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Iowa Wesleyan campus being repurposed
Not long ago, the future for the former campus remained uncertain. A year later, change appears on the horizon
MT. PLEASANT — Just over a year after the announcement of Iowa Wesleyan University closing, progress in the repurposing of a large chunk of the former campus buildings moves forward.
Thursday morning, April 4, Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Mike Norris and developer Christopher Ales met with the Henry County Board of Supervisors to discuss the continued redevelopment of Iowa Wesleyan property.
According to the Beacon property database, Ales, as part of the ownership group IWU Mt. Pleasant, LLC, purchased six buildings on IW campus last October. Ales explained his intention for these buildings is to repurpose them into affordable housing and keep them from becoming a blight in the community.
“Rachel [Lindeen] and I were talking the other day and [realized] last week was the one year anniversary of the announcement to close,” Norris said. “And it really feels like a lot longer than that. And maybe shorter at times, but I think we're all surprised at the amount of progress that has been made to find owners for the campus and see the progress on redevelopment plans. This is all really great news not only for Mt. Pleasant, but for Henry County and probably Southeast Iowa, too.”
The primary purpose for this discussion revolved around a request for the supervisors’ support of Ales’ application to the state for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to begin work on renovating one of these properties: Hershey Hall.
“What we have in front of us today is a support resolution with a lot of details to offer a TIF incentive for the Hershey Hall redevelopment,” Norris explained.
According to Norris, Ales and his group intend to invest approximately $6.8 million to develop approximately 22 apartments in Hershey Hall. These units will be a blend of two-three bedrooms with all major appliances and at least 90% of use will qualify as low to moderate income housing.
As Ales looks to beginning work on making this idea a reality, he will submit an application for that TIF incentive with the supervisors’ support, given at Thursday’s meeting. If approved the proposed TIF would give Ales’ project an 80% cut on paying taxes on the property for 15 years.
According to the supervisors, TIF incentives are common practice for bringing new businesses into communities, and even with the TIF, Henry County will begin to receive money from the IW properties they have never received before due to the university’s tax-exempt status previously.
“We remain optimistic based on communication that I’ve had with Iowa Finance Authority,” Ales said about receiving approval of his TIF application.
Ales hopes to receive approval of the application by the state in July and construction on Hershey Hall could then begin as early as next spring with apartments ready for occupants as early as the end of 2025. However, Ales acknowledged that sometimes these applications require multiple submissions before they are accepted.
“We’re certainly committed to resubmitting if we need to, but I believe we have support from the top down,” Ales said. “I believe Debbi Durhamn, the director at [Iowa Economic Development Authority] and all her staff as well are all supportive of the community and acknowledge that it needs some help from the state to address some challenges that have surfaced in the last year or so. I think people see this as one of the ways they can help, and they encouraged me to submit the application.”
In addition to the support Ales says he has at the state level and the county supervisors, he received more words of encouragement at the Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting from an IW alumni and Mt. Pleasant resident.
“As a member of the community, as an alum of Iowa Wesleyan, and as a past employee of Iowa Wesleyan for 30 years, I thank you for doing something like this,” Mike Hampton said. “I think this is going to be great for the community, great for Southeast Iowa. It’s great. … There are people out there that really like to see something being done with the campus.”
Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com
