JB Conlin, the chief executive officer of Conlin Properties, which built and manages the complex, said he talked to Mayor Joel Greer the day the tornado ripped through the downtown.

“I saw him on the news, and we had been through a disaster ourselves,” he said. “I called and said ‘What do you need? What can we help with?’ He said, ‘Housing. That’s the first thing we need.'”

Three days later, Greer was in Des Moines with two city councilmen to tour a Conlin Properties complex. Then Conlin came to Marshalltown to identify a few sites which might be suitable for new apartments. He said they purchased a site from UnityPoint Hospital, across the street from Wolfe Eye Clinic on East Church Street.

“It was just a flat parking lot, but we liked the size of it,” Conlin said. “We filled every inch of the space with buildings. That’s good for us from an operational cost standpoint because that allows us to have a little lower operational costs.”

T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM — Conlin Properties Chief Executive Officer JB Conlin talks about the history of opening the Clock Tower Apartments complex next to Wolfe Eye Clinic in downtown Marshalltown. He hosted a ribbon cutting and open house of the facility on Tuesday.

Then the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic struck. Materials for Clock Tower were tucked away in a warehouse, and Conlin said it was filled to the brim with carpet, washers, dryers and appliances.

“Lo and behold, we didn’t have electrical equipment,” he said. “That was the thing that held us up the most.”

Fourteen months after construction began, residents were able to move into the property in July.

“It took us some time, but we got here and I am really proud of this building,” Conlin said.

He wanted to give the Clock Tower a feeling of not being lower-income, even though that is the clientele it is intended to serve. For example, Conlin ensured each unit had a washer and dryer and plenty of closet space, along with open space for the residents, who must be at least 55 years old. The community room has an electric fireplace and a sizable flat-screen television. The elevators are big enough for at least five people to fit in comfortably. All of the 42 units in the complex are filled, including the five market-rate apartments.

He wanted to highlight that Conlin Properties has built complexes in many communities, and Marshalltown proved to be the most welcoming and supportive.

“That’s a testament to the folks you have working in City Hall, the folks on the council,” Conlin said. “We are very thankful for that. When there was a problem, which there always is in construction, they worked with us and found a solution, as opposed to just saying ‘Figure it out on your own.’ That helped us get here a little quicker.”

Greer attended the ribbon cutting and the open house and said the Clock Tower is a wonderful facility.

“We really appreciate the fact that you decided to come up to Marshalltown and duplicate what you’ve done in Des Moines,” he said.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210

or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.