Our Town: Ely Development Could Prove to be Community Spark

ELY, Iowa (KCRG) - An Ely family, along with various developers, is making a $7 million investment in the community that will tie the historic downtown with a bustling bike trail.

“That’s unheard of in the history of Ely,” said Mayor Scott Ladwig.

The Krob family, led by Mark Krob, is creating the condominium/retail complex called the Main Street Legacy that could be open for business in the Spring of 2025.

Plans for the corner of Dows and Main streets have been developed for years, but not realized until ground was broken in July 2024. It’s meant to meet the need of additional retail space downtown and the need for affordable housing thanks to development in Cedar Rapids and southern Linn County.

“Those people are going to need places to live as well and we know, we already have evidence of some of that new staff buying homes in Ely, being close to their work, and that’s important to them too,” said Ely City Administrator Eldy Miller.

And that’s where Mark Krob and his family come in: developing a piece of land that was once home to the rail depot and later became the offices and scale house for the FJ Krob & Company grain elevator.

“It’s just been part of us,” said Mark Krob.

Its architecture is designed to blend in with the rest of downtown, a community dominated by turn of the Century buildings, but not this Century.

“So keeping that fun blend in here with a few modern touches is essential to the development,” said Mayor Ladwig.

Four generations of the Krob family have helped shape the city, starting with F.J. Krob who bought the grain elevator business that dominated Ely in 1910.

And the family still leaves a mark in the community today.

“Our family’s been here a long time, we’ve been involved in many things,” said Mark Krob.

Mark Krob’s great-grandfather also helped start the American Legion Post, was once the mayor, and was also the city’s first fire chief.

Mark’s father helped run the elevator for more than a generation, and his mother started the city’s library.

Now, Mark is at the heart of this latest community investment.

Does he feel that he’s the next generation to contribute to Ely’s growth?

“It feels that way, yes,” he said. “That’s why I keep saying it’s an opportunity to keep things going and not kinda fade out into the darkness, but to create something vibrant and lasting for the town.”

The new Main Street Legacy project will draw together two important parts of Ely: its downtown and the Cedar Valley Nature Trail that sees 4500 bike riders each week.

“I don’t like connecting dots and dashes, you can’t do that, right?” asked Mayor Ladwig.

“There’s always gaps somewhere. The Krobs draw a straight line. They have that pulse on our community.”

And that straight line has brought the Krobs and the City of Ely back to this gravel filled lot... to help write the next chapter.

“We’ve heard this a lot: Ely has tremendous potential, it’s on the verge, it needs a spark,” said Mark Krob.

“We think this might be the spark to push things forward and move things forward.”

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