Making Robin Run

MT. PLEASANT - When Dan Williams purchased 10 acres of land in Mt. Pleasant as an investment 14 years ago, he never imagined he'd help develop it into a housing community, or that he would be one of its first residents.

Williams, who grew up in Mt. Pleasant but spent most of his adult life in California, began traveling back to Iowa once a year over two decades ago in hopes of reintegrating into the community.

'This is kind of home to me, so I've been coming back the last 23 years, reconnecting with my old high school friends and just enjoying the community,” Williams said.

Alongside his wife, Robin, Williams was hoping to move back to the area.

'We wanted to be part of Mt. Pleasant … we were going to live part-time here because the grandkids were growing older. We wanted to be able to bring them out to enjoy it,” Williams explained.

Their desire to become part of the community inspired their decision to buy the 10 acre property that sits along Iris St. and E. Linden Dr., one they hoped to develop into something that would 'improve and contribute to Mt. Pleasant.”

However, their plans to move back to Iowa and oversee such a project was put on pause when Robin was diagnosed with leukemia and advanced ovarian cancer.

'She battled it for eight years,” Williams said.

Even as the couple remained in California, Williams would hold meetings with potential developers, but over the span of about 12 years, 'couldn't seem to be able to get anything locked in.”

At one point, Williams reached out to the University of Iowa asking for guidance on how to get a study done on 'highest and best use” of the land. A professor offered to teach a class using the property, through which a report, later presented to the Mt. Pleasant City Council, found providing 'affordable and quality homes,” would be the most efficient use.

'I had always thought about a strip or something,” Williams said of his surprise at the study's findings.

But when Sid Davis of Davis Homes reached out to Williams just several years after that study was completed with a vision that matched the goals of the report, Williams felt like he had found a partner. Davis Homes builds manufactured homes, something Williams was not familiar with.

'His idea coincided with the result of the study,” Williams said, 'I had never thought of manufactured or modular homes. I was never interested in them, but what he was talking about was interesting.”

The pair ended up partnering financially and hired a consultant from Michigan, who put together the concept of the community, which is now known as Robin Run.

'When [Sid] called me,[Robin] was in hospice and I could not come here at all. After she passed away, which will be three years ago on the 9th of May [in 2017], I got in my car and in June, I drove out here,” Williams said.

As much as the trip out was for him to 'do his homework” and continue figuring out how to proceed with the project, it was also to determine whether he would make a permanent move out to Mt. Pleasant. He said to himself he would make a more final decision after living in the area for a year.

'I came out on kind of a reconnaissance tour,” Williams said. When he arrived in town, Williams called Davis to arrange a meeting.

'I said, ‘I'm going to be busy because I'm looking at some rentals,' and he goes, ‘oh are you buying some property?' and I said ‘No, I'm thinking about living here,'” he added. Davis immediately referred Williams to a manufactured home his company had just completed on Warren St.

Before moving back to Mt. Pleasant, Williams had never lived in a manufactured home.

'I just thought, if we're going to do this deal, it would be good for me to live here,” Williams said.

Following his move in 2017, it was a yearlong process working with the city, having ordinances changed and other necessary preparations to get approval for the project.

'I worked very closely with [building and zoning administrator] Jack Swarm, and city council and the neighbors, getting a consensus on approval of the process and we got it approved,” Williams said. In total, the development is a five year project.

As the group began preparing to enter the beginning of development, Williams became aware of 'tremendous tax bills,” which prompted Williams to do a 1035 exchange on two properties and transfer ownership of his original land purchase. But even since moving on from being an owner, Williams stayed on to help work on the development.

'The longer I worked here, [the Davis'] asked if they could name the development after her. I just, I couldn't believe it, what an honor. And that's how the name ‘Robin Run' came into being,” William said.

In mid-March, Williams moved into his own home in the community, a two-bedroom, 1404 sq.-foot manufactured home.

'I never thought I would live here but the more I worked, the more attached I became to the place because of my late wife. And I just thought to myself, ‘I'm rattling around in that big house by myself. I have to mow it, I have to do this. I think I'll just move over here and keep it simple,'” Williams said.

All 53 houses at Robin Run will be manufactured homes built on a foundation and will include a leasing fee for the land, which means homeowners will not need to pay property tax.

'If this were regular property tax, I would pay probably around $1800 to $1900 a year. I pay $200 in taxes a year, and it's a school use tax. I don't own the land, I pay $350 a month for a lease on the land. That includes mowing and garbage removal,” Williams said of some of the advantages of living in the community.

'The people who are going to buy here are either going to purchase an existing model or they're going to order their own custom home,” Williams explained. For him, some of his favorite parts of his home is 'the quality upgrades,” including the farm sink in his kitchen and his master bedroom and bathroom. Other features include luxury vinyl flooring and granite countertops. Many of the homes start at $85,000.

'These are affordable homes. I see older people who are interested, but we've also seen many younger families starting out,” Williams said of who he anticipates will be interested in moving into the area as development continues to grow. As of right now, Williams is one of just several residents who have already moved in.

'I love it. It's the right size for me,” Williams added of his new home.