In September 2016, the City of Newton took ownership of the historic Hotel Maytag Building on the community’s Courthouse Square.  Though called Hotel Maytag, this five story structure has not served as a hotel for decades. Instead, it has commercial entities including a café’ and movie theatre, on the lower floors and apartments on the upper floors. The Hotel Maytag has a rich history. It was built in 1926 by F.L Maytag, the founder of the global appliance manufacturer.  It was reported to be the first hotel west of the Mississippi River to have air conditioning and is on the Historic Register.  Today, we have totally renovated the interior and exterior to conform to national historic restoration standards for 45 affordable and market rate one and two bedroom apartments and restoration of the movie theatre and café.  The most extraordinary feature of the “hotel” is the 3500 square foot ballroom which is now an event center for the surrounding towns and counties.

Hotel Maytag was a 2019 Housing Iowa Multifamily Housing Development Award Winner and won a 2020 Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award in the Historic Tax Credit Category. You can read more about the awards here.