Rottinghaus shares Kmart building plans and housing project

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

There is a lot of activity happening at the former Kmart building as Charles City native Paul Rottinghaus works to repurpose the unused retail space.

Rottinghaus, president of Zip’s AW Direct in New Hampton, purchased the building last year through a partnership run by him and his children to serve as additional storage space for Zip’s expanding business ventures.

“We’re trying to do quite a few things,” said Rottinghaus. “We needed a back-up space for Zip’s as we’re growing in a number of fields.”

Primarily known for building tow trucks, Zip’s has been expanding into e-commerce and marketing, purchasing companies and making deals to sell a range of truck equipment and related products, from universal spare tires to lighting systems for road service vehicles.

Rottinghaus says that he is also in negotiations to purchase yet another company which, if approved, will manufacture product in Charles City.

“We have nearly 65,000 product SKUs which need a home,” said Rottinghaus, referring to the “stock keeping unit” codes that businesses use to track inventory. “All these things take storage and warehousing.”

Rottinghaus also currently owns the former Sherman Nursery property, which he purchased in 2020 and currently shares space with American Soy Basics. As both companies continue to grow, the need for additional storage space for Zip’s has become apparent.

By purchasing and renovating the Kmart building, Rottinghaus hopes to facilitate better conditions for his business and for economic development in Charles City in general.

In addition to Zip’s, the building is also being used by third parties. Rottinghaus has plans to share some of the building’s space with Mahaska Bottling Co. of Oskaloosa and is in discussions with a yet-to-be announced local company as well.

An east coast company has also expressed interest in using the front portion of the building to open a new retail business, he said.

In the meantime, Rottinghaus is still working to get the building ready for use. The exterior has been painted and landscaping has been cleaned up, but there is more work yet to be done on the interior.

Two loading docks and a truck door have been added to the north side of the building, with an additional loading dock planned for the south side. Inside the building they are in the process of removing the tiling to have the concrete floors polished and sealed, along with building some new walls.

“It’ll probably be spring before I move in,” said Rottinghaus.

Economic development isn’t the only Charles City project that Rottinghaus is working on, either.

Hoping to help mitigate some of the city’s widely recognized housing shortage, Rottinghaus is currently looking for bids to develop a series of townhouses in the Sherman Creek area.

His first goal is to build nine luxury townhouses on the east side of South Illinois Street, between Waller Street and Grove Street, that would be attractive to young professionals coming into the city, and he would like to construction start early this spring.

“We’re hoping to find places for professionals and growing families to come to town and work for us and other businesses around town,” said Rottinghaus.

Following the initial set of nine townhouses, Rottinghaus plans to build a four-story building with eight units on the west side of the street.

“There’s such a need for housing,” said Rottinghaus. “Even if somebody isn’t new to town, if they move out of one of their older houses it will open up some housing for somebody.”