Uptown Marion project continues under new owner

A Des Moines company plans to take ownership of a partially completed residential and commercial development that’s in the heart of Marion's Uptown transformation from its current owner, which had faced foreclosure of the site.

The Broad and Main project — a pair of new buildings next to City Square Park with dozens of apartments and business space — had been expected to be complete by now.

Developer Eagle View Partners, of Cedar Falls, mostly had finished the first apartment building on Seventh Avenue by September 2022, when it opened to residents. The apartments feature floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Uptown Marion, wood floors and an open kitchen space.

The second building was projected to be complete about a year later, but only preliminary construction has been done.

In September 2023, Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust filed for foreclosure of the property against Eagle View, citing delinquent loans of more than $8 million, according to court records.

Mark Kittrell, the chief executive of Eagle View, did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article.

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The bank, Eagle View and DCI Group, a Des Moines contractor that Eagle View hired to construct the first building, are forging an agreement to sell the site to DCI, which would then finish the project.

"We're just happy the community stood behind us — and subcontractors as well — to get us to a resolution here," said Brett Krantz, a vice president of DCI Group.

The new estimated completion date for the second, 4-story building — which has mostly residential space — is near the end of 2026. It will lie near the corner of Sixth Avenue and 12th Street and is expected to cost about $12 million, according to city documents.

A development agreement approved by the city last month for DCI Group includes nearly $7 million of financial incentives for the project, split evenly between economic development grant money and property tax rebates.

Marion City Manager Ryan Waller told The Gazette the project has "changed the whole dynamic of the Uptown," and that it was a major factor in the state's $3 million Destination Iowa grant to the city to help construct its adjacent Central Plaza, planned to have water features, art, seating areas, fire tables and a refrigerated ice-skating loop during the winter.

The second Broad and Main building is expected to have 42 units with one or two bedrooms and a private parking garage at the ground level. The planned amenities include an outdoor dog run, fitness center, locked bike storage room and an indoor-and-outdoor lounge.

The projects are part of the city's 2021 development plan for its Uptown district — Marion's historic center that encompasses more than 20 city blocks. It is bounded by Seventh and 15th streets and Fifth and Eighth avenues.

Comments: (319) 368-8541; jared.strong@thegazette.com