Housing Development Workshop

Fairfield Economic Development Association is continuing its push for more home construction by hosting a free housing development workshop.

The workshop will be from 11 a.m. to noon, with additional meetings in the afternoon, Dec. 1 at the Fairfield CoLab, on the second floor of the Bonnell Building. The meeting will provide information to local landowners and investors who are thinking about building homes and developing whole subdivisions.

Glenn Lyons, a developer from Neighborhood Development Corporation in Des Moines will speak from 11 a.m. to noon. Lyons and representatives from FEDA and French-Reneker-Associates will be available after noon to discuss the development process, land engineering and available housing initiatives.

Any member of the public considering a housing project is welcome to set up a free consultation. Those wishing to attend are asked to respond to FEDA executive director Adam Plagge atadam.plagge@growfairfield.com and to inform him of whether they would like a one-on-one meeting with Lyons, FEDA or French-Reneker-Associates.

Lyons’s talk will focus on market analysis, market development, site selection, concept development, financial feasibility, sales and project evaluation.

Building a subdivision or even a single home can be a massive undertaking with so many things to consider. Plagge said the purpose of the meeting will be to make that process less daunting by filling gaps in developers’ knowledge of how to finance their project, manage engineering costs and navigate zoning codes.

Plagge said he hopes the meeting will spur home construction in Fairfield, which has not seen much of it in the past 5-10 years. Between 8-10 homes have been built each of the past several years, and he would like to see that number double to between 15-25 per year.