State economic development director Durham visits Fairfield

FAIRFIELD — “I enjoy Fairfield, which is why I’m spending my whole day here.”

That line was uttered by Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham during her visit to Fairfield Tuesday, which included a full day of meeting with local developers, business leaders and tourism officials. Durham visited the newly renovated Louden Lofts apartment complex on West Broadway Avenue, and North Campus Village, the expanding housing development on the north side of Fairfield.

In the afternoon, she dined at Fishback & Stephenson Cider House where she talked to a roundtable of local CEOs from different industries. She toured Creative Edge Master Shop, which has made significant investments in its operations in recent years. She met with Visit Fairfield Iowa Tourism Executive Director Terry Baker.

Durham said she likes visiting Fairfield because she can feel the community’s passion for problem-solving and its vision for growth.

“You make things happen for yourself,” she said.

Durham got to see the newly finished Petra Park across from the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.

“I love that pocket park downtown,” she said. “I’m constantly seeing Fairfield deliver on great projects.”

Fairfield Economic Development Association Executive Director Joshua Laraby organized Durham’s itinerary. He said he wanted to highlight a number of advances the community is making in workforce housing, child care and the future of tourism.

During Durham’s visit to Louden Lofts, she heard about all of the partners who came together to make the apartment complex a success. It was a long list:

Through these partnerships, the 1910 building that began as Louden Machinery was converted into 44 loft apartments, 39 of which are affordable-income units.

North Campus Village is a housing complex being built by Vastu Partners and DRB Contracting that began in 2001 and contains more than 118 Maharishi Vastu homes, with still more homes under construction.

Martin Brett of Vastu Partners told Durham that the rapid development of the housing complex would not have been possible without the workforce housing tax credit from the state.

“I wouldn’t have had the nerve to be this aggressive on pricing,” Brett said. “When you’re aggressive on pricing, the sales come in quickly. That means you can plan for more housing at a time and reap the benefits of economies of scale.”

Brett said he is indebted to the housing needs assessment, a document published by the city of Fairfield, FEDA and Area 15 Regional Planning Commission. He said that document was an important piece in his successful application for workforce housing tax credits.

Durham said that she expects the Iowa Legislature to increase the workforce housing tax credit. It is now $25 million a year, with $10 million set aside for rural communities and the other $15 million for urban ones.