IEDA is awarding $1 million to the City of Marshalltown for use in its Community Catalyst Building Remediation Program.

“The city will have contracts with the sub-recipients, who will be building owners,” City Administrator Jessica Kinser said. “We’re really looking for multiple projects that are going to have an impact on downtown — beyond just a business reopening or a new facade — there needs to be an additional taxable value, reuse in the building, potential for residential units, etc.”

The following are requirements for eligibility for a Catalyst Building grant:

• The property must be located in the Marshalltown Central Business District

• The applicant(s) must be the property owner or have an option or accepted purchase agreement on a property before an award could be made.

• The applicant(s) must have met and consulted with the Marshalltown Central Business District and Martha Green, historic architect prior to the Pre-Application being submitted.

• The requested funding must be $25,000 or greater.

The pre-applications will be reviewed by a committee that will then recommend who among the applicants should apply.

“Before they put in their pre-application, they need to talk to Martha and me about their project,” MCBD Director Jenny Etter said. “Because then, we could talk about what we know would fly and wouldn’t. We talk about materials with them, building code and those things to make sure they’re on the right page from the very beginning.”

Etter may be reached at 641-844-2001 and director@marshalltownmainstreet.org.

In addition to the $1 million grant, it was also announced that the IFA is making $1 million in low-interest loans available through its Main Street Loan program in partnership with IEDA’s Main Street Iowa program. Marshalltown business owners may apply for loans, ranging from $50,000-$250,000 to assist in the rehabilitation of residential and commercial properties or for new construction in downtown areas.

“With some projects, we’ll probably see there will be funding gaps, and the IFA has this Main Street Mortgage Loan program they thought would give people in Marshalltown another lending option,” Kinser said.

IEDA and IFA programs have provided a combined $3 million to support Marshalltown recovery efforts. This support includes a High Quality Jobs project awarded by the IEDA Board in January to RACOM, which designs, installs and maintains technologies involved in emergency response situations. RACOM plans to expand, adding five jobs in the next couple of years as it rebounds from the July 19 tornado.

“Our plans are to make the building newer, nicer, bigger and stronger, and that resonated with the state, and also Tom Deimerly at Marshall Economic Development reached out to us,” RACOM President Mike Miller said. “We will get $200,000 in tax credits and sales tax refunds.”

The pre-application may be viewed here: www.marshalltown-ia.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=393

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at

641-753-6611 or

sjordan@timesrepublican.com