Work continues on the Shops at Marshalltown, formerly known as the Marshalltown Mall.

Glenn Kitto, the director of construction with Reserve Development, said they have made a lot of progress since the Texas-based company purchased the property in February 2025.

“We are keeping the walls, but we’ve gutted the interior down to the studs,” he said. “We are working on plumbing, electrical, sprinklers, walls, Alliant Energy brought new transformers. We’re touching everything.”

They have built a new deck in the back by the Fridley — Plaza 9 Theaters entrance. This will make it easier to service the large stores in the front of the building. This summer, Reserve Development will get to work on the parking lot.

“There’s going to be complete resurfacing,” Kitto said.

Center Street drivers might have noticed a white tarp covering the roof of the structure. Kitto said that is because they have replaced it. The tarp — TPO — is like a membrane, he said.

“It will protect the roof until we finish it, and we can’t finish it until the store fronts are built,” Kitto said. “The TPO is a temporary fix and helps keep the roof water-tight. Once the store fronts are done, Marshalltown residents will no longer see that.”

The large amount of work on such an old building — built in the 1970s — has created a challenge for Kitto as there is not much of a paper trail.

“Former plans and layouts are hard to come by,” he said. “We’ve had to do a lot of exploratory work and some of the plumbing looks defective. There are a lot of unknowns, but we have the right team on the ground.”

Kitto said the project has given more than 250 construction experts some work and added that 83 to 87 percent of the workers are local.

“The demolition crew was sourced out of Texas, but the rest are sourced locally,” he said. “We estimate there will be 200 to 250 permanent jobs, from managers to stock room clerks, when we’re finished.”

The company is focusing on core and shell work right now, the infrastructure of the building, Kitto said. Tenant improvement work, which is the next focus, has also begun for three of the tenants. He noted all of the tenants will have entrances facing Center Street, as they are changing the facility from an interior mall to something more modern.

“We are going to make it look like a normal retail center,” Kitto said.

The front-facing Shops at Marshalltown entrances also includes the theater, which has a current primary entrance in the back.

“I think we are also planning on expanding it with dining and a kitchen, but that is not a short-term plan. That is three to five years out,” he said. “Fridley also got new recliner seating, and we’ve redone the interior in several of the theaters.”

Kitto estimated that 85 percent of the stores will be new, such as the confirmed Five Below, and some might be ready in the early summer and a couple more in the fall.

“We’re super excited about Shops at Marshalltown,” he said. “I’ve had people from five, six cities around Marshalltown say they’re anxious for us to bring it online. The building does have good legs and bones, and I think it will become a shopping center for the region once again.”