“It was just exactly right in the middle for both of us,” he said.

Ridge has been in the construction business since 1984 and done everything from carpentry all the way up to development, and he’s currently in the process of completing his first project in the community he now calls home: Creekside Townhomes just off of South 6th Street between Wayward Social and Kwik Star near the American Legion Golf Course. The first phase will create 24 market rate, three-bedroom, 2 bathroom townhome rental units (just under 1,500 square feet each) with the goal of attracting more young professionals and young families to move to Marshalltown. The units will all have their own garages and include a fireplace.

With the downturn in the commercial market over the last few years, Ridge said he has primarily focused on residential multifamily developments like this one, which will be situated on the newly constructed Creekside Lane.

“It’s certainly better to be able to do something in your own backyard. You see it every day,” he said. “I think (the units) will fill up fairly quickly… I definitely think it will be an improvement and help out with more market rate housing.”

The phase one townhomes are expected to be ready for occupancy by the middle of this summer, and with the prime location and continued development of the trail system in the area, Ridge believes it will provide “plenty of options” for tenants who choose to live there. Looking forward, he is still exploring further residential development at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Commercial Edge Construction, Ridge’s other business, is serving as the general contractor on the project. The total investment is estimated at over $5 million, and last August, the T-R reported that the Creekside Townhomes will receive nearly $800,000 in state tax incentives through the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA).

The Creekside development is not the first of its kind in the area, as Joe and Janelle Carter purchased the site of the old Crosby Pool just south of the bowling alley back in 2016 and have since developed the Crosby Park apartment complex. The husband and wife duo admitted that their plan for higher-priced rentals was met with some initial skepticism, but Joe, who serves as president and CEO of MARSHALLTOWN Company, believed strongly in attracting engineers and other skilled professionals to live in the community as opposed to commuting from a larger metropolitan area.

“I was tired of losing new hires, especially new hires straight out of college. They’d stay in Ames or they’d move to Ankeny or they’d move to Des Moines because they didn’t want to buy a house, and they’d look around Marshalltown and they’d say ‘Well, there isn’t really anything that’s nice enough. We want something nicer.’ So that was my impetus,” he said. “(Janelle) said ‘Well, why don’t you stop complaining and actually do something about it?’ So she did.”

Joe recalled being contacted by American Legion leadership about the possibility of acquiring the property and envisioning it as a great place to put up apartments. The couple said yes and started the process of developing it into its current form.

“There were plenty of people through the time that we built it who said ‘You’ll never get high-end rates’ (and) ‘People won’t pay that here.’ And the numbers didn’t look really good when we first got started,” he said. “But I think it turned out to be a very worthwhile (project). Janelle’s always full at Crosby Park. We very rarely have vacancies. It’s nice to see.”

In total, there are 35 housing units at Crosby Park with a mix of two bedroom, small three bedroom and large three bedroom apartments. Construction started in the fall of 2018, and tenants moved into the first apartments in August of 2019. Peter Cutler’s Cutler Construction Company served as the general contractor.

Five and a half years later, the Carters are excited to see other developers like Ridge and Kading Properties, who put up townhomes on Washington Street, following their lead. In their view, it boils down to a simple reality — the community still needs more.

“The more we can offer, the better we can be as a community. There’s no concern about competition or anything like that,” Janelle said. “It’s the right thing, so I’m thrilled about the Ridge (project). They look very nice. It’s been fun to watch them go up. I commend them for doing that in the middle of the winter.”

The Carters, who also developed upper story housing at the old Willard-Hopkins building downtown, don’t have any new projects on the horizon currently, but they are actively seeking a commercial tenant to fill the former Willard space at 36 W. Main St. As her husband noted, Janelle is always looking to tweak and improve the properties they already own, and Joe’s next major goal is to attract a higher-end hotel to the community for business travelers.

And Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall, whose organization now occupies the former Hopkins building at 34 W. Main St., agrees wholeheartedly with the Carters about the continued need in the community.

“Routinely, we hear that one of the biggest impediments to workforce recruitment and retention is the lack of available housing. We have seen tremendous progress on development of incentivized housing with income restrictions but have lagged on our market rate and workforce housing development. The projects that have been completed by the Carters, the Kading Company, and now being worked on by Brian Ridge have started to catch our market up with the demand, but we know we need more,” Hall said. “Their success continues to demonstrate the value of investing in Marshalltown and showcases that the market is here for anyone willing to make that investment. We hope to see more projects like this developing over the next several years and will be working closely with the City to position ourselves as competitively as possible to attract more housing development.”