CONRAD — Conrad city leaders and representatives from Origin Homes celebrated another milestone in the small community as the West Des Moines-based company broke ground on the construction of five single-family homes financed in part by nearly $200,000 in state tax incentives during a brief ceremony on Wednesday morning.

The houses will be built inside the Catherine Farmer Addition just west of BCLUW Elementary School, and one of them has already been purchased by local residents Megan and Tyler Yantis. Conrad City Clerk Lori Stansberry explained that she approached Origin Director of Operations Matt Daniels about considering Conrad for one of the company’s rural housing initiative projects at the Iowa Rural Development Summit before being chosen last year along with Jefferson and Knoxville.

“I like to say affordability means different things to different people, and we’re kind of taking that model on the road and really just getting rooftops into our communities. So we’ve got some customization options that are happening on these homes. There’s still time to do that if you know of anybody that’s interested,” Daniels said. “(We’re) just excited to work with the development commission here, you guys have been great. The city’s been great. There’s a lot of local support here, and there’s a large opportunity. So when we saw Conrad, we got excited, and we’re just thankful for the opportunity to be here.”

He added that it often feels like these types of projects take a long time to develop and even make it to the groundbreaking day, but once they’ve started, Daniels expects to move quickly and have all five homes ready for occupation by mid-to-late fall.

“With the school expansion and more families coming to town, I think these’ll go quick, and then maybe (we’ll have) the opportunity to do more,” he said.

After introducing and praising the rest of his team, Daniels jokingly thanked city leaders for painting the water tower “Origin green” and then allowed Conrad City Councilman Todd Schnathorst to speak.

“Conrad’s been very fortunate, for many decades, to have a legacy of progressive leaders, and we continue that with the leaders that we have in town today between business partners, the city council and the economic development group, with a vision of always looking forward,” he said. “We can kind of joke with that old saying ‘Build it and they will come.’ I think this is another prime example of Conrad taking the risk, taking the initiative to build it, and they will come.”

Schnathorst shared his view that among cities of around 1,000 people, Conrad stands out with its variety of offerings, and he highlighted the housing addition, the new UnityPoint Health clinic, the purchase of nearly 92 acres of land on the east side of town with the intention of adding new businesses and the expansions of the elementary and high school buildings.

“Conrad does not watch the grass grow under its feet. I’ve been a member of this town for 17 or 18 years now, and I’m glad I came here. And I’m looking forward to finishing the rest of my life here as well, but we’re very fortunate to have the leadership and the citizens of this town. And we’re all blessed to be here,” Schnathorst said.

From there, it was time for the ceremonial dirt shoveling photo opportunity, and Daniels, a Waverly native with family from Boone, Boxholm, Dayton, Gowrie, Duncombe and Ogden, then spoke to the T-R briefly about why projects like these are so near and dear to his heart.

“The idea is that we’re helping (to) spur and spark some of that growth, and then encouraging others to do the same or something similar and really just be able to provide variety in the communities,” he said. “We’re a subsidiary of Hubbell Realty Company, and Hubbell Realty believes in the mission that Origin is doing in rural Iowa. And we’re starting to see that already. We’re starting to spark a little bit more of that growth, and it’s only gonna go up from here. Iowa needs rural Iowa. Really, we do, so I’m excited for it and we’re ready to do it.”

The four remaining spec homes are estimated in the $305,000 to $324,000 price range with square footage ranging from 1,472 to 2,207. To learn more, visit https://originhomesiowa.com/ or call 515-585-3988.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.