Marc Moen, an Iowa City businessman known for developing the tallest building downtown, is facing foreclosure on several properties, according to a consent judgment and foreclosure decree submitted to the court for its approval on April 15. If signed by a judge, the involved properties will officially be foreclosed and promptly submitted to the county’s sheriff’s sale.
In the original petition on Feb. 4, the plaintiff, Green State Credit Union, alleged Moen, his LLCs, and the other defendants — Michael Moen, Monica Moen, and Robert Jett — defaulted on multiple loans borrowed through Green State Credit Union, amounting to approximately $28 million.
Hills Bank and Trust Company is also listed as a defendant because of its second-priority mortgage over one of the properties in the filing. In foreclosure proceedings, anyone with potential interest in the involved property is listed as a defendant so the court can rule who has priority, according to a source familiar with commercial foreclosure.
Green State Credit Union’s legal representative, Matthew Cronin, declined The Daily Iowan’s request for comment regarding the court filings, as did Roy Leaf, Hills Bank and Trust Company’s representative.
Jeffery Goetz — Marc Moen and his LLCs’ representation — did not respond after multiple inquiries from the DI.
According to the court documents, some of the Iowa City properties involved include units of:
- 118 E. College St.
- 221 E. College St.
- 404 E. College St.
- 201 E. Washington St.
Of the above properties, The Chauncey Condominiums, under the ownership of The Chauncey, L.L.C., accumulated the highest debt with a principal — the original awarded amount — of $18.9 million and a total interest of just over $900,000.
Tale of The Chauncey
As the tallest building in Iowa City, sitting two floors taller than the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital, The Chauncey, at conception, created discourse.
The parcel of land where The Chauncey now stands once belonged to the City of Iowa City; however, in 2012, the city put out a Request For Proposal, or RFP, to develop the space.
Of those RFPs, The Chauncey remained in the running as the proposals trickled down from nine to three despite concerns about the proposed 20-story building from the public. In January 2013, the Iowa City City Council chose The Chauncey LLC as the land developer.
The decision was immediately met with concerns about the project’s zoning, which bloomed into a legal appeal, going as high as the Iowa Supreme Court, where the appeal was denied.
After several months of discussions in which the building’s plans were reduced by five floors, the final vote to green-light the development project as a 15-floor building occurred in June 2015, passing 4-2.
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That same night, the city council also allocated $14.2 million to fund the project, with $12.1 million coming from tax increment finance dollars. They also approved the rezoning of the land.
The Chauncey broke ground in 2016 and officially opened its doors in 2020.
According to the City of Iowa City website, tax increment financing, or TIF, is “a mechanism used to provide financial assistance for projects within a designated urban renewal area.”
The city invested TIF money in the development of both the Park @ 201 building and the Plaza Towers building, which were also developed by Marc Moen and Moen Group.
Developers facing foreclosure aren’t uncommon, even in Iowa City, according to a real estate expert familiar with the matter.
According to a report from ATTOM, a collector of U.S. property and real estate data, in December 2024, commercial foreclosure rates nationwide have risen sharply since June 2023.
The report shows 2024’s peak commercial foreclosures occurred in December, with 725 properties, marking one of the highest foreclosure amounts since 2018.
If a district judge signs the consent judgment and foreclosure decree, the properties will be officially acknowledged as foreclosed in law, and a special execution will be issued for the properties to enter into a sheriff’s sale.
Because there is not a concern of right infringement, the judge’s signature on the documents is mostly a formality and they will most likely sign.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article mislabeled one of Moen’s properties. The DI regrets this error.