[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6092276,"mediaKeyId","2855496-2fb205b3224e8e60595b1c454869b2fa","parentId",2855496,"title","Polk County board hears update on IEC/Hilton hotel financing and planned soft renovation; trustees propose using hotel distributions to fund repairs","audioSeconds",3554,"startMs",1975000,"endMs",5529000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2855496-2fb205b3224e8e60595b1c454869b2fa&start=1975&end=5529","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2855496-2fb205b3224e8e60595b1c454869b2fa/thumbnail_1975000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6092276/Polk-County/Iowa/Polk-County-board-hears-update-on-IECHilton-hotel-financing-and-planned-soft-renovation-trustees-propose-using-hotel-distributions-to-fund-repairs","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6092276-5a984ed44188a342062a45a0a606bbe5/orig.mp4?Expires=1771076491&Signature=oFe4JJnbfx3Rix2trAbyvXO72-DxnuHvzcp5PeXR~HfR3D-tjwO5ubxmPu6kNp4ScFhSuUX8a2ZAtALkonytyTMNta2xoep9mxz9X4QNqU49EN6v8fYp9c16tsh9Zz~iGUhGZgif0DRw5LlJVvh4MtZIy~hcJUOwOg5q1ZLgIyy~hhepCFKvfS1WceCTQZO~F1rehWGzJRCmUmpY~bq7wqPCemxoQf9eKx1bNxd4pvNoeaSH1sS653p3P7b2kFGXTE5~rkeqRByoTzvNa2s2eFwiYb1T5pQpQ0SGWJxI9ux-aZo02FERhf3UC7x62aa9tYaveCvSxcfAv-7BCUeLQw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Polk County, IA","date","2025-04-03T01:14:17.817Z","article","Polk County officials received a detailed briefing on the ownership, financing and operating structure of the convention-center Hilton — owned by IEC Hotel Corporation and managed under a qualifying management agreement with Hilton — and were told the hotel needs a soft renovation that the parties estimate will cost about $7 million.

Wayne Reams, attorney for IEC Hotel Corporation, and Tim Oswald, financial presenter, walked the board through the project’s legal and financing history, including Polk County’s ownership of the land and IEC’s status as a nonprofit title holder created to allow tax-exempt financing. Reams described governance safeguards: Polk County appoints a majority of IEC’s board seats and is the entity that ultimately benefits from the hotel; bond rules require that assets financed with tax-exempt bonds must inure to the government at bond maturity.

Oswald presented the project’s capital stack and operating flows. He said the original total project cost was about $113,500,000 and that the outstanding net debt at the end of fiscal 2025 is approximately $68,800,000. Polk County is the largest creditor, holding roughly $25,900,000 of that outstanding debt. Oswald described the hotel’s waterfall payment structure: operating funds and trustee-admin fees are paid first, then debt service, then FF&E reserves; a subordinate management fee for Hilton is payable only if the hotel first produces several revenue thresholds.

Oswald said the contract requires an annual set-aside into the FF&E fund equal to 4% of room revenues; that fund is partially but not fully funded and contains a “couple million dollars” today. The planned soft renovation — limited to public areas, carpet, furniture and finishes — is estimated at roughly $7 million; Oswald said the difference between the fund’s current balance and the renovation cost is about $5 million. He said the proposed timeline calls for design and procurement through late 2025 and installation in 2026, coordinated with Hilton and event scheduling.

Board members pressed for details about how the renovation would be funded. IEC representatives described a history of Polk County using distributions it received from hotel payments to pay down a bank loan earlier in the project rather than keep the distributions as county general funds; IEC asked the board to consider instead directing those hotel distributions back into the property’s capital accounts to fund the renovation and avoid new outside borrowing. Oswald estimated Polk County’s annual distribution from the specific County-held loan (Series B) is about $1.7 million per year; he and other presenters said the county has discretion over those receipts and could redeploy them to FF&E and renovation needs instead of prepaying bank debt.

Presenters emphasized the hotel’s role in attracting multi-day conventions and described an earlier JLL study that estimated roughly $1.5 million per year in additional revenue to the Iowa Events Center from having the headquarters hotel; board members and IEC directors said that effect has helped attract events and created downtown spillover benefits for other hotels.

No formal action or vote was taken during the presentation. IEC directors asked for policy direction that would allow future distributions to be used for the hotel’s FF&E and renovations rather than automatic prepayment of the bank loan; supervisors asked for follow-up materials, line-item cost estimates and a resolution draft to consider options formally at a future meeting.

Polk County supervisors and IEC representatives agreed to continue the discussion and requested staff and IEC provide more detailed financial schedules showing the effect of potential redeployment of distributions for FF&E funding and renovation timing.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Polk County Board Staff Meeting (04/02/25)","oneSentenceSummary","Lawyers, finance advisers and hotel managers briefed Polk County supervisors on the structure and debt of the IEC-owned Hilton adjacent to the convention center, outlined a $7 million soft-renovation plan funded from the hotel’s FF&E reserve and hotel distributions, and asked the county to redeploy upcoming bond payments to cover the shortfall.","taxTitle","Polk County, Iowa","taxId",2975,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6092280,"Polk County, Des Moines Water Works and University of Iowa launch outreach to address bottled-water reliance among immigrants and refugees",1663,310000,1973000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2855496-2fb205b3224e8e60595b1c454869b2fa&start=310&end=1973","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2855496-2fb205b3224e8e60595b1c454869b2fa/thumbnail_310000.jpg","/articles/6092280/Polk-County/Iowa/Polk-County-Des-Moines-Water-Works-and-University-of-Iowa-launch-outreach-to-address-bottled-water-reliance-among-immigrants-and-refugees","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6092280-4c2c064b9ef9159dd0fcf604c280faff/orig.mp4?Expires=1771076491&Signature=MZmsGRmn8AN3G7UDkDlPYxEmass8udAYgA9L4luwc1TJO79G3~pspRpW8vbzfIHqwUOGJAJHnkzCl~C~qFDIAIjgmeHl6JkUNNRAzNHPwnQ86pvuSZKgB-2-uXpBSskq4anvoufE9VQIr5bwJZsxydSHib7XZC-2JnerC0MeLqifktkt2Wiq~d1IvBeSGVJeEEMYgmzQSdoPy82b1DTflwQFQHl6DCKZYvTK5EksNBiUGIrbJjso33k4M0GlbFeQAv3X2SA5gu6-sPm6wcSd5d3SKoN7Bd8-3l5qolUaCXetD1xGjItrQGIBdxy7CxgCrLNCeF27zeHSr9QYWa3cNQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Jennifer Terry, a project presenter working with Polk County, introduced an outreach effort on immigrant and refugee tap-water use and described how a partnership with Des Moines Water Works and the University of Iowa traced targeted bottled-water marketing and information gaps among recently arrived households.

The partnership — funded initially by Des Moines Water Works research and later by Polk County — is developing a science-based outreach campaign called “Water for All” to give immigrant and refugee households accessible, multilingual information about local tap water and how it is treated.

Dr. Samantha Zolke, assistant professor in the University of Iowa School of Planning and Public Affairs, summarized summer interviews and focus groups with 22 people from six countries and four languages. “Of the 22 people we interviewed, 21 people primarily drank bottled water,” Zolke said, attributing purchases to beliefs that bottled water is cleaner and to visible labels and marketing that provide more perceived information than what newcomers see about tap water in the U.S. She said interviewees often linked aesthetics — taste, odor, appearance — to health concerns in the absence of clear, local information about treatment and source.

Melissa Walker, communications and outreach manager at Des Moines Water Works, described planned outreach steps. “Initially, we’re calling this campaign Water for All,” Walker said, and said the utility will produce culturally appropriate, translated materials and increase community events and tours to introduce how raw river water is treated into finished drinking water. Walker said the campaign will start with materials in Arabic, Dari, Swahili, Burmese, French and Spanish and include bilingual staff at community events, a one-day ambassador academy at Des Moines Water Works, and installation of a bottle-filling station and reusable bottles at Polk County’s Global Neighbors Welcome Center.

County staff told the board that Polk County previously approved a $150,000 budget for the project; about $40,000 has been spent on research so far. Jennifer Terry said a contract to hire a marketing firm that specializes in outreach to immigrant and refugee communities will be presented to the board for approval at an upcoming meeting. The remainder of the current budget would fund materials, the ambassador academy and the Global Neighbors kiosk if the board approves the next agreement.

Board members asked whether cancer or specific respiratory concerns had surfaced in interviews; Zolke said cancer was not specifically mentioned in the summer interviews but that broader health concerns, including kidneys, were raised. She recommended avoiding top-down messages and instead meeting communities where they are and addressing aesthetic and practical questions directly.

Partners present and named in the meeting included Des Moines Water Works leadership and Polk County Global Neighbors staff; presenters said they will continue partnering with local service providers and public-health actors to get information directly to case managers and community navigators.

The presenters emphasized the outreach is informational: it aims to give residents “reliable science-based information” so households can make their own choices about drinking water, and to reduce unnecessary household expense for families that already face constrained budgets.

The board did not take a final vote during the presentation; staff indicated the project is expected to continue through the end of the current budget year and that future county participation beyond the current appropriation would be up to the board.

Polk County supervisors thanked the presenters and indicated the administration will place the marketing-firm agreement on the next meeting agenda for board consideration.","County-funded research found most interviewed recent immigrants and refugees in Polk County rely on bottled water; partners propose multilingual outreach, facility tours and a ‘Water for All’ ambassador academy funded from an existing $150,000 county budget.","actionData","errors"]

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Polk County board hears update on IEC/Hilton hotel financing and planned soft renovation; trustees propose using hotel distributions to fund repairs

Polk County, Des Moines Water Works and University of Iowa launch outreach to address bottled-water reliance among immigrants and refugees