High-profile Ames developer plans major housing construction in Jefferson

By DOUGLAS BURNS
d.burns@carrollspaper.com

A Huxley-based property developer key in the re-shaping of Ames’ residential stock in the last decade has announced plans to build 12 town homes and 16 to 32 apartment units in Jefferson near the water tower in the western part of the Greene County seat.

JCorp owner Duane Jensen, an Audubon native who lives in Ames, said his company, which includes son Ben, has signed a purchase agreement on property contingent on city site-plan approval. Jensen hopes to obtain a green light for the housing development in April with a construction schedule that, weather permitting, could allow for people to move in during the fall.

In an interview Friday afternoon with the Jefferson Herald, Duane Jensen said he sees strong market potential in Jefferson.

“I’m interested in supplying to the demand and taking it aggressively, yet cautiously,” Jensen said.

Jensen said Greene County Development Corporation executive director Ken Paxton did a terrific job of spotlighting business opportunities for JCorp and other entrepreneurs in Greene County. The firm conducted its own market analysis, which showed Greene County is a “ripe” market for more residential development.

Those interested in learning more about JCorp’s development, which reaches across a spectrum of structures from residential to business to mixed use to churches, can go to the firm’s website — www.jcorp.biz.