The City of Emmetsburg has been announced as a recipient of a $300,000 Downtown Housing Grant. This grant is among nearly $20 million in funding announced by Governor Reynolds for downtown housing projects in 61 communities, which will create 266 new housing units for Iowans.

“An adequate housing supply is the lynchpin to attracting and retaining a healthy and flourishing workforce,” said Governor Reynolds.  “The investments will not only provide 466 Iowans the opportunity to live near where they work but they will breathe new life into dozens of underutilized facilities in our communities.” 

The City is partnering with Abby and Justin Burns to convert the upper story of their historic downtown building located at 2117 Main Street into four apartments, with the potential to add two more apartments in the future. The major renovation will breathe new life into the large down building that previously was a Masonic Temple but has been largely underutilized for decades. The new housing units will range in size from 800 to 1,080 square feet, with a mix of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments.

Last fall the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) gave cities the opportunity to partner with a local property owner to apply for the new Downtown Housing Grant Program. After accepting and evaluating pre-applications from Emmetsburg property owners, the City identified the Burns’ project as the strongest candidate for an application.

Emmetsburg Marketing & Retail Coordinator Gretchen Reichter worked with the property owners over a period of several months to refine the project and develop a detailed application and budget. During the application process, Reichter secured $3,000 in grant funding through the Iowa Rural Development Council’s Power of Connection Program which enabled the City and property owners to hire a professional architecture firm to develop a detailed, two-phase upper story floor plan. Reichter explained, “The Power of Connection grant assists communities that are seeking to build capacity, plan strategically, and drive new projects. We felt that the assistance of a professional architect would be vital not only to our grant application, but also to optimizing the usage and respecting the history of the building.”   

The downtown housing program had $20 million available for awards and received 94 applications requesting $31 million in funding. Projects were scored on a competitive basis on criteria including project appropriateness, funding and partnerships, impact on housing in the community and population size. The total project cost of the 2117 Main Street upper story conversion is estimated to be between $450,000 and $500,000, and work will begin this summer.