Demolition equipment stands ready to remove homes along G Avenue NW in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Dec. 29, 2024. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

Update Dec. 31, 2024: The homes have been demolished. (See photos at end) A spokesman for the proposed casino gave a brief statement, which has been added to the story.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Even before state regulators decide on a request for a casino license in Cedar Rapids, homes in a neighboring residential area are scheduled to be demolished.

The affordable homes in the working-class neighborhood, all completely restored after the record 2008 flood, were purchased in August 2024 by Cedar Rapids Development Group LLC, an entity behind the proposed Cedar Crossing Casino.

Read more: Opponents and backers of casino speak out

The homes along G Avenue NW were all restored following the record 2008 flood in Cedar Rapids. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

Iowa’s Racing and Gaming Commission will decide whether or not to approve the group’s casino application during its meeting Feb. 6, 2025.

Commission members visited the site of the proposed $275 million casino in November. The site, along Fourth Street NW between F and G avenues, is in the 100-year floodplain and was decimated during the record 2008 flood in Cedar Rapids.

Homes in the neighboring block of G Avenue NW rebounded after the flood, with the nonprofit Matthew 25 planting community gardens on vacant lots where other houses were removed.

The nonprofit Matthew 25 planted community gardens where homes were lost to the 2008 flood. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

Matthew 25 Executive Director Clint Twedt-Ball said it was too soon to know what might happen to the gardens, which provide a nutritious food source for the nonprofit, as well as the neighbors.

“We’ll garden on them for as long as we’re able,” he said.

Cedar Rapids Development Group also owns the property where the former Diamond V Mills plant was demolished earlier in 2024.

A firefighter was injured during a fall in July 2024 after responding to a fire at the vacant plant at 436 G Ave. NW. The plant was later demolished in October.

The former Diamond V Mills plant is shown in August 2024. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

During the commission’s site visit to the area near the Cedar River, city leaders did not indicate that the casino project would encroach into the residential neighborhood.

Three one-story, single-family homes are slated to be demolished at 408, 412 and 430 G Ave. NW. All three were built in the late-1800s and have assessed values ranging from $54,000 to $94,300.

Cedar Rapids Development Group paid $145,000 for the smallest home and $200,000 each for the two other homes in August 2024.

Demolition was underway on the Diamond V plant in October 2024. The site has since been cleared. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

A Cedar Crossing representative said the location is part of the development plan, “though development is contingent on IRGC’s vote to grant a casino license in February.” Other questions about the proposed use of the land were not answered over the holidays.

City leaders have cited affordable housing as an ongoing need in Cedar Rapids, with numerous apartment complexes built by developers in recent years, but the need for affordable single-family homes remains.

Read more: Neighborhood grocery store returns to northwest Cedar Rapids

Gardens that provide nutritious food to the neighborhood could be eliminated under plans for a casino in Cedar Rapids. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Demolition proceeds on the Diamond V Mills plant in Cedar Rapids in October 2024. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
A deep trench is seen Dec. 31, 2024, where one of the homes had been located on G Avenue NW. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Only the mailbox remains of 408 G Ave. NW in Cedar Rapids on Dec. 31, 2024. (photo/Cindy Hadish)