March 29, 2024

Newton’s untapped potential

Leadership forum highlights economic development trends, progress

After co-managing a community leadership forum Thursday, Newton Development Corporation (NDC) Executive Director Frank Liebl and Jasper County Hometown Pride Community Coach Jeff Davidson both agree the city of Newton has a lot of potential and may be ready to turn the corner.

One of the keys to Newton’s future is economic development, which Liebl said can only be achieved by growing the city’s housing market. During the split-presentation attended by prominent city stakeholders at the Newton Community School District administration building, Liebl said Newton’s population has remained relatively stable since 1960. Despite the loss of Maytag, 60 years have passed without a significant increase or decrease in population.

“Why does housing drive economic development? If you go back between 1950 and 1957, in that period of time there were 998 housing permits issued in the city of Newton,” Liebl said. “In 1950, Newton’s population was 11,723. In 1960, after all this housing was built, 15,381 was our population.”

To further illustrate his point, Liebl looked to Newton’s western neighbors — the flourishing and ever-expanding towns of Ankeny and Altoona. Ankeny’s population in 1980, he said, was 15,429, about the size Newton is today. Ankeny’s population has grown to approximately 59,000. Moreover, Altoona was half the size of Newton in 1990 and has since increased from about 7,400 people to 18,690. Liebl said Altoona is projected to be at 30,000 people by 2025.

In order to better focus Newton’s housing efforts, Liebl said the Newton Housing Development Corporation (NHDC), now helmed by director Bruce Showalter, was re-established. In 2011, Newton had zero new housing startups. Years later, the 2014 Newton Housing Initiative would be put in place to bring about substantial and constructive change to the town’s afflicted housing market.

Since the Newton City Council passed the initiative in July 2014, 52 new housing permits have been issued. Of those new homes, Liebl said, 45 percent of the owners were new people entering the community. The NDC director calls that a good sign of progress. The number of home builders has also increased, moving up to 10 from just one in 2012. Currently, Newton has 11 speculative homes being built or are for sale.

Rental housing

Following a survey between NDC and TPI Composites, Liebl said he found out roughly 175 employees would move to Newton if they could find the right housing in town. That sentiment, too, is shared by employers who have told Liebl “there’s no place for people to move to.” Which is why securing rental housing is also a priority for Newton.

The last new multiplex apartment built in Newton was 20 years ago, Liebl said. After the completion of the Hotel Maytag Project, nine market rate and 36 workforce apartments will be available for rent. Lion Development also plans to build 39 market-rate apartments — a combination of one-, two- and three-bedroom units — in the former Newton Seed Store location in downtown.

Davidson also stressed the importance of having available rental housing.

“I’m of an age that when you were growing and were young and starting a family, you rented until you could afford to buy a house,” he said. “Well that phenomenon has changed a lot. There are people who are looking to rent that have high incomes that with the mobility now in the world are maybe not looking to purchase a place and be tied in one place with a 30-year mortgage.”

If all goes to plan, Legacy Plaza, the former Maytag headquarters, will acquire approximately 80 additional housing units. Their vision — a Des Moines East Village-style neighborhood. Altogether, Liebl said about 160 to 170 new apartment units could be created in Newton by 2019 or 2020.

Developing small towns

By the time Davidson entered Jasper County as the Hometown Pride Community Coach, Newton was ahead of the game with its strong comprehensive planning process. Smaller towns, on the other hand, needed more guidance.

“Smaller towns don’t have the economic growth capabilities in Newton or Des Moines. They don’t have the tax space or the workforce,” Davidson said. “In the small communities where you don’t have the same opportunities we have, you have to really look for those carefully.”

In charge of nine towns within Jasper County, Davidson’s job is to guide and assist community leaders in strengthening their small communities by collaborating with other local groups and encouraging economic development. While other areas can focus on their downtowns, parks and housing, small towns look elsewhere.

During his forum lecture, Davidson said an important small town development is constructing bike trails leading from large metro areas, which would bring in money from outside the community, noting the Chichaqua Valley Trail leading from Baxter to Des Moines and the yet-to-be-completed Red Rock Prairie Trail.

“You can bring people out of the metropolitan area into your community to go to Goldies in Prairie City, to go to the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, to go to Cadillac Jack’s in Baxter, to go to Greencastle (Tavern) in Mingo,” Davidson said. “We’re trying to take those opportunities with smaller communities and make sure that we’re enhancing those opportunities that we have.”

Including high-speed internet in rural areas, Davidson added, is also a high concern.

“If we can do that, we can get people living in our communities where basically their job is on the internet,” he said. “We can have them part of our communities and generating income in our communities. We have got to have those factors in place.”

What Maytag left behind

The Maytag facility, which had become synonymous with the city of Newton and had once produced 1,750 jobs, has now become a catalyst to economic development and another tool to preserving and extending the city’s future.

What was once seen as a major blow to the town’s economy and spirit, has now become a prosperous opportunity for the city of Newton. After Maytag’s closure in 2007, its headquarters was left behind. Now owned by the adjacent Des Moines Area Community College Newton Campus, the buildings have been given new life as Legacy Plaza.

Home to various retail spaces, Davidson said the vacant Maytag buildings have given Newton the infrastructure to grow. New leases like Re-Wire Yoga Studio, The Cellar Peanut Pub and the recently announced Gezellig Brewing Company have filled once unused space and provided something unique to the town.

“We’re benefiting from the legacy,” Davidson told the Newton Daily News.

Although the business’ closure may be seen by locals — and many non-locals — as a dark spot in Newton’s history, Liebl said the town is making progress with the amenities Maytag had left behind.

“That’s in the past, and we have to move forward,” Liebl said. “I would say in the last four to five years I’ve seen a more positive trend. That, again, happens because we’ve had so many stakeholders pull together. Whether it be great new housing, the city has been very aggressive in helping promote Newton and everything.

“We want to attract people to our community. We think we have a lot of things that people can feel good about living here and working here and growing here.”

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