Inspections moving forward at former Hotel Maytag

Since purchasing the former Hotel Maytag building three weeks ago, the city of Newton has been hard at work getting it ready for redevelopment.

The latest step in the process is city council approving Cedar Rapids-based Braun Intertec to conduct an inspection and testing of hazardous materials in the building.

“We were approached by an excited engineer, Justin Humke. He is a Newton native who is employed in Cedar Rapids by Braun Intertec, a very qualified engineering firm who does the environmental testing,” city director of finance and development Bryan Friedman said. “When he saw the announcement of the potential purchase of the Hotel Maytag building in the newspaper, he called us up right away and wanted to be a part of this project.”

Braun Intertec will conduct a limited hazardous material inspection of the interior building for $10,949. The inspection will be comprised of examining accessible areas for asbestos-containing building material, lead, poly-chlorinated biphenyls, mercury and other hazardous material.

The company will collect and analyze bulk samples of materials suspected to contain asbestos from areas including floor tile, linoleum flooring, wall and ceiling plaster, suspended and acoustical ceiling tile, sheetrock, thermal system insulation, textured ceiling material and fireproofing. It will also conduct limited lead-based paint testing of painted concrete, block or brick that has the potential to be recycled at the time of disposal and of deteriorated painted surfaces suspected of containing lead.

Braun Intertec will submit a final report to the city documenting the sample locations, analysis results, conditions, quantities and recommendations for what they found.

“Developers hate uncertainty and this is part of our process to turn the unknowns to knowns, which will help facilitate getting this project fully underway,” Friedman said.

The investigation of the building is the third step in a four part plan for property. Already accomplished was the acquisition of the former hotel with the stabilization currently underway.

“Stabilization is getting this building in a state that it is not going to be super problematic for tenants and continue to deteriorate,” Friedman said.

City development specialist Craig Armstrong is talking with the commercial tenants, taking extensive tours of the building and documenting issues he finds. He also put together a photo essay and a prioritized list of the top 14 maintenance and repair needs, with several project already underway.

“Things ranging from leaking windows to clogged pipes. Some lighting repairs and we are waiting on quotes for roof repairs,” Friedman said. “The stabilization process is well underway.”

The final step for the building is to market the property to developers. While Frantz Community Investors was initially selected to complete the project Friedman said., the purchase agreement has lapsed with the city stepping in to be the purchasing entity.

“FCI do have a head start on the development having put a lot of time and money through investigations and development work,” Friedman said. “They are actively working to maintain their lead on this working with different potentially partnering investors, just trying to do all they can to pull the full project together.”

FCI is not the only development company that has shown interest in the property, Friedman said. The city has been in contact with other companies that are in the redevelopment realm who are currently running the project through their models.

“We are anxious to get this going, Frantz knows that and they know they are on a tight time frame,” Friedman said. “To over simplify things, whoever comes to us with $10 million in hand ready to do this project, it is theirs.”

Friedman said depending on solid results from interested development companies over the next couple of weeks, the project could be ready to move into a phase of actively moving forward with requests for proposals, exposing it fully to the development community throughout the Midwest.
"It is an exciting project and a big key to the downtown and sparking redevelopment," Friedman said.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com