The 5th Street Lofts, located at 500 Iowa St. in Davenport’s historic warehouse district, has won an award from the State Historical Society of Iowa for outstanding historic preservation.
The award was presented to The Alexander Co., of Madison, Wisconsin, at the recent 2017 Preserve Iowa Summit in Fort Dodge.
The Alexander Co. kicked off redevelopment in the warehouse district in 2005 with its conversion of the former Crescent Macaroni Co. into the Davenport Lofts. The company followed with the Waterloo Mills, the 4th Street Lofts and the Kerker Lofts. The $8.2 million 5th Street project was its last, creating 33 apartments in the former Sieg Iron Co. All told, the company created 180 apartments in the area.
Dave Vos was the project development manager.
The Sieg building was constructed in 1916 to accommodate the growing company that began as a wholesale distributor of heavy hardware and parts for wagons and carriages.
Over time, windows were boarded up, other windows were secured with security bars, and bad repairs were made to the masonry. As part of the rehabilitation, exterior masonry was restored, the windows were reopened and the historic entrance was restored.
This article was first published in the Quad-City Times by Alma Gaul.
