Downtown Iowa City Mall to Be Purchased by University of Iowa

A place once used by students to buy their clothes for school might soon be a bigger part of their actual school.

As part of its expansion plans over the next few years, the University of Iowa plans to purchase, outright, the Old Capitol Town Center Mall in Iowa City, of which it already is a majority owner with a 62 percent stake. Since 2008, the mall building has already served several student-related purposes for the University and their plan, once they own it outright, is to further modernize it to better fit their students' needs.

They will also sell existing buildings

When you hear about expansion and modernizing, you might think "more" and not "less". But part of the plan also includes the University of Iowa selling off its 109-year old Jefferson building while it modernizes its student memorial union, replaces the union's parking facilities, and upgrades many of its athletic facilities. The latter has already begun with the announcement of a $20 million stand-alone wrestling facility and a dedicated women's gymnastics space at a cost of $9 million. Baseball facilities are next on the list for upgrades.

Medical system expansion is already underway

It took several proposals from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) but the Iowa Board of Regents approved a new hospital in North Liberty that would be part of the UIHC system. More improvements like a new patient tower,  academic building, and clinic on its Iowa City main campus. COVID is speeding up the push for this expansion as UIHC Suresh Gunasekaran called 44 of its 848 beds "out of date" and in need of renovation. Gunasekaran also 400 new beds will be needed to keep up with demand.