Two Leading Dubuque Employers Announce Plans to Jointly Purchase the Roshek Building

On November 29th, 2019, Cottingham & Butler and Heartland Financial USA announced plans to purchase the Roshek Building at 700 Locust Street in downtown Dubuque. The two companies have formed a partnership, Roshek Property LLC, in order to make the purchase from Dubuque Initiatives. Together, they have plans to invest an additional $2.85 million to improve the building for their respective operations. They have collectively committed to creating at least 32 new full-time jobs through the project.

Cottingham & Butler is the 25th largest insurance broker in the country, employing more than 700 individuals in Dubuque. They currently have offices across Dubuque in three locations—1000 Main Street, 825 Main Street, and 800 Main Street—with no plans to vacate those spaces despite this newest expansion.

Heartland Financial USA, the parent company of Dubuque Bank & Trust, owns 11 community banks across the Midwest and western United States, employing nearly 2,000 people nationwide. Roughly 450 of those Heartland Financial employees work in Dubuque. An additional 150 employees work for Dubuque Bank & Trust in Dubuque. Operations are also at various locations throughout the city—1301 Central Avenue, 1398 Central Avenue, 2196 Holliday Drive, and existing office space at the Roshek Building. Heartland officials hope to consolidate operations within the Roshek Building once the project is completed.

The sale of the property by Dubuque Initiatives would complete a ten-year effort to repurpose the Roshek Building. In 2009, the nonprofit invested in transforming it into a state-of-the-art facility for IBM and future tenants. The sale of the building would fulfill the goal to return the property to private ownership, freeing Dubuque Initiatives to pursue new economic development projects in downtown Dubuque and create new jobs.

The project is contingent upon approval of agreements by both the City of Dubuque and State of Iowa. Under the agreement, Roshek Property LLC would receive tax increment rebates over ten years. This would be a transfer of rebates previously secured by Dubuque Initiatives. The agreement would also require the City to accelerate existing plans to build a 500-space parking structure in the downtown area. On December 2nd, the Dubuque City Council approved a public hearing on the proposed development agreement which will be held on December 16, 2019.