Iowa Mutual Lofts: Old building gets set for new life

DEWITT, Iowa – Luanne Smith recently took a sentimental journal through the former Iowa Mutual Insurance building here. She worked in the massive, two-building complex at 509 9th St. for 36 years before it closed in 2019. On Friday, Feb. 16, she was part of about 50 people who gathered inside a first-floor room in […]

DEWITT, Iowa – Luanne Smith recently took a sentimental journal through the former Iowa Mutual Insurance building here. She worked in the massive, two-building complex at 509 9th St. for 36 years before it closed in 2019. On Friday, Feb. 16, she was part of about 50 people who gathered inside a first-floor room in the old structure to help usher in a new era for the building. After years of delays, the building soon will be transformed into 53 market-rate apartments to be called the Iowa Mutual Lofts.

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Ms. Smith called Friday’s ceremony “bittersweet,”  but added that she’s happy the old building she worked in for decades is getting a new life. “We were a family here, but it’s great that this will be housing and other families will soon be here,” she said. If all goes according to plan, interior renovation work on the $15 million building project will begin this spring, and the building will be ready for renters in the spring of 2025. (Visit here for apartment leasing information.) “This is just a way too nice of a building to be sitting empty. … I’m looking forward to this opening. The bones of this building are really good,” DeWitt Mayor Steve Hasenmiller said before Friday’s ceremonies to welcome the future transformation. That ceremony largely centered on a “wall smashing” ceremony. Instead of a traditional groundbreaking event, local business and community leaders were invited to a different kind of ceremony. A sledgehammer was provided so the project’s stakeholders could put holes in an interior purple wall that will eventually be demolished to make room for apartments. “It’s now time for hardhats, hammers and shovels,” said A.J. Loss, president and CEO of Bush Construction, the contractor and an investor for the Iowa Mutual building project. Mr. Loss also gave a brief outline of the building project’s history. Much of that history lesson focused on the delays that center on the actions of  the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The much-anticipated project has been delayed as financing through HUD awaited approval. In fact, when Mr. Loss and other project stakeholders gave the QCBJ a tour of the building in the summer of 2022, officials had hoped that the funding issue would be resolved in a short time. The HUD financing issue now is expected to be resolved at the end of this month with construction following closely. However, Mr. Loss added on Friday that not all the HUD-related delays have been resolved. He said he hoped that HUD would give its final approval by last week and before Friday’s ceremonies, but another delay popped up at the last minute. He hopes HUD will quickly resolve this additional delay in the next few days. “This is one of the most complicated projects I’ve been associated with,” said Greg Gannon,  president of Crossroads Unlimited Co., a local economic development company that has helped fund the building project. He added that part of the complications is the fact that there are eight to 10 funding sources for the project, which began almost immediately after the insurance building closed almost five years ago. “When we learned of the previous owner’s plans to downsize and eventually close its DeWitt operations, our immediate concern was the loss of jobs. Our next concern was the future use of this grand and historic building,” Mr. Gannon said in a statement before Friday’s ceremony. “We are fortunate that Bush Construction had the vision to see the possibilities for our community, and that Crossroads Unlimited was able to partner in this vision.” (In addition to leading the Crossroads group, Mr. Gannon also is president of DeWitt Bank & Trust Co. and chairperson of the DeWitt Chamber and Development Company.) Angela Rheingans, president and CEO of the Dewitt Chamber and Development Company, said she expects the project to move quickly once the renovation work begins. That’s because workers will be doing very little to the exterior of the building. The vast majority of the work will be on the interior to help create an apartment building that will greatly benefit downtown DeWitt. “When you think of a vibrant downtown, small businesses and beautiful walkways come to mind. A less obvious component is housing. The addition of beautiful new loft apartments in DeWitt’s downtown is truly elevating the livability component for our community,” she added. Plans for the old business building have been well known in the DeWitt community for years. And for years, people looking for a place to live have been asking some familiar questions. “I’ve been hearing these questions for years – ‘When is it going to open?’ ‘How can I get on the list to move in?,” Ms. Rheingans said. She added that she’s happy to have some answers to those questions as renovation work is apparently about to start. On Friday, it appeared much of the interior was cleaned up in anticipation of that work. But there were still many features in place from its insurance building history. For instance, a big wall safe is still on the first floor. Also, parts of an Iowa Mutual Insurance sign with its slogan could be seen on the first floor. That old slogan reads: “Built on relationships, dedicated to service.” But many of the features look almost new. Several of the interior walls are still a bright purple, and the gray and purple carpeting in some rooms still appears in good shape. Ms. Rheingans said many of those features are actually only a few years old. The insurance company did some major interior renovations when it merged with Encova Insurance, just a couple of years before the building closed in 2019. When the building’s interior renovation is complete, here are some of the features of the new Iowa Mutual Lofts:

• Modern design with a historic charm: The studio, one- and two-bedroom lofts and community spaces will showcase cutting-edge architecture, while preserving the historic features that make the building unique. During Friday’s ceremony, blueprints of the new apartments were on display. Those blueprints can be seen here.
• Community spaces: The development will feature communal areas including lounges, a fitness center and a movie room. These spaces foster a sense of community and camaraderie for residents to connect with friends, family and each other.
• Sustainability: Iowa Mutual Lofts is committed to environmentally friendly practices, incorporating historic architecture/artwork and using sustainable materials and energy-efficient technologies.
• History: The two-building, three-story facility was built in several stages between 1924 and 1974. The iconic L-shape design connects the two buildings. There is about 63,000 square feet of total space in the facility. At its employment peak, Iowa Mutual had about 300 people working in the building, according to Ms. Rheingans.  About 35 employees still were working in the building at the time of its closure.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the transformation of this place,” added Ms. Smith.