Charles City attracts another new potential housing development

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Council met with a prospective new housing developer during its regular workshop meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

Chase Hauschilt of Kading Properties is a housing developer who has expressed interest in constructing new homes on the parcels north of the newly finished 13th Street.

Based in Urbandale, Kading Properties develops, constructs, and manages its properties, keeping everything in-house. It has built more that a dozen developments in the state, mostly near Des Moines and the surrounding area.

In Charles City, a potential development could include a number of two- or three-bedroom houses with attached garages, priced to meet the median income range for the area. However, in such an early phase, exact details of a development regarding how many houses could be built or what they would be would be premature, he said.

“There’s a lot of unknowns on the land right now,” said Hauschilt.

Before anything, Kading would be seeking an award of workforce housing tax credits through the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Applications for the tax credit will open in early February with a deadline of June and an expected announcement of awards in August.

Charles City’s designation as a “Thriving Community” has made it attractive to developers by granting projects in the city additional weight in favor of these tax credit applications.

“The applications are extremely competitive and every point helps,” said Hauschilt.

A housing development from Kading in the area would be the second housing project, as Commonwealth Development Corp. is moving forward with the construction of a 40-unit apartment complex on the south side of 13th Street.

On the subject of 13th Street, the council reviewed the completion of the extension project, which is slated to be approved at the next meeting.

“It’s been a good project,” said City Engineer John Fallis. “And it’s already paying dividends.”

Not only has the extension of 13th Street encouraged interest in two housing development projects and facilitated a land swap agreement between the city and Floyd County Medical Center, the project was completed for 6.2% less than originally bid, coming in at $310,779.70.

In other business, the council discussed the software that the city uses to manage its finances. The financial software gWorks, which the city has utilized since 2012, is in the process of moving to a cloud-based platform and is offering to waive its on-boarding for a two-year contract.

City Administrator Steve Diers recommended taking advantage of the opportunity and continuing to use the service.

“We have enough transition going on right now as it is,” said Diers.

Budget season also continues, as the council reviewed the city’s TIF district funds, transit budget, and library budget for the upcoming year.

Most notable about the library budget is the reduction of $23,000 in revenue following the state’s elimination of the voter-approved Library Tax Levy. Among other things, the library is reducing its budget for books and DVDs by $11,800, its budget for children’s supplies by $2,750 and its budget for capital equipment by $3,450.

The library will also be increasing its cost to rent the Zastrow Room to $50.