Dows Farm, Linn County’s first “agri-community,” is finally taking shape after crews broke ground Tuesday on the development that will combine agriculture and residential uses in one neighborhood.
The more than $75 million project from local developer Chad Pelley’s Twenty40 Building Concepts is on about 170 acres of county-owned land bordered by Mount Vernon Road on the south, Dows Road on the west and residential development on the northeast, near what is now called Wanatee Creek. Plans include new housing units, agricultural elements and other uses.
The whole site is about 485 acres total, with about 300 acres adjacent to county-owned Wanatee Park and the city of Cedar Rapids’ Gardner Golf Course that is planned for conservation and related uses.
“The uniqueness and the amenities and the lifestyle and what this development represents and the just cool factor and ‘wow’ factor of it, I think, is going to be well received by the community,” Pelley said. “We get tons of outreach constantly.”
Example of ‘balancing’ agriculture, development
Dows Farm is among Iowa’s largest agri-communities, with the approximately 400-acre Middlebrook development near Cumming south of Des Moines markingthe state’s first “agrihood.” It’s a concept that pairs housing with community farming.
Work will be done in phases in the coming years, first adding 120 housing units — a mix of town houses, single-family homes, market-rate rental apartments and lofts. Of that, 10 single-family housing units will form a “pocket park.” Six units in the pocket park received $990,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery funds. The overall plan calls for more than 350 housing units.
Over the seven- to 10-year span of construction, the project also is slated to include an event center, 40,000 square feet of commercial space, green space and areas to showcase public art. A portion of funds from homes sold on the site will be placed into a public art fund for use toward projects within Dows Farm.
Pelley anticipated construction would start by October on basem*nts for some of the homes. Apartment complex construction likely wouldn’t start until 2025. The first phase of housing overall would potentially wrap up within three years.
Linn County Conservation will work on creating Maniti Trail and has secured the needed easem*nts to put it through the site, said county Planning and Development Director Charlie Nichols. The trail will follow Wanatee Creek from 29th Avenue on the north side of Marion to Grant Wood Trail and Wanatee Park Trail connections to a future trail connection at Mount Vernon Road SE.
Having been planned since before COVID-19 began its global spread in 2020, the project has taken several “twists and turns,” Nichols said, because of the pandemic and its lingering effects on real estate. Nationwide, high interest rates have driven up housing costs, delaying or halting developers’ plans and escalating home prices.
Nichols said this project was a huge investment of time and money by the county and accomplishes the county’s strategic goals.
“What we're trying to do in Planning and Development is balance agricultural uses with development, and Dows Farm is a good showcase of a unique way of doing that where the ag uses and the residential uses aren’t in conflict,” Nichols said.
Farm elements still being planned
Still, Pelley has to firm up plans for agricultural elements of the site after a faulty well pushed nonprofit Feed Iowa First off part of the land earlier than planned last year. That prompted Pelley to pursue new plans for the farm elements of the project.
Pelley said he remains interested in purchasing the approximately 40-acre space where a “working farm” was planned, but there are no immediate plans to do so. Feed Iowa First operated its Equitable Land Access program for underserved, landless farmers on a slice of those 40 acres and now has another site with Linn County Conservation.
Nichols said the county is waiting for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to clear funds for barn reconstruction before making any decision on ownership of the farm. The barn was destroyed during the 2020 derecho and the county has not received clearance to remove all the debris.
An easem*nt placed on the planned farmland restricts its use to agricultural purposes, so Pelley said he would not build more housing on that space. The land also can’t be used for traditional row crops.
Besides the space initially slated for a working farm, the “agri-community” by design allows for housing to intermingle with other agricultural elements throughout.
Once residents move in by spring 2025 and a homeowners association gets off the ground, Pelley said he would like for residents to have a voice in which agricultural features end up on the site. He’s exploring elements such as partnerships with a vineyard operator or honey producer or other organizations looking to unite residents around agriculture.
“We're going to do the best we can with our HOA to incorporate a lot of that component within the neighborhood itself,” Pelley said. “It's just icing on the cake that we got the farm too and we can do relationships there.”
Pelley said he sees potential to partner with multiple organizations to use the farm, as long as they are interested in forming a “two-way” relationship with neighbors — “whether that's educational, whether that's crop sharing, whether that's just the ability to see an agricultural operation.”
“We want to see a return on investment as well,” Pelley said.
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