Just beyond Mud Creek, near the eastern border of Altoona, lies a plot of land that checks all the boxes for industrial development.
A triangle of open land bordered by Interstate 80, Mud Creek and NE 80th Street, the area is set to be incorporated into Altoona’s NE Industrial Park, which currently approaches Mud Creek from the west and ends just before the creek. Today, the park is home to high-tech data storage company LightEdge Solutions and a mix of manufacturing, transportation, logistics and warehousing operations—Iowa Cold Storage, Merchants Distribution Services, Central Trailer services and Dayton-Freight Des Moines, among others. The tenants are drawn to the park’s location and features, which make it uniquely well-suited to industrial operations:
- Access to Interstate-80, which runs alongside the park
- Affordable, development-ready land with excellent infrastructure
- A rail spur that runs through the park, connecting Altoona businesses to the Iowa Interstate Railroad
- A strong local workforce
- Ample room to expand facilities
- A location in a growing community with a thriving economy, minutes from downtown Des Moines
Now, as the City plans to expand the park further east by building a new bridge, businesses and developers have an opportunity to put down roots in this strategic location. However, the City plans to wait until developers have expressed interest before moving forward.