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Urbandale developer visits Fairfield
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – Fairfield could receive a huge boost to its housing stock from an Urbandale developer.
The business Kading Properties sent a team to tour Fairfield on Thursday, July 17 to see if the town is a good fit for its multi-family units, which often include four-plexes and six-plexes and can be tailored to meet the needs of each community.
CEO Karie Kading Ramsey said her company chose Fairfield to be one of the five towns to visit on its 2025 Hometown Tour, inspired by its “vision and its commitment to building a stronger future for residents and workers alike.”
“Our Hometown Tour allows us to connect more deeply with communities like Fairfield by listening, learning, and identifying how workforce housing can serve as a catalyst for economic development and revitalization,” Ramsey said.
Kading told The Union that the key factors her company is looking for in deciding which towns to develop in include the presence of a clear need for workforce housing, diverse employment opportunities that align with their target audience, and strong collaboration between Kading and local community leaders and officials.
The company builds units for leasing, and currently operates about 2,500 units in 23 Iowa communities, and another three in development. The other four towns the company is visiting this summer are Webster City, Mason City, Denison and Fort Dodge. Ramsey said she couldn’t say when the company will decide how many of these will be developed in, but added that it normally takes about 18 months from the start of development until the units are ready for leasing.
Kading’s tour of Fairfield included visiting the town’s largest employers, child care centers, schools and city facilities. Later that afternoon, they heard from Fairfield school superintendent Zach Wigle speak about the need for housing for the district’s new teachers, and from business leaders who spoke about the high percentage of their employees who commute into town.
Grow Fairfield Executive Director Ed Malloy said it was great to see a company like Kading Properties take an interest in Fairfield, since its rental communities average about 100 units.
“That’s a big commitment and a big investment from an outside developer,” he said.
Malloy said one fact about Fairfield that makes it a good candidate for a housing developer is that it doesn’t depend on a single large employer, but instead has multiple large and medium businesses such as Cambridge Investment Research, Agri-Industrial Plastics, TrafFix Devices, Dexter Laundry and many others. Fairfield also has Jefferson County Health Center which employs about 380 people, and the Fairfield Community School District employing another 320.
Chace Hauschilt, Kading project manager, said Thursday’s visit was his first time in Fairfield, and he was impressed with the town’s art scene, its downtown flowers, and its business community, especially after learning how many business owners want to stay in Fairfield.
“That means Fairfield is doing something right,” he said. “Overall, we got a very positive outlook on Fairfield today.”
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
