CITY OF DAVENPORT, IA
Residential and Retail Market Study for Traditional Neighborhood Development Plan

S. B. Friedman & Company, as part of a consulting team, was engaged by the City of Davenport, Iowa, to prepare a revised land use plan for a 630-acre study area on the north side of the city, and a more detailed land use, development, and financing plan for a 220-acre site owned by the City at 53rd Street and Eastern Avenue within the larger study area. The City acquired the site several years ago with the intent of fostering the development of a golf course and adjacent housing, but significant citizen opinion against the plan prompted the City to re-examine its development objectives for the site.

Public input obtained through a listening workshop, design charrette, and citizen survey demonstrated that the primary goal of the planning process should be to create a high quality neighborhood with open space and recreational amenities that can serve as a model for development elsewhere in Davenport . The consultant team determined that, rather than a golf course community, a more traditional neighborhood style that encourages walking, contains a mix of uses and housing types, and addresses environmental and open space issues would be the most effective in achieving the community’s goals.

We prepared a market study for residential and retail uses, providing guidance in the land use planning for the 630-acre study area as well as analysis of the specific development potential of the City-owned 220-acre site. We also prepared a potential development program for the City-owned site, including unit counts, price points, and retail square footage, that included a range of housing types designed to both respond to the existing market in the Davenport area and introduce new housing types reflecting traditional neighborhood design that are not currently present in the local housing market. The retail market study identified the potential for creating a small neighborhood-oriented retail center on the site that would be linked through pedestrian and bicycle connections to the new neighborhoods planned for the rest of the site.