116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Former GoDaddy building to be Cedar Rapids Prep middle school
The new charter school intends to expand to a location in Hiawatha in its second year of operations
Dec. 18, 2025 9:53 am
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HIAWATHA — Cedar Rapids Prep charter school intends to expand to a second location with plans to purchase the former GoDaddy building in Hiawatha for its middle school.
The Hiawatha City Council Wednesday approved Cedar Rapids Prep’s request to rezone the property from CRP-3 to C-ORS, allowing for it to be used as a school.
“We need to be able to serve up to 350 middle school students next year as well as a class of between 100 and 150 ninth-graders,” said Principal Justin Blietz. “We don’t have the space in our current lease agreement.”
Cedar Rapids Prep already has informed families that it intends to move the middle school from its temporary space at the former Transamerica tower at 4515 North River Blvd. NE to the GoDaddy site for the 2026-27 school year.
The school on North River Boulevard then will be the site of the high school — which will initially serve only ninth-graders — next school year.
Background
This is Cedar Rapids Prep’s first year, after opening its doors to about 260 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in August. Higher grade levels will be added each year up through 12th grade.
Charter schools are tuition-free schools that are publicly funded, but independently run under an approved charter with the state. In Iowa, charter schools receive per-pupil aid from the state, just like public schools.
Cedar Rapids Prep is leasing space in the former Transamerica building for three years with an option to renew for an additional two years. They spent $6 million on renovations to get the space ready for middle school students for the current school year, Blietz said.
Cedar Rapids Prep initially intended to have a single campus for middle and high school built on 19 acres of land adjacent to the former Transamerica site. The purchase of that property by Cedar Rapids Prep is not yet finalized, said James Troupis, chief of schools with Opportunity Education, the parent company of Cedar Rapids Prep.
“Priority one was getting the school ready for this year, and then we were out of room,” Troupis said. “Our new priority is to get space for the middle school.”
Blietz said for the last six months, the school has attempted to negotiate a price for the former Transamerica building as well, but they have not come to an agreement.
The former GoDaddy building is a 73,000 square-foot building built in 1991 and remodeled in 2017. It housed more than 400 GoDaddy workers in 2020. In 2022, the company shared plans to downsize and move to smaller office space because of workforce changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
GoDaddy moved into the Armstrong Centre in downtown Cedar Rapids, 222 Third Ave. SE.
The Hiawatha building was sold in December 2023 for $3.1 million to a development group comprised of Doug and Chris Sevey of Enseva LLC, Mike and Andy Hodge of Hodge Construction, and Bill and Tracy Bennett, according to the Linn County Assessor’s Office.
The building initially was listed at $8.43 million in 2022 and later reduced to $7.025 million in October 2023, according to Loop Net.
What’s happened since?
Troupis said Cedar Rapids Prep is under contract to purchase the former GoDaddy building and property. He said he cannot yet share how much they are paying for the building and surrounding property.
“We spent five hours with architects on the site (last week) walking every foot of that space. We had a small army in that building because we need to flip it around and have it ready for kids by August,” Troupis said. “We are at the finish line.”
Blietz called the former GoDaddy site a “mission aligned space.”
Blietz said the Hiawatha facility needs some renovations, but existing features like the “beautiful cafeteria” matches the “feel and aesthetic we’re seeking,” he said.
“I refer to it almost like a Google-type space. It has a slide in the building from the second to the first floor. It’s very modern. It will be appealing to students and families. We’re excited it will allow us to serve our families in an authentic way and continue to grow without having to pause due to the constraints of our current lease agreement,” Blietz said.
Plans for construction on the Hiawatha property include a gymnasium and football and soccer field, Blietz said.
Blietz said while he intends to remain principal of both the middle and high school, there will be an associate principal and other additional staff hired to meet the needs of the growing student body.
“We believe students are having a great experience. We’ll be adding a new group of sixth-graders next year, and we’re seeing high demand for that class, Blietz said.
Grace Nieland of The Gazette contributed to this report.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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