Construction is underway on a new headquarters for Kading Properties at 7008 Madison Ave. in Urbandale, a project the family-owned workforce housing developer says will more than double its office space as the company marks its 50th year in business. The expansion will add 11,000 square feet to the company's existing 3,500-square-foot building on a neighboring parcel along 70th Street, connecting the two structures into a single two-story headquarters.
A Growing Workforce Housing Builder Needs Room to Grow
The project, first reported by Business Record, comes as Kading Properties has expanded well beyond its roots as a regional Des Moines-area builder. According to Karie Kading Ramsey, the company now has 63 direct employees and just over 600 contract vendors working on its projects. A separate Business Record report from earlier this year put the company's headcount at about 65 employees, including 20 hired within the past five years.
Kading Properties is an Urbandale-based development, construction and property management company focused on workforce housing, according to the Corridor Business Journal. The company is led by three sisters: CEO Karie Kading Ramsey, asset manager Lindsey Opp and vice president of operations Heather Burns. Accounts differ on exactly when their father, Rick Kading, founded the business — Corridor Business Journal cites 1978, Business Record's own earlier profile cites 1977, and DSM Magazine cites 1976 — but all describe him as the company's founder.
What the New Building Will Include
The headquarters project calls for an 8,561-square-foot first-floor addition and a 2,695-square-foot second-story addition, work Kading Properties is carrying out with Downing Construction and engineering firm Lee Chamberlin. The new building will include conference space five times larger than what the company has now, along with a maker space, an outdoor patio, dedicated parking and room set aside for community events, the company told Business Record.
Getting to this point required clearing the way first. Kading Properties acquired the adjacent parcel several years ago, and three dilapidated brick buildings were razed there to make room for the new construction. The company also demolished a 1,700-square-foot building that had stood on its current lot. A rendering of the finished headquarters was created by Downing Construction.
Tied to Urbandale's Downtown Revitalization
The expansion will establish the northern edge of what's planned as Urbandale's future downtown central plaza, and Kading Ramsey said the project fits into the city's downtown master plan and broader downtown revitalization efforts. The company received no incentives for the project, according to Kading Ramsey. Construction is scheduled to wrap up by August 2027, and the finished building will cost more than $5 million.
Kading Properties builds workforce rental housing in communities around the state and has pushed well past its original roughly 60-mile radius around Des Moines, according to Business Record's earlier coverage of the company's growth. The Corridor Business Journal identified workforce-housing projects now underway in 26 Iowa communities, including Boone, Marshalltown, Newton, Pella and Winterset, with the company recently launching newer projects in Cherokee and Charles City after expanding its territory.
Eyeing Eastern Iowa Next
The company is also looking to expand its footprint across eastern Iowa, including the Quad Cities and the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids corridor, according to Quad Cities Business. Since launching its Hometown Tours initiative in 2024, Kading has completed 10 tours and is now seeking Iowa communities interested in hosting a 2026 tour focused on workforce housing needs.
Those statewide ambitions are already visible in smaller Iowa towns. In Webster City, Kading Properties won approval to build a 218-unit apartment community on 26 acres, an investment the company says could reach $28 million if fully built, with construction running from fall 2025 through fall 2028, according to The Freeman Journal. In Corydon, the company formed a partnership with the town to build, lease and operate 86 duplex-like rental buildings, as reported by WHO 13.
Company leaders describe the Urbandale expansion as a hub meant to better serve workforce housing needs across the state as Kading Properties plans for future growth. The company's stated goal, per its earlier profile with Business Record, is to build properties that keep rent at no more than 30 percent of household income — a model it has now applied across developments totaling 2,700 front doors statewide, according to the Corridor Business Journal.
