Iowa Supreme Court clears way for Iowa City tower project

IOWA CITY (AP) ? The Iowa Supreme Court has decided not to review a lawsuit against the City Council of Iowa City, clearing the way for construction of the 15-story Chauncey Tower project there.

The lawsuit was filed by City Council member Rockne Cole and the Iowa Coalition Against the Shadow, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported. The high court's decision Thursday lets stand lower court opinions that neither the coalition nor Cole has standing to challenge in court the council's rezoning decision favoring the project.

In February 2013, Cole submitted a rezoning application for the site of the proposed tower that would have capped the structure's height at 75 feet.

Cole and the coalition filed the lawsuit after the City Council voted against the application. They argued that the city had violated its own comprehensive plan.

"I think that basically, it's time to put it behind us," said Chris Warnock, the attorney representing Cole and the coalition. "For the city, it's a done deal in terms of the contracts that have been signed. The city needs to honor those contracts and we need to move forward."

Developer Marc Moen said the tower will include residential units, a bowling alley, a movie theater, a cafe, an hotel and office space. Moen said pending litigation has increased the cost of the $49 million project by 5 percent to 7 percent and has caused significant delays to the project's timeline.

"There's still a lot of work to do in terms of design and planning, but this takes one more issue off the table," Moen said. "I think we're in good shape now."

Moen said groundbreaking is scheduled for November.