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The so-called Town Square block along State Street in downtown Bettendorf should be used as originally envisioned – as an open plaza for civic events and activities – a team of urban planners from the Iowa Downtown Resource Center told city officials in early October.

The planning experts' recommendation is in stark contrast to two development proposals currently being considered by the city council. Both call for creation of mixed use commercial/residential development with parking on the block between 20th and 21st Streets between State and Grant Streets.

For more than a year, Bettendorf Mayor Bob Gallagher and City Administrator Decker Ploehn have been telling their economic development staff and developers they would support use of city tax incentives for projects involving downtown apartments.

In emails obtained by bettendorf.com through a Freedom of Information request, both Gallagher and Ploehn were focused on redevelopment of eight apartment buildings in the downtown known collectively as the Carling Apartments.

The one-block Town Square idea kicked around by Bettendorf aldermen this spring has now mushroomed into a three-block downtown makeover with city taxpayers expected to contribute from $8 million to $15 million in land donations, interest rate buy-downs and developer tax rebates.

The two competing Town Square project proposals – from Russell Companies, Davenport, and Newbury Living, Des Moines – also call for obtaining state housing tax credits to help pay for either senior- or workforce-housing that would be built as part of the redevelopment.