T-R FILE PHOTO The main entrance to the old hospital on Main Street is stuck open with shattered glass on the ground. Many of the windows in the facility have been broken. The property was up for sale in the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office foreclosure list, but the auction has been canceled.

The downtown hospital is no longer on the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office auction block. On Monday afternoon, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office received notice to cancel today’s auction of the $1.3 million property.

“It was canceled by the attorney, and no reason was given,” Sheriff Joel Phillips said.

He added that his staff did notify the attorney of the property owner, CD Marshalltown, that they did not receive any bids as of yesterday morning. That action is standard procedure, Phillips said. If bids are not submitted for a property listed on the auction list within 24 hours before the auction, the sheriff will let the attorney representing the property know. He said he is not surprised that bids were not submitted.

“I’m not a realtor, but I think the amount exceeds the value,” Phillips said. “It will be difficult to find a buyer for that property.”

Having an auction canceled is not uncommon. He said normally it occurs when the property owner reaches an agreement with the financial institution or bank before the sale takes place. While that is typically the reason, Phillips stressed that no reason for the hospital cancellation was provided.

The cancellation does save the sheriff’s office some time and effort into looking into the laws pertaining to rules regarding sales extending 60 days past the original auction date or being postponed more than twice. The original foreclosure sale date was Oct. 7, 2025 and had been postponed three times.

CD Marshalltown, a division of Covalt Development owned by Scott Covalt of Dike, purchased the hospital property in January 2022 for $250,000 from UnityPoint. The foreclosure and the sheriff’s auction are not the only legal happenings for CD Marshalltown. The City of Marshalltown is taking them to court, along with AJS of Des Moines, Finding Serenity and the Marshall County Treasurer, to obtain the deed of the hospital. The case will go to trial on Feb. 4.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.