CHARLES CITY, IA—The Thompson brothers, local developers, are asking the City Council for tax incentive assistance to build a $13 million retail building in the downtown at Clark and Main streets.
McQuillen Place is planned to include 33 apartment units on the top floors and up to eight retail stores on the street level, according to Charles, Peter and Steven Thompson, brothers who jointly operate Amelia Management, a real estate development company based in the city.
To finance construction, the Thompsons, in addition to amassing their own capital, have requested tax increment financing from the local TIF district and hope to make use of disaster recovery financing available to the city through a federal government program seeking to encourage building to replace homes lost in the 2008 floods in the region. The requests for government assistance are pending.
Peter Thompson said in a statement that the project is going to revitalize a once-busy business district. "The 1968 Charles City tornado destroyed much of our Main Street," he said. "When added to the growth of existing businesses, McQuillen Place will help to revive Charles City's Main Street and make it as central and significant as it was to the region before 1968." Part of the new development will occupy the site of the former Union House, an historic hotel and restaurant that was used as a town center and gathering place.
The Thompsons are using the services of law firm Duane Morris LLP in Chicago for counsel on real estate and government funding.