redeveloped sites in other states, though this site’s status is distinct as completed.

Why. Record explicitly states redevelopment is built, not pending. No active development or vacant land remains. Peer data reflects other sites in planning, not this completed project.

Where it stands. Completed housing redevelopment on a 41-acre parcel. No further development activity indicated in record.

For a planner

  • 41-acre parcel now occupied by new housing
  • Traffic: US 30 E (principal arterial, 5,600 ADT) serves site
  • County housing market shows growth (ZHVI +5.5% YoY)

For a developer

  • No active opportunity: project already built
  • No vacant land or pending permits beyond recent construction
  • Peer sites (e.g., Cottonwood Mall) remain available for redevelopment

What we do not know yet

  • No current occupancy or housing type details provided
  • No financials for new housing (e.g., rent, affordability)
  • No indication of whether new housing meets local demand

Generated by qwen3-30b-a3b-64k:latest on Dell 5820 RTX 3090 (Ollama, qwen3-30b-a3b) from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

  • Beechmont Mall, Anderson Township, OH · Malls · similar size (50 acres); closed 2003; same strategy: redevelop
  • Cottonwood Mall site, Holladay, UT · Malls · similar size (57 acres); closed 2008; same strategy: redevelop
  • Fashion Mall, Plantation, FL · Malls · similar size (32 acres); closed 2006; same strategy: redevelop
  • Los Arcos Mall, Scottsdale, AZ · Malls · similar size (41.9 acres); same strategy: redevelop

Elsewhere on the web

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Multifamily screen

  • retrofit already built
  • 41 acres
  • housing in the record

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

Timeline

  1. 2006 McDaniel-Glenn Homes torn down
  2. 2006 Closed

Sources

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