Legacy Plaza developer and railroad company awarded for their investments

Newton Development Corporation recognized both Christensen Development for its work renovating old Maytag buildings into an apartment complex and hotel, and Iowa Interstate Railroad for its investment in a future project that will allow for the transportation and drop off of wind energy components northeast of town.

During NDC’s Salute to Business & Industry luncheon on Oct. 10 in DMACC Newton Campus, Jake Christensen of Christensen Development received the Jim Tyler Entrepreneurial Award and shared a presentation — including a brief virtual tour — with guests that showed off the progress of the project.

Rob Kahn, president of FNNB Bank, said Christensen has made it his company’s mission to not only transform individual sites but entire areas into thriving community centerpieces. While the Christensen Development team may be small, Kahn said it has already accomplished big things across the Midwest.

Christensen said, “We’ve been welcomed by this community in a way that’s really important to us … It’s important for us to be part of a community that cares. And clearly Newton cares with the challenges you’ve all been through. We’re benefitting from all your hard work from the past 15 years and before that.”

The first phase of the Legacy Plaza redevelopment transforms Building 16 of the Maytag campus into 78 market-rate apartments. Christensen said this particular building did not need much imagination to see that it could be something really cool. Building 50, on the other hand, took a little more effort to fully realize.

When it is finally completed, Building 50 will serve as a space for extra amenities from the apartment complex. For instance, the space will feature a club room and washing stations for dogs and bicycles, which will work in tandem with the nearby dog park, outdoor grilling areas, fire pits and more.

All of the apartments will have stone countertops, under cabinet lighting, custom cabinetry, exposed brick walls and exposed ceilings. Developers ice blasted the old paint in the interior, which Christensen said leaves some of the history of the buildings intact for a more aesthetically pleasing look.

“There’s nothing like it in Newton yet,” he said. “People have been responding very favorably to that fact. We’ve got 78 apartments in the first phase and we have 90-some people on the waiting list. A couple of weekends ago there were 50 tours. So it has been an overwhelming response.”

Which tells Christensen two things: 1) The team has done a decent job at making a cool building and 2) There is a clear housing need in the area.

The second phase of the project sees the development of the extended-stay hotel rooms and studio apartments in Buildings 1 and 2. Christensen said there will be 49 units shared between the two buildings; the iconic facade will mark the location of a future cocktail bar on the lower level.

Iowa Interstate Railroad also received an award from NDC for its investment in Newton and Jasper County. Carrie Evans, vice president and chief commercial officer of Iowa Interstate, said Newton is very important to Iowa Interstate. The town has been a great growth avenue for the company over the years.

For Evans, who grew up in Newton, this feat is even more special.

Iowa Interstate is a Class II regional railroad that operates from Council Bluffs to Chicago. The company also has a branch line to Peoria, giving it access to the Illinois River. With its connection points, the railroad is able to provide a wide range of access across the United States for its customers.

“We also have access to the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities,” Evans said. “…The big value we bring to our customers is our connections. We are one of the few regional railroads that connects all six Class I carriers in North America. So our customers have access to Mexico, Canada, both ports east and west.”

Currently, the railroad has 243 employees and handles 155,000 loads annually. There are 42 locomotives in the fleet that operate 572 miles, of which 412 miles are entirely owned and maintained by Iowa Interstate. The company also services 14 transloading facilities and has access to five ethanol plants.

In the past 16 years, Iowa Interstate has invested $398 million.

Clay Gambill, field director of sales and projects at Iowa Interstate, spoke about the most recent development going on in northeast Newton near the old TPI Composites plant and Chevron REG. The facility, he said, would support more wind farms being erected in Iowa and surrounding states.

“Stuff that will be brought in here will be sent to, really, anywhere within 700 miles of Newton,” Gambill said. “The facility itself is going to be close to 30 acres … A year ago it was corn. In May, we broke ground. We started moving dirt right around early June. Now we have our first 1,100 feet of track installed.”

When the next 1,100 feet of tracks are installed – hopefully by the end of the month – the facility will be open for business. The goal is to have manufacturers, like General Electric for example, bring their wind energy components in from all over the United States by train.

“The goal is to have wind turbine blades, primarily, coming in first,” Gambill said, later noting that towers could theoretically be transported, too. “Those blades are close to 300 feet long. So by moving those in about 24 blades on a train, we’re taking those heavy haul carrier trucks … and letting them work more locally.”