Four apartment projects worth a combined $208 million or so just cleared a big financing hurdle in Iowa. The Iowa Finance Authority's board approved nearly $9 million in federal housing tax credits for four developments with 595 affordable rental homes in Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Waterloo and West Des Moines (via Iowa Finance Authority).
Two of the projects are ground-up new construction. The other two convert old buildings into apartments. All four are aimed at income-qualified families.
The four projects
Here's what IFA's award list shows for each development:
- Crescent Heights Apartment Homes, Council Bluffs: 240 new-construction units from Pedcor Development Associates. Total development cost is listed at $75.9 million, with about $3.5 million in tax credits and $25 million in bonds.
- The Wilmac, Dubuque: 112 units in an adaptive reuse from Hoppe & Son and Farley & Loetscher. Total cost is $46 million, with about $1.86 million in credits and $15.6 million in bonds.
- Rath Fifteen 15, Waterloo: 87 units in an adaptive reuse from 1515 Sycamore MM and Newbury Management Company. Total cost is $33 million, with about $1.35 million in credits and $8.7 million in bonds.
- Central at 8th, West Des Moines: 156 new-construction units from Union Development Holdings III, part of the Annex Group. Total cost is $52.9 million, with about $2.27 million in credits and roughly $16.7 million in bonds.
These are 4% credits, the kind that get paired with tax-exempt bonds. Bond financing for the four projects comes to nearly $66 million. Demand outran supply: six applications asked for more than $14 million in annual credits and nearly $104 million in bonds, against $90 million in bond capacity for the round, so IFA picked winners by competitive scoring.
"Housing needs look different across Iowa," IFA Director Debi Durham said in the release. "These 595 homes add to our development pipeline."
Two old buildings get new lives
The Dubuque and Waterloo projects come with history. The Wilmac building at 801 Jackson St. in Dubuque's Millwork District was built in 1903 by the Farley & Loetscher Manufacturing Co., with additions through 1944, according to Encyclopedia Dubuque. A 2024 city housing incentives list showed Farley & Loetscher planning 126 market-rate units at that address. The IFA award is for 112 affordable units.
In Waterloo, the project lines up with the long-vacant Rath Packing Co. administration building. Iowa's historic tax credit awards last year listed "1515 Sycamore LLC" for rehabbing that building into 87 affordable apartments, with a state historic credit of about $5.5 million. The building, more than 70,000 square feet, has sat empty since Rath went bankrupt in 1985, Radio Iowa reported in 2024. Back then, KWAY reported the city sold it for $1 and pledged $1.3 million, under an earlier plan for senior housing with a different developer.
The federal housing credit program marked its 40th anniversary last month and has helped build or preserve more than 36,000 rental homes in Iowa, according to IFA. Developers claim the credits over 10 years, and the upfront equity cuts how much they have to borrow, which helps keep rents down. In return, the properties have to meet income and rent limits.
Why it matters for Contractors
This is about $208 million in construction headed for four Iowa markets, and none of it has a general contractor named publicly yet. That's your opening if you're a sub in western, eastern or central Iowa. The two new-construction jobs, 240 units in Council Bluffs and 156 in West Des Moines, are classic multifamily packages: framing, drywall, roofing, MEP, flooring, cabinets and site work.
The two conversions are a different animal. Historic rehab work means preservation standards on windows, masonry and finishes, and older buildings usually bring surprises such as abatement and structural repair. If your crew has done that kind of work, these are the jobs to chase.
Tax credit and bond deals have to close before shovels move, so timelines can slip. The practical move is to reach out to the developers now, get on their bid lists and ask who's building. A small shop that's already in the conversation when the GC is picked has a much better shot at the work.