“Strong collaboration looks like this,” said Astra Ferris, chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, as she welcomed people to the groundbreaking event on Third Avenue Northwest.

The first phase of a 64-unit complex called The River District is expected to be completed by the end of this year or early next year.

The River District will be on about three acres along the south side of Third Avenue Northwest between Fifth and 10th streets northwest.

Representatives of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, Hoppe Development and state, county and city governments gathered on the site Thursday afternoon to formally start the project.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Evan Clark, manager of project development for Hoppe Development, talks during the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for The River District.

“What you see happening here is proof of what we can accomplish,” City Councilwoman Jen Crimmins said.

She represents Ward 1, where the complex is located.

Evan Clark, manager of project development for Lincoln, Nebraska, based Hoppe Development, credited the community for creating an atmosphere which made it easy for his company to decide to build in Fort Dodge.

“Projects like this don’t happen by chance,” he said.

Vickie Reeck, now the chairwoman of the Growth Alliance’s Housing Committee, recalled that she was still working in the city’s Development Services Department on Oct. 29, 2024, when she received a call from a representative of Hoppe Development saying “we want to be a part of that community.”

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Brian Sweeney, tax credit director for the Iowa Finance Authority, talks about how his agency supported The River District apartment complex.

She said Fort Dodge had just received the Thriving Iowa Community designation from the Iowa Economic Development Authority when Hoppe Development contacted her.

In February 2025, the City Council sold the property to the developer for $369,000.

In May 2025, the Iowa Finance Authority awarded $1,195,346 in housing tax credits for the project.

Then in September 2025, the project was awarded an additional $874,440 in tax credits from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Clark said The River District will consist of 64 apartments in eight buildings. He said half of the buildings will be three-stories and half will be two-stories.

The majority of the apartments will have two bedrooms, but there will be 10 units with four bedrooms.

The complex will include a community room, playground and dog park.

Clark said rents will range from $730 a month to $1,300 a month.

While 40 of the apartments will be set aside for low income households earning 60 percent or less than the area median home, Clark vowed that “you won’t be able to tell the difference between The District and general market rate rentals.”

“We’ll be here long term,” he said.

According to Clark, The River District is Hoppe Development’s first project outside of Nebraska.

He said the project is “just a natural fit for what we typically do.”

Construction of the complex started in late March, when crews from Riley-Armstrong Plumbing & Heating, of Fort Dodge, did all the underground work for the needed water and sanitary sewer lines.