By Anelia K. Dimitrova
Construction work kicked off this week at 215 West Ninth Street, the site of an urban “pocket neighborhood” called Cottages on Clay.
A portion of the street in the area between West Eighth and West Ninth streets is closed to traffic for the next couple of weeks, as a private contractor is working on installing utility lines.
This is a new and final phase in the project, which features 12 light-filled, 1,500-square foot single-family homes, with a stone exterior, porches and welcoming, big windows.
Six have been built so far and two of the homes already have occupants.
The current phase in the construction will complete the remaining six cottages in the project, which is expected to wrap up by the end of the year.
I took a tour of one of the unoccupied cottages with developer Brian Wingert, owner of Structure Real Estate, on a recent Wednesday afternoon while the utility work outside was ongoing.
“One of the actually neat things about it is that these homes qualified for CFU’s “Future Ready Homes,” he said, referring to the residential new construction program designed run by the locally-owned utility.
Its goal is to promote the efficient and sustainable construction of single-family homes in town.
It is the first such project for Wingert, who envisioned the cottages as a way to connect with neighbors when you feel like sipping your coffee on the front porch or disconnect from the world when you feel like diving into your thoughts or your hobbies in the upstairs suit or in the fully furnished basement, where another bedroom is also located.
The open concept space from the entrance to the kitchen is inviting and the big windows add to the atmosphere with a lavish influx of light and streetscape scenery.
The interior is crisp, with the fresh smell of new construction still in the air.
What’s most unexpected in the experience of being inside the cottage I visited compared to looking at it from the street is the size of the interior.
The vertical use of space is efficient, there are no hallways, for instance, and every square inch suits a purpose.
The cottages are part of a concept called “pocket neighborhood,” also described as a “neighborhood within a neighborhood.” They are suitable for young professionals, who might prefer a minimalist approach to stuff or to empty nesters, who have downsized to simplify their lives. It is the perfect spot for residents appreciating the walkability and the proximity to the thriving downtown.
“Some people really desire community, walk out, sit out on your front porch, and right across the way, you’re gonna see your neighbor,” Wingert said. “You hope that that creates community within the place, new friendships, it’s just more of a place where it’s close knit and neighbors are working together and live together and play together.”
Wingert said in 2022, he bought the lot of the site of the Mennonite Church that had been vacant for a while.
The project was propelled forward by the new zoning codes the city adopted a couple of years ago, Wingert noted.
What Wingert he said was “the first urban pocket-neighborhood developed in Iowa,” broke ground on Oct. 1, 2023.
A year later, in September of 2024, the cottages were showcased to the public during the Cedar Valley Parade of Homes.
The reaction from the those who walked through the cottages at the time affirmed Wingert’s vision now that the concept had been realized.
“So it’s just an overwhelming response from the people that we saw on the Parade of Homes and the people that talk about this on a weekly basis has been, ‘Man, I can’t believe how much the space actually feels versus what it says on paper.'”
The starting price point is $380K, Wingert said. The cottages can be purchased or rented.
Wingert, a UNI grad and a former Northern Iowa Panthers place kicker, said he is looking forward to seeing the last phase of the project come to fruition.
“I’m excited for these cottages to create and fill and complete the community and have a finished product down here so I can stop annoying the neighbors (with the construction work),” he said.
Asked if he would be tempted to live in one of them at some point, he quipped:
“If we were kid free, I think we’d seriously entertain it,” he said.