City to reboot Block building plans

FORT MADISON - With a large Iowa City property developer stepping aside, the city of Fort Madison is once again rebooting conversations around the James Block building in downtown Fort Madison.
The building at 732 Avenue G has been under an exclusive development agreement with Barker Financial Group, but as of December, that group, that finished the rehabilitation of several buildings downtown including the former Lee County Bank building and the Cattermole Library, has stepped away from developing the property.
The City of Fort Madison took ownership via court action in March of 2022 and has spent about $193,000 in repairs to date.
The Fort Madison City Council will listen to presentations from Building Director Doug Krogmeier and City Manager Laura Liegois at Tuesday's regular meeting about the future of the building.
The City applied for an Emergency Catalyst Grant from Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), which was $100,000.00 for permanent wall repairs to be finished. The local match was $100,000.00, and the city received a low interest loan from the Great River Regional Housing Trust for that match. The grant is a two-year grant that was to be completed by June 30, 2024. Work under the grant has to be completed by June 2025. The grant for emergency funds is only to stabilize the building, which was to finalize the wall project.
Barker Financial was going to remove themselves in late 2023 from the project, but did reconsider and had visited the City Council in May 2024 about the project.
The roof will need to be replaced  at an estimated cost of $300,000, which Krogmeier wrote in a memo to the council last week, is important for stabilizing the building. An EPA Grant is available for buildings like this, which may be a one-time opportunity for $350,000.00 to go toward repairs of the roof and other items needed for planning for future use, if awarded, and in conjunction with the catalyst grant and match.
Liegois wrote that staff had a meeting Thursday with several interested community members in building and revitalization of buildings with city council members Rusty Andrews and Rick Thele for feedback on options to pursue a new developer and moving forward.
From that discussion, Liegois wrote that group felt the city should provide an opportunity for other interested parties to provide a plan to revitalize the property.
This would be done by producing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to include very stringent timelines for work completed as well as a bond that can cover demolition in the event a developer fails to complete rehabilitation.
Liegois said the city could perform a "bare minimum" of repair work, utilizing the Catalyst grant and loan match, to protect the wall, buying multiple years without doing a complete repair of the masonry of the wall.  That work would still need to be replaced in the future. Budget wise, this could be paid out through the 10-year loan from the housing trust.
Another option is to perform complete wall and roof repair/replacement, however, the costs to do so far exceed the city's financial ability.
Krogmeier wrote if the City Council is in favor of moving forward with major repairs, the following actions would move forward on the James Block Building.
• Request bids for the wall repair for stabilization with construction started before June 1, 2025 (engineer's estimate is $423,000).
• Start the wall repair after a contractor is selected and submit a payment of $60,000.00 to IEDA by June 30th, which will give an extension of one-year to finish the grant.
• Request for proposals for developers to move forward with the Block Building to renovate and revitalize for future use. (This will need to be expanded beyond local and Eastern-Iowa for options of developers.)
• Apply for the EPA Grant, which could assist with the roof repair and other needs to get the building moving forward for $350,000.00.
In other action, the council is scheduled to:
• consider a $475,000 agreement with Solum Lange Architects for design of a new $6 million fire station. The cost has been reduced by 50% with a reduction in the scope of the building to exclude ambulance bay facilities.
• consider and act on a two-year lease agreement with Sanchez Boxing for space at 1307 20th Street.