T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY During Monday night’s meeting, the Marshalltown city council and City Administrator Carol Webb discussed the potential of updating the city’s comprehensive plan and housing studies in hopes of receiving the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s (IEDA’s) designation as a Thriving Community, which would increase opportunities for new housing projects. The Creekside Estates townhomes, pictured, are currently under construction just off of South 6th Street, and when the first phase of the project is finished, 24 market-rate units will be created.

After discussing the details and considering sources of funding, the Marshalltown city council informally agreed to move forward with updating the city’s housing study in hopes of receiving state grant funding through the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Thriving Communities Program by a unanimous vote during Monday night’s meeting.

City Administrator Carol Webb explained that the program was relatively new, having only been launched within the last few years, to recognize communities with strong planning efforts and proactive approaches to supporting the development of additional housing. The designation, she said, would put the city in a better position for state and federal grants related to housing, infrastructure and economic development — which she described as a “real, tangible benefit” for participating.

“Cities that are designated as thriving communities get a lot of interest from developers, so just having the designation really supports developers being interested in building in your community. And then you get the benefit of connecting and partnering with other communities that have received this type of designation,” Webb said.

In the memo attached to the council packet, she included the criteria for the designation and focused on two of them: comprehensive planning and housing strategy, which is typically articulated through a housing study. The city’s current comprehensive plan was completed in 2012, and its housing study was completed in 2017. The Thriving Communities program calls for a study that is less than five years old, and Webb called it “good practice” to update the comprehensive plan at least once every 10 years.

From there, she asked councilors if they would be supportive of funding new studies, which could be paid for using Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) or Tax Increment Financing (TIF) dollars, and said a housing study could be coordinated with the county or another partner entity.

While noting the city’s difficult current financial position and expressing concern about spending more LOST than is being taken in, Councilor Greg Nichols advocated for “a forward look” that would promote Marshalltown as a place to live. Fellow Councilor Mike Ladehoff agreed.

“Anything that could push us forward, put us in the spotlight, draw attention to Marshalltown is worth looking at if the city administrator would want to bring us back how she would propose funding it so we can pass it,” Ladehoff said. “I think it’s a good idea.”

Councilor Gary Thompson asked Webb if there was any ongoing fee once the designation is secured, and she did not believe there would be — only some likely costs associated with the application.

During the public comment period, Dave Grieve said that he felt the council had no choice but to pursue the designation in order to secure “bonus bucks.”

“You’ve gotta find a way to fund it, and it’s always a wise idea to have your economic strategy reevaluated on a continuing basis,” he said. “Twelve is too old, obviously, so I’m in favor of doing this, but it is a double edged sword. Iowa Economic Development is kinda telling us ‘You’ve gotta play the game if you want to play.’ So you’ve gotta play the game.”

Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall then stepped forward and said he was glad to see the item before the council, adding that he would have liked to be pursuing it last year but didn’t feel the time was right due to instability at city hall without a city administrator or housing and community development director in place. He provided more details on the application process and what the designation could mean for Marshalltown.

“What’s been interesting as I’ve watched it unfold (is that) those communities do see an outpouring of developers interested. On average, they go from maybe one project every three to four years that has been able to take advantage of those (tax) credits to about three or four projects in that year,” he said. “It is a one-year designation, so the expectation is that if we get it, we have to line up everything necessary to capitalize on it for that one year.”

The application requires the identification of parcels and areas of property ripe for development, and Hall mentioned downtown as a prime opportunity to add more upper story housing.

“Knowing the number of low-income housing tax credit projects we’ve had within our downtown, I think it’s important to diversify the income ranges within our downtown in order to support retail and restaurant development throughout the remainder of downtown,” he said.

The workforce housing tax credits don’t have an income restriction but rather a cost restriction on how much can be spent per unit. Hall touted public-private partnerships like the Chamber’s Make Marshalltown Home tax credit as the type of incentive that plays well with the state, and he hoped updating the comprehensive plan and the housing study would put the city in a strong position to secure the designation.

Councilor Barry Kell asked Hall how it would impact workforce recruitment and retention for major employers, and he traced some of the history of the current housing study and its modification after the 2018 tornado. He referenced a developer interested in the former hospital property with housing as a component of the project but said they would like to see an updated study before making a decision on how to proceed.

“We need to see what that true need looks like. We can put anecdotal evidence in front of them time and time again. We can connect them to every HR director in the city and county. At the end of the day, they’re gonna look for that hard resource,” Hall said.

Thompson wondered if in-fill development was frowned on in the scoring process for the program, and Hall said it was actually elevated “significantly” as opposed to greenfield development, referencing the Creekside Estates project scoring well because it was a more ready site. He also predicted downtown projects would fare well as existing buildings are preferred.

“I would expect that if we can position everything well, large existing buildings within our downtown would probably be the most favorable to receive workforce housing tax credits, and then infill development would probably be the next best opportunity,” Hall said. “Where we would probably lack is buildings that would have room for two to five units instead of larger buildings that could maximize the tax credit.”

Councilor Melisa Fonseca asked what positive results came from the 2017 housing study, and Hall didn’t feel that he was the best person to speak on it as he didn’t arrive in Marshalltown until 2021. From his understanding, the natural disasters put a significant dent in the progress, but he did point to the commitment to incentives for single-family housing and a development on Merle Hibbs Boulevard as examples.

Fonseca also wondered if the designation would primarily be supporting more rentals, and Webb hoped the updated study would address the community’s gaps and how developers and builders could address them.

“I think there’s a lot of potential here for us to really learn something and get some really specific ideas to increase housing in the community,” Webb said.

In response, Fonseca said the city needed more rentals, but she felt that homeownership is a better pathway to generational wealth and wished to see it promoted for the sake of Marshalltown’s longevity.

Mayor Joel Greer cited some recent redevelopments like the Tallcorn and Iowa Wholesale buildings along with new builds on State and Linn streets for low-income housing, but he also cited a need for higher-end housing. Hall then noted that the Crosby Park and Creekside Estates projects came after the last study.

In response to another question from Nichols about infill development, Hall said the city would likely focus on one area (downtown) in conjunction with the designation and mentioned a study Webb had led in the city she formerly oversaw, Muscatine, describing it as a much heavier lift than the 2017 Marshalltown study.

Webb touted the idea of a partnership between the city — particularly new Housing and Community Development Director Deb Millizer — the Chamber and other individuals in town with interest and expertise in developing more housing. Without a formal motion or vote, Webb agreed to explore funding sources for the studies and return to the council once she had secured that information.

——

Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.