Assessment of Grimes’ Governors District to engage stakeholders, help city define vision for future development

Michael Crumb Feb 5, 2025 | 6:00 am
3 min read time
677 wordsAll Latest News, Real Estate and DevelopmentThe city of Grimes is preparing to undertake an assessment of its Governors District — an area defined as the city’s old downtown neighborhood — an important step in the development of the city’s strategic plan, city leaders said.
The assessment will take place later this spring. It’s part of a program through the Downtown Resource Center in the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
During the assessment, downtown consultants will lead a three-day planning exercise, said Katie Lord, the city’s director of economic development. A community survey will also be distributed to collect public input.
According to Lord, Grimes did a similar assessment of the Governors District in 2009. She said the city is undertaking an updated assessment because in October the City Council identified revitalization of the Governors District as one of its priorities for 2025.
“So we thought it was a good time to start from scratch,” Lord said. “It’s an opportunity to put a fresh set of eyes on the Governors District, to re-engage with the community, the local residents and with local business owners and leaders, to ask the question, ‘What do we want this to be in the future and how can we continue to make that a really vibrant part of Grimes?’”
Alex Pfaltzgraff, the city’s development services director, said that over the last five or six years the city has seen “a number of folks seek the area for a tear down, rebuild scenario on the housing side.”
“But we’ve also seen some interest in the core along Main Street as well,” he said.
He said a developer acquired an old fueling station site at the corner of First and Main streets, razed it and built a new office building on the site. Last summer, an old single-family home was acquired and converted into a wine and bourbon bar.
A property the city acquired through a nuisance abatement is being redeveloped into a mixed-use building with ground-floor retail and upper-story residential. Another developer has acquired three lots with plans to put up five row homes and a 12-unit apartment building.
“We’ve been really excited because there’s a lot of interest in the area,” Pfaltzgraff said. “The redevelopment is great for the neighborhood, and it reinforces that it is a viable area for development.”
He said there are “a number of projects” that could come up in 2025.
“And we hope that will translate into more over time,” Pfaltzgraff said.
Lord said the city is also working with consulting firm Confluence on a new comprehensive land use plan through 2050 and that the Governors District assessment will coordinate with that effort.
She said the Governors District assessment will help further define what the city’s vision is for the district as redevelopment continues.
Following the “idea meetings” that will be held with community stakeholders, a report will be issued that will identify redevelopment opportunities for the Governors District, she said.
“There’s huge value in that report, but I also see a lot of value in the process itself,” Lord said. “It offers an opportunity to ensure alignment on what the future vision looks like and it gives a chance for everybody to be heard.”
The report will lead to policy and program recommendations for the City Council to consider as it begins its strategic planning process this fall, she said.
“It will be a critical piece to helping us understand what are our assets, where do we need to invest more resources and what do we need to focus on going forward?” Lord said. “We have an opportunity to really capitalize on the momentum that we have today.”

Michael Crumb
Michael Crumb is a senior staff writer at Business Record. He covers real estate and development and transportation.