Homes for Iowa an option in housing shortage

MARENGO — Iowa County Community Development visited southern Iowa recently to look at a housing option that might help with the Iowa County housing shortage.

Kristie Wetjen, president of the Community Development Board, told Iowa County Supervisors last week that board members visited Corydon to see its Homes for Iowa.

Wayne County had two units at the time, Wetjen said. “They were waiting to see what the demand really was.”

The county seat town received a donation of ground and a $1 million gift for infrastructure, said Wegjen. It requested additional floor plans from Homes for Iowa so that all of the units won’t be identical.

Homes for Iowa is a public-private partnership with Iowa Prison Industries, its website says. Launched in 2019, the program moved its first home to Jefferson in January of 2020. As of mid-2023, Homes for Iowa had built, sold and moved 69 homes.

The homes are built near the Newton Correctional Release Facility south of Newton by Iowa Prison Industries, which trains minimum-security offenders in construction. The houses are sold to pay for the training.

Housing for Iowa sells the homes, manages the sales orders and coordinates moving logistic.

Homes are delivered in one piece. The buyer takes care of lot preparation — grading, excavation, the foundation and installation of utilities.

The homes feature Pella windows, Quality cabinetry, high-efficiency furnaces and air conditioners, electric water heaters, main-floor laundry hookups and fresh air exchangers with heat recovery.

Housing for Iowa is made possible by investments from the State of Iowa through American Rescue Plan Act funds, its website says.

“We do have more buyers than houses,” said Trent Forrest, a Community Development board member and an Iowa County real estate agent. People need houses they can afford, but those houses have to be suitable for their families,” he said.

“Affordable to you is different than what is affordable to me,” Wetjen said.

Community Betterment isn’t a developer, said Wetjen. It makes connections, helping people who have lots find people who can put in infrastructure and build homes.

Because Homes for Iowa caps the profit for developers at 10%, some developers may not be interested in the program. “It’s not for every developer,” said Forrest. It takes someone who can see the value in small communities.

“You can make a little money off them,” said Forrest. But a developer won’t get rich off them.

A shortage of housing is detrimental when a municipality tries to entice business and industry, said Christy. But labor is also a challenge for Iowa County; it’s in the same labor shed as Iowa City.

Though the cost of living is higher in the Iowa City area, so are the salaries, Supervisor Alan Schumacher said. Maintaining essential services, such as law enforcement, is a challenge when people can go 20 miles west and make more money.

But Wetjen noted that employers are looking at quality of life for their employees as well — good schools and reliable internet (another project Iowa County Community Development has in the works).

Still, the county can’t attract businesses without housing for employees.

“This isn’t happening overnight,” said Wetjen. Iowa County Community Development has to be patient and keep plugging away.