Object ID: 589662

Object ID: 589662
Headline: CHRONOLOGY
Byline:
Source: Quad-City Times
Publication Date: December 12, 2001
Page: A1

Note: This information was not published, but was added to the database at the request of the city editor, Mark Ridolfi.

53rd & Eastern Chronology

A timeline for the mixed-use project in Davenport.

March 15, 1994: Eastern Avenue Commercial Developers, comprised of individuals from Mel Foster Co., buys 191.5 acres of land for $629,838 from Murray Investment Corp. in what eventually becomes the 53rd Street and Eastern Avenue project area.

Sept. 6, 1995: Aldermen approve the rezoning of 241 acres owned by EACD and EACD II that includes an agreement by the two companies to pay for infrastructure improvements.

Oct. 30, 1996: Tom Williams, a broker for Mel Foster Co. and MidAmerican Energy Co., outlines plans for the 53rd and Eastern project in a letter to Clayton Lloyd, the city director of community and economic development.

Jan. 31, 1997: City Administrator Jim Pierce hires Williams as the city's real estate broker on the 53rd and Eastern project.

Sept. 3, 1997: Aldermen unanimously approve tax increment financing for the project.

Oct. 23, 1997: Phil Yerington, as a mayoral candidate, vows to kill the project.

Nov. 4, 1997: Yerington beats incumbent Mayor Pat Gibbs by 334 votes, or just 2 percent of the ballots cast.

June 23, 1998: Citizens United for a Responsible Vision, or CURV, files suit over project financing plan.

June 14, 1999: A Scott County judge upholds the city financing plan. But the ruling boosts the project cost considerably by specifying a requirement that a third of the financing be used for moderate-income housing.

July 6, 1999: The City Council approves the bond sale.

July 21, 1999: Yerington vetoes the bond sale.

Aug. 14, 1999: The City Council overrides Yerington's veto, but it then postpones the bond sale and agrees to reshape the 53rd Street project.

Nov. 2, 1999: Davenport voters oust most project backers from the council, electing a new slate of aldermen largely opposed to the plan.