Community Invited to an Open House for the new Bear River Cottages Pocket Neighborhood

Pocket Neighborhoods - A Future of Possibilities

Maquoketa, IA, March 18, 2019:  If you are in the market for a new home, people are encouraged to attend an open house on Thursday, April 4, 2019, 4:30 to 6:30, at the Maquoketa Art Experience, 124 S. Main Street, Maquoketa, to learn about an exciting new housing opportunity coming to the community. The Bear River Cottages is a pocket neighborhood comprised of ten moderately priced, single-family homes being constructed as purchased starting this summer.  Each home will have $10,000 in down payment assistance to eligible households with price points between $145,000 to $160,000. 

The pocket neighborhood concept features clusters of homes gathered around a landscaped common area where neighbors live in a community setting and interact on a daily basis.  The homes are designed to foster community relationships with front porches, rain and community gardens, and a gazebo for picnic and outdoor grilling.   All homes will be 1064 square feet; 2 or 3 bedrooms; unfinished basements; and a single car garages with the option for a second garage.    

Kelley Deutmeyer, Executive Director of the ECDC and East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA), the operating agency of ECDC, said, “A housing needs assessment completed in 2015 indicated that 300 new homes are needed in Jackson County by the year 2030.  The homes proposed in this project will be quality single-family homes, bungalow style, incorporating sustainable building practices at an affordable price point addressing the demand for workforce housing.  It is our intent to take this model and replicate it in other areas of our region.”

ECDC is also partnering with the Iowa Area Development Group, McDonough Foundation, Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, Eastern Iowa Reginal Housing Corporation Housing Trust Fund, Jackson County Board of Supervisors, Jackson County Economic Alliance, and the City of Maquoketa to make this project a reality and to keep the price point of the homes affordable.

For more information, call Carl Reimer, Housing Development Specialist at 563-690-5372 or email him at creimer@ecia.org.