Supervisors accept $15K bid for Annex Building

The county annex building has a buyer.

On Tuesday, the Jasper County Board of Supervisors accepted a $15,000 bid from a private development group to buy the property. Fairmount Development proposed to transform the historical structure into downtown housing units.

Only one bid was submitted to the county.

Representatives of the private development group told the supervisors they are working on some revised floor plans of the 92-year-old annex building. Both the upper and lower levels would be rehabilitated into one-, two- and possibly three-bedroom apartments. Units would also have income restrictions.

Before it hosted several county department staff, the Jasper County Annex Building originally served as the Newton Post Office and Jasper County Jail. Brandon Talsma, chair of the board of supervisors, said the building was an “excellent example” of 1930s institutional, Art Deco architecture.

Since the building is considered historical, the rehabilitation work likely will retain the structure’s significant architectural features — such as north, east and west facades — while also restoring its original appearance by removing the stairway in the east side, among other updates.

Timing of the purchase also is important to the development group. Fairmount Development is seeking a grant to fund the multi-housing project, and the application deadline is approaching soon. Without the grant, the group cannot afford the project immediately and would have to resort to other funding options.

During the May 18 Newton City Council meeting, a similar named group called Front Porch Development sought the council’s blessing in pursuing the project. Talsma said these two groups are the same. With council’s support, the developers would receive additional points in its grant application.

Both the mayor and city council members were unanimously in favor of the proposed project. Newton City Council then approved a resolution offering its non-monetary support of the project if the developer acquires ownership of the county-owned building.

Newton Mayor Mike Hansen said, “I think that’d be fantastic if we could get that building repurposed. It would also add to council’s goal of downtown housing.”

The Newton Historic Preservation Commission also offered its endorsement of the project in a letter addressed to the mayor and city council.

Larry Hurto, chairperson of NHPC, said the annex building is a “major contributing property to Newton’s Historic Downtown District” and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. Earlier this year, it was added to Preservation Iowa’s list of endangered properties.

Currently, the annex building is home to county staff, which are expecting to move into a new office at the former NewCare Health Services clinic, 315 W. Third St. N. The board of supervisors purchased the property for $616,093 in October 2019.

The condition of the annex building has been steadily declining over the past few years. In 2018, the board of supervisors decided to move forward on waterproofing repairs to the annex building’s exterior foundation. A year prior to that, the annex building tested positive for airborne mold spores.

Upon learning of a potentially hazardous mold exposure, the board of health decided the area was not an appropriate location for the health department, Newton Daily News previously reported. The department staff moved to a temporary, rented office space at 116 W. Fourth St. S. in December 2017.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com