CONRAD — Conrad city leaders and representatives from Origin Homes celebrated another milestone in the small community as the West Des Moines-based company broke ground on the construction of five single-family homes financed in part by nearly $200,000 in state tax incentives during a brief ceremony on Wednesday morning.

The houses will be built inside the Catherine Farmer Addition just west of BCLUW Elementary School, and one of them has already been purchased by local residents Megan and Tyler Yantis. Conrad City Clerk Lori Stansberry explained that she approached Origin Director of Operations Matt Daniels about considering Conrad for one of the company’s rural housing initiative projects at the Iowa Rural Development Summit before being chosen last year along with Jefferson and Knoxville.

“I like to say affordability means different things to different people, and we’re kind of taking that model on the road and really just getting rooftops into our communities. So we’ve got some customization options that are happening on these homes. There’s still time to do that if you know of anybody that’s interested,” Daniels said. “(We’re) just excited to work with the development commission here, you guys have been great. The city’s been great. There’s a lot of local support here, and there’s a large opportunity. So when we saw Conrad, we got excited, and we’re just thankful for the opportunity to be here.”

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