MASON CITY – A collapsing retaining wall along 4th Street NE in Mason City, just west of the East Park sledding hill, led City Hall to demolish houses, move another, and prep the area for possible re-development.
The 4th Street NE project continues to proceed, with the imminent sale of 537 4th Street NE to the North Iowa Corridor Housing Development Corporation (NICHDC), city documents explain. All of the properties on the south side of 4th Street NE between 527 4th Street NE and 613 4th Street NE are now City owned.
The house at 537 4th Street NE will be kept in its current location, the documents continued. The front yards were regraded so that a collapsing retaining wall could be removed, earlier this fall. The house at 549 4th Street NE was moved to the vacant lot just west of the 537 house. These lots are planned to be deeded to NICHDC (North Iowa Corridor Housing Development Corp.), who will renovate the houses and sell them as workforce housing. This will leave the majority of the property (after the wall is removed and the property is re-graded) for new development.
“We intend to work with NICHDC to market this property for a quality townhome project,” the documents stated..
Steven J. Van Steenhuyse, Director of Development Services in Mason City, also offered NIT a narrative on the on-going peoject:
“There was a retaining wall along the sidewalk on the south side of the 500 block on 4th Street NE that had deteriorated and was in danger of falling into the public sidewalk. The City closed this sidewalk as a safety measure over a year ago. It was discovered that the retaining wall was in the City right-of-way and was therefore the responsibility of the City to maintain. We had an engineering firm do a structural analysis of the wall and an estimate of the cost to repair or replace it. The study showed that the wall could not be repaired so that it would be safe, and that the cost of removing it and replacing it with a structurally sound retaining wall was significant. I do not have those numbers immediately available, but if you would like to see the study, send an Open Records request and we will have it sent to you. In any case, it was determined that it would be more economically viable to acquire the properties starting from 527 4th Street NE east to 613 4th Street NE at the 4th Street NE/North Carolina Avenue corner than to build a new retaining wall.
“After acquisition, the City determined that the houses at 537 and 549 4th Street NE were in satisfactory enough condition that they could be retained and sold as workforce housing. The house at 537 was left in place, but the house at 549 was moved west to the vacant lot addressed as 527. All the other houses were determined to be in dilapidated condition and were demolished. The remaining vacant lots between 537 and the corner were re-graded so that the only retaining wall needed is a short wall near the sidewalk in front of 537. The two remaining houses were sold to the North Iowa Corridor Housing Development Corporation, who is renovating them and preparing them for sale. These will be fully renovated houses offered at prices that are attainable to the workforce.
“The remainder of the property will be marketed for development. We anticipate a townhome-style project but are open to development offers. We are working to identify a developer who can meet the City’s goal of providing quality housing to the workforce. This redevelopment project provides quality housing in an improving neighborhood near East Park.”
Shelley Oltmans at the NICHDC reached out to NIT to give a bit more perspective on the their role in the project:
“We are hoping to have the houses nearly complete and on the market early 2026. A condition of the sale is we require a 20 year deed restriction that the property must remain owner-occupied. The person can sell the property, however it cannot be a rental property. I am actively marketing the city owned property. I have discussed with at least 4 developers/builders that are considering the project for a Workforce Housing Tax Credit Application to construct owner occupied townhomes.”
