Uptown housing rehab available with CNRG

Creston residents near Uptown may be eligible for exterior home repairs thanks to the Community Neighborhood Revitalization Grant.

In July 2024, Creston was awarded the CNRG, providing a total of $1.75 million from the Iowa Economic Development Authority. In order to apply, the city had to put forward a complete plan of how the money would be spent and how it would help the city. Creston competed against three other Iowa towns for this award.

Southern Iowa Council of Governments Senior Planner Jeremy Rounds said there are four main elements to the project.

“It has what we call downtown improvements,” Rounds said. “It has pedestrian pathways and it has two housing projects. One is an owner-occupied rehab project and one is a renter-occupied rehab project.”

Rounds has been working with Update Uptown to bring these projects to fruition. The team is working hard to find the right community members for the project as applications are due Oct. 15.

Buildings eligible for the rehab project span from Division Street to Birch Street and from the railroad to Howard Street. Homes must be inside this box on the map; buildings on the east side of Birch Street, west side of Division Street and north side of Howard Street are not included.

While this is a small area, Union County Development Association Director and Update Uptown member Mindy Stalker said the rehab area was decided at the beginning of the project.

“That was determined a long time ago when we went through this process with RDG planning and they did the assessment and then applied for this neighborhood revitalization grant,” Stalker said. “That’s when these boundaries were established. That part can’t be adjusted.”

Other qualifying criteria include having or being able to obtain insurance, being current with mortgage, taxes and utilities and being at or below the income guidelines, which can be found on the city’s website.

The plan is to work with five owner-occupied homes and three renter-occupied homes, though these numbers can change.

“We’re able to grant approximately $32,000 that we can invest on a property,” Rounds said. “It could actually be a little bit more than that because of match money, but that’s going to be pretty much average.”

There is no match required for owner-occupied homes. However, landlords must match 20% for renter-occupied homes. While the landlord would be providing insurance, tax and other similar information, the income guidelines would be based on the renter.

“If I’m a tenant in that area, my thinking would be, ‘I know this grant is out there, I would like my landlord to make improvements,’” Rounds said. “Talk to your landlord about it, or contact me and I can talk you through some of the questions they might have about it. Ultimately, they need to work through their landlord to get that process rolling.”

Exterior improvements the grant can be utilized for include work on roofs, siding, windows, doors and foundation work. Before any of this can be done, a lead inspection must take place. Any issues with lead must be addressed before other improvements are made.

While work is continuing on other aspects of the CRNG, for the next month, housing rehabilitation will remain the focus.

If interested parties are unsure if they qualify, they can take the pre-screening questionnaire.

Questions on eligibility or other information can be found by contacting Rounds at (641) 782-4891 or rounds@sicog.com or Nicole Rhodes from the Southwest Iowa Housing Planning Council at (866) 279-4720, ext. 240 or nicole.rhodes@swipco.org.

Applications can be found online at www.swipco.org/housing-swihtf/creston-cnrg-housing-repair-program/.