With the anticipated Prestage Farms processing plant, the newly constructed lots will provide potential workers with a place to live and grow in the community.

“The Council is being very proactive on meeting the needs of our community,” said Webster City Planner Director Karla Wetzler. “It was always our intent to finish this, but we never knew when. Now it’s like starting all over again. Creating more lots and expecting the housing to come.”

Brewer Creek 5th and 6th Additions will provide 53 new residential lots for the city.

“Right now, we’ve awarded the contracts to Wicks Construction,” said Webster City City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez. “They’re supposed to start this month with the construction aspects of the project. The 5th Addition is supposed to be completed by Sept. 1. The 6th Addition is supposed to be completed by the end of October.”

—Submitted photo Pictured above are the Brewer Creek 5th and 6th Additions, located in Webster City. Construction is estimated to be completed this fall. The new residential development consists of 53 lots and will also provide a second route into Webster City off of Fairmeadow Drive.

The first four phases of the Brewer Creek Additions were completed by 2000, according to Ortiz-Hernandez.

“Some 20-plus years ago, the city found themselves in the same situation we’re in now, that there was a need for additional housing in the community and we struggled to try and attract a developer that was willing to build a large subdivision to address some of the housing needs we had,” said Ortiz-Hernandez. “That’s what started this whole Brewer Creek Project.”

The council was going to be happy with maybe three houses in a year, and we far exceeded that where we’ve got everything but three lots sold out of 82 lots,” said Wetzler.

Talks for Brewer Creek 5 and 6 began nearly two years ago, according to Wetzler.

“It’s always been on the back burner, but a couple years ago when we heard of different industries that were coming and VeroBlue, we decided that we needed to look at this and get an engineer’s estimate to figure out if we could or couldn’t do it,” Wetzler said.

“We’ve done several phases to this already, so now we’re on phases five and six. The council just approved the contract to do the contracts for the earthwork, infrastructure and being able to set the lots that we can hopefully begin to sell by the end of the year,” said Ortiz-Hernandez.

According to Ortiz-Hernandez, the new lots will open up room for more families to build and live in Webster City.

“You drive around town and there isn’t just a whole lot of homes available right now on the market and there’s a couple different factors for that – stuff that’s going on with local employers as well as stuff that is happening in the region,” said Ortiz-Hernandez. “There’s just a need for additional housing in the community.”

The city will sell the lots and the owners would be able to hire a contractor to construct a home to their desire in their time frame, according to the city manager.

“Back in 1993 when we started the first and second Brewer Creek Additions, before we conceded to doing something like this, the council had a housing committee and we tried to get incentives, or to figure out a plan to have private enterprise take over and do something for us and they wouldn’t, so the only thing the city came up with at that time was tax abatement on in-fill lots. There’s very few in-fill lots,” said Wetzler.

The council that we have today, along with our city manager, is very proactive and voted to proceed with this. I think we’re going to be very surprised at how it does take off,” said Wetzler.

Another benefit of the completion of the Brewer Creek 5th and 6th Additions is that it will provide a connection for Fairmeadow Drive. Right now, Fairmeadow Drive just comes out straight across onto Superior Street. It will soon extend through to Beach Street.

“With Fairmeadow drive being extended it will enable public safety to have two access points,” said Ortiz-Hernandez.

The new development may also attract current homeowners who wish to build. That then, would free up existing homes in other parts of the community, Ortiz-Hernandez said.

“This doesn’t just attract people from outside the area, but also people within the community who are looking to have a larger home or newer home or more energy efficient home as well,” said Ortiz-Hernandez.

He added that buyers, contractors and developers have already contacted the city with interest in the lots. He expects to have lot prices in the next two to three months.

“As we start the construction and finalize some of the expenses, then we’ll determine a price per lot,” he said.

Business drives demand

According to Ortiz-Hernandez, Prestage and VeroBlue coming to the region is certainly driving a demand for housing, not only in Webster City, but in the entire region.

“I’ve been in conversations or meetings with other managers and economic development officials and housing is a big topic of conversation. Many of them are surprised to learn that the city is moving forward with this project,” said Ortiz-Hernandez. “Many of them are trying to play catch-up, so we’re a little bit further along than their plans. It was just based off of the foresight the council and staff had in trying to move forward and plan this way back when they first envisioned Brewer Creek.”

Ortiz-Hernandez noted that attracting developers to rural Iowa can be challenging.

“We’re a little ahead in having a development of this size and lot sizes that can cater to all segments in the community – from low to moderate income to higher income properties,” Ortiz-Hernandez said. “I think that was a big point for the council to consider – making sure that as we move forward we have lots that can accommodate a wide variety of families and different incomes.”

It’s a struggle for many of the communities here that are going to be impacted heavily by Prestage. If you don’t have the housing, it’s hard to have a viable workforce,” Ortiz-Hernandez said.

Wetzler noted that the Brewer Creek 5th and 6th Additions are also located within a Tax Increment Financing district.

TIF is a tool that allows entities and cities to recoup costs associated with development or growth of a business, or in this case, a residential area.

“Essentially, as someone constructs a home or building on a vacant piece of ground, the evaluation of that ground increases. TIF allows you to capture that growth and evaluation in what a property owner would pay in taxes, and apply that difference, the new growth evaluation towards paying back the infrastructure costs,” said Ortiz-Hernandez.

This means that the city can plan to recoup most, if not all, of the cost of infrastructure.

“Essentially, the sub division is being paid through a loan through city funds, with anticipation that the loan will be repaid back. There will be some additional roads and other infrastructure items to maintain over time, but I think the larger and more positive impact is the growth both that it will accommodate additional population growth as well as the growth and taxable base.”

“In the long run, it will be an additional property tax revenue that will go back to fund things such as police, fire, road improvements, parks and recreation,” Ortiz-Hernandez said.

According to Wetzler, the Brewer Creek 1-4 Additions construction costs were recouped in under ten years.

“The last time, we recouped everything in less than 10 years. We had everything paid off in 2006 and the last phase was started in 2000,” said Wetzler. “This was from TIF monies and lot sales.”

The subdivision will be financed with a loan through city funds, with anticipation that the loan will be repaid back. There will be some additional roads and other infrastructure items to maintain over time, but Ortiz-Hernandez said he thinks the larger impact is the growth of both the population base and the taxable base.

“I believe last year the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Additions contributed about $325,000 in property taxes,” said Wetzler.

The city manager said many other aspects of population growth will affect the community.

“The school system, I’d imagine as you have more homes available, it allows the city to grow. So it will an impact on the school system in having additional students hopefully,” said Ortiz-Hernandez.

“In terms of crime, we have generally not a large crime issue, unlike some other larger cities or smaller cities that have an influx of violent crime, “ Ortiz-Hernandez said. “So we don’t anticipate anything there. Obviously, the world is what it is, but I think we’ve been fortunate with Brewer Creek as a whole, there hasn’t been anything significant that has contributed to an increase in crime or need for different law enforcement in that area.”

An economic study estimated at least 1,300 people will relocate to Hamilton County when the Prestage processing plant opens, Ortiz-Hernandez said.

“That first few years is going to be a combination of both temporary workers, contractors working on the project, and permanent staff that they’ll be bringing in for training purposes and getting things off the ground,” said Ortiz-Hernandez. “But it’s hard to predict the permanent impact it will have.”

“Some other questions or criticisms are just to the influx of growth to the community,” said Ortiz-Hernandez. “There’s going to be some growth associated with it. Some influx of perhaps some new people and there might be some individuals who are weary of what that may look like.”

Moving forward

“The project was originally estimated to be about $2.7 million. The awarded contract was for roughly $1.6 million, so there was significant cost savings there,” said Ortiz-Hernandez. “It’s the intent, and the council is fully aware of this obviously, it starts off as a loan from other city funds that we have available, that would be paid back no different than what we’ve done with the first four additions.”

Ortiz-Hernandez said he doesn’t anticipate any detours with the construction of development.

“We’re happy it’s moving forward and we’ll be happy once it’s completed,” said Ortiz-Hernandez.

According to Wetzler, individuals interested in purchasing lots will be able to do so as soon as the final plats are completed.

“Then we’ll get costs figured out and be ready to go by this fall,” she said

With the economic boost of Prestage Farms coming soon, Ortiz-Hernandez believes the development of Brewer Creek 5th and 6th Additions will benefit the community.

“I think needing additional housing is a better problem to have than having a population decline,” said Ortiz-Hernandez. “We’re fortunate that Webster City, despite its past with Electrolux, has rebounded and is growing again and that there is interest from people outside the area as well as people within the area that want to see it prosper.”

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