Revitalization grant brings $300,000 to Washington

WASHINGTON — Recently announced state grants to downtown housing developments across Iowa include a $300,000 allocation to the city of Washington, for renovations above the Washington Evening Journal building.

“An adequate housing supply is the (linchpin) to attracting and retaining a healthy and flourishing workforce,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a news release announcing the $20 million of grant money around the state. “The investments announced today will not only provide 466 Iowans the opportunity to live near where they work but they will breathe new life into dozens of underutilized facilities in our communities.”

While Washington’s grant application was a group effort, Main Street Executive Director Sarah Grunewaldt led the charge.

“When this was announced, we pulled together … Kelsey Brown and Sally Hart from the city, myself, Mary Audia from WEDG, and then Dave and Andy from DW Developments really stepped up and said, ‘We want to do a project,’” Grunewaldt said.

Grunewaldt said the revitalization grant was a much-needed investment.

“Housing is a hot-button issue in every community … we have about a 2% vacancy rate in our community,” she said. “We have about six to eight people weekly that come into our office looking for our landlord list trying to add housing. This adds four units that are nice sized, that are market rate, that are workforce housing, that have never been housing before … so adding four more units that have never been present before is a huge deal.”

The project will net four new apartments in the city, according to Grunewaldt: two double bedrooms and two studios.

The grant came with some strings attached, including requirement for matching investments from the community.

“Earlier this spring, city council approved $25,000 of our Downtown Investment Grant money as part of the local money,” Grunewaldt said. “And then the developers themselves are putting up (the remainder,) and then the project’s total cost is closer to $500,000.”

A representative from D.W. Development — which owns the building rented by the Southeast Iowa Union — said the project had been a goal for a while now.

“We renovated the downstairs and wanted to do something upstairs eventually, we just didn’t have the funds,” he said. “An opportunity like this came along … and it just fit us perfect. It’s going to be a fun project.”

Still, Grunewaldt said the city would have to keep its focus on housing moving forward.

“It’s a drop in the bucket for what we need here in Washington, but it is a start, and it’s part of that housing initiative,” she said. “Overall, it’s a really good step in the right direction.”

For now, the city is waiting on the contract from the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Once it’s signed, Grunewaldt said developers had a roughly two-year deadline, but that she expected an earlier completion date.

“I think with this crew and their past history of doing projects, we’re probably looking at nine months to a year at the most for the four units to be ready,” she said. “They’ve done several other projects … phase I of the Journal building was done by them, they’ve also done the town homes that are over by Fareway and the lofts on Iowa above those storefronts.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com