Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 403.8 (2026)

Sale or lease of property

✓ current as of July 2026

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1. A municipality may sell, lease or otherwise transfer real property or any interest in real property acquired by it, and may enter into contracts for such purposes, in an urban renewal area for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial or other uses, or for public use, subject to covenants, conditions and restrictions, including covenants running with the land, it deems to be necessary or desirable to assist in preventing the development or spread of future slums or blighted areas, or to otherwise carry out the purposes of this chapter. However, the sale, lease, other transfer, or retention, and any agreement relating to it, may be made only after the approval of the urban renewal plan by the local governing body. The purchasers or lessees and their successors and assigns shall devote the real property only to the uses specified in the urban renewal plan, and they may be obligated to comply with other requirements the municipality determines to be in the public interest, including the requirement to begin within a reasonable time any improvements on the real property required by the urban renewal plan. The real property or interest shall be sold, leased, otherwise transferred, or retained at not less than its fair value for uses in accordance with the urban renewal plan except as provided in subsection 3. In determining the fair value of real property for uses in accordance with the urban renewal plan, a municipality shall take into account and give consideration to the uses provided in the plan; the restrictions upon, and the covenants, conditions and obligations assumed by the purchaser or lessee or by the municipality retaining the property; and the objectives of the plan for the prevention of the\n\nTue Dec 09 22:13:06 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 403 (54, 1) 9 URBAN RENEWAL, §403.9\n\nrecurrence of slum or blighted areas. The municipality in an instrument of conveyance to a private purchaser or lessee may provide that the purchaser or lessee shall not sell, lease or otherwise transfer the real property, without the prior written consent of the municipality, until the purchaser or lessee has completed the construction of any or all improvements which the purchaser or lessee has become obligated to construct. Real property acquired by a municipality which, in accordance with the urban renewal plan, is to be transferred, shall be transferred as rapidly as feasible in the public interest, consistent with the carrying out of the urban renewal plan. A contract for a transfer under the urban renewal plan, or a part or parts of the contract or plan as the municipality determines, may be recorded in the land records of the county in a manner to afford actual or constructive notice of the contract or plan.

2. a. A municipality may dispose of real property in an urban renewal area to private persons only under reasonable competitive bidding procedures it shall prescribe, or as provided in this subsection. A municipality, by public notice by publication in a newspaper having a general circulation in the community, thirty days prior to the execution of a contract to sell, lease or otherwise transfer real property, and prior to the delivery of an instrument of conveyance with respect to the real property under this section, may invite proposals from and make available all pertinent information to any persons interested in undertaking to redevelop or rehabilitate an urban renewal area, or a part of the area. The notice shall identify the area, or portion of the area, and shall state that proposals shall be made by those interested within thirty days after the date of publication of the notice, and that further information available may be obtained at the office designated in the notice. The municipality shall consider all redevelopment or rehabilitation proposals, and the financial and legal ability of the persons making the proposals to carry them out, and the municipality may negotiate with any persons for proposals concerning the purchase, lease or other transfer of real property acquired by the municipality in the urban renewal area. The municipality may accept the proposal it deems to be in the public interest and in furtherance of the purposes of this chapter. However, a notification of intention to accept the proposal shall be filed with the governing body not less than thirty days prior to the acceptance. Thereafter, the municipality may execute a contract in accordance with subsection 1 and may deliver deeds, leases and other instruments and may take all steps necessary to effectuate the contract.

b. However, this subsection does not apply to real property disposed of for the purpose of development or redevelopment as an industrial building or facility, facilities for use as a center for export for international trade, a home office or regional office facility for a multistate business or which meets the criteria set forth in subsection 3.

3. The requirement that real property or an interest in real property transferred or retained for the purpose of a development or redevelopment be sold, leased, otherwise transferred, or retained at not less than its fair market value does not apply if the developer enters into a written assessment agreement with the municipality pursuant to section 403.6, subsections 18 and 19, and the minimum actual value contained in the assessment agreement would indicate that there will be sufficient taxable valuations to permit the collection of incremental taxes as provided in section 403.19, subsection 2, to cause the indebtedness and other costs incurred by the municipality with respect to the property or interest transferred or retained to be repayable as to principal within four tax years following the commencement of full operation of the development.

4. A municipality may temporarily operate and maintain real property acquired in an urban renewal area pending the disposition of the property as authorized in this chapter, without regard to the provisions of subsection 1 above, for such uses and purposes as may be deemed desirable, even though not in conformity with the urban renewal plan. [C58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §403.8] 84 Acts, ch 1210, §2, 3; 88 Acts, ch 1144, §1, 3; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §180; 2014 Acts, ch 1026, §82 Referred to in §403.6 \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases, 1966–1993 · leading case: Dilley v. City of Des Moines, 247 N.W.2d 187 (Iowa 1976).

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Dilley v. City of Des Moines, 247 N.W.2d 187 (Iowa 1976). · cites it 10× “Did the city’s revised plan contemplate the sale of acquired property to a redeveloper at less than its fair value thereby rendering its approval of the project illegal? Section 403.8(1), The Code, provides that property acquired in an urban renewal area “shall be sold, leased,…”

Inn Operations, Inc. v. River Hills Motor Inn Co., 152 N.W.2d 808 (Iowa 1967). · cites it 10× “The trial court found the city failed to comply with Code section 403.8 and procedures used to dispose of the parcel *79 did not comply with the statutory requirement that sale be héld under reasonable competitive bidding procedures.”

Richards v. City of Muscatine, 237 N.W.2d 48 (Iowa 1975). · cites it 3× “Section 403.8(1) of the Code authorizes cities to sell urban renewal land “subject to such covenants, conditions and restrictions, including covenants running with the land, as it may deem to be necessary or desirable to .”

Boss Hotels Co. v. City of Des Moines, 141 N.W.2d 541 (Iowa 1966). · cites it 6× “*1375 Plaintiff’s first proposition for reversal here is, “Under section 403.8 of the Code of Iowa, 1962, purchasers of urban renewal real property ‘Shall be obligated to devote such real property only to the use specified in the urban renewal plan.”

Wilden Clinic, Inc. v. City of Des Moines, 229 N.W.2d 286 (Iowa 1975). · cites it 2× “Section 403.8(2), The Code, provides in part: *291 “A municipality may dispose of real property in an urban renewal area to private persons only under such reasonable competitive bidding procedures as it shall prescribe, or as hereinafter provided in this subsection.”

Brady v. City of Dubuque, 495 N.W.2d 701 (Iowa 1993). “1 grants violates the “fair value” provisions of § 403.8.”

Webster Realty Co. v. City of Fort Dodge, 174 N.W.2d 413 (Iowa 1970). “The powers which the municipality may exercise are itemized at section 403.6. A detailed program for the issuance of bonds is set out at section 403.”

— Iowa Code § 403.8(1) — 2 cases

Dilley v. City of Des Moines, 247 N.W.2d 187 (Iowa 1976). “Did the city’s revised plan contemplate the sale of acquired property to a redeveloper at less than its fair value thereby rendering its approval of the project illegal? Section 403.8(1), The Code, provides that property acquired in an urban renewal area “shall be sold, leased,…”

Richards v. City of Muscatine, 237 N.W.2d 48 (Iowa 1975). “Section 403.8(1) of the Code authorizes cities to sell urban renewal land “subject to such covenants, conditions and restrictions, including covenants running with the land, as it may deem to be necessary or desirable to .”

— Iowa Code § 403.8(2) — 3 cases

Inn Operations, Inc. v. River Hills Motor Inn Co., 152 N.W.2d 808 (Iowa 1967). “The trial court found the city failed to comply with Code section 403.8 and procedures used to dispose of the parcel *79 did not comply with the statutory requirement that sale be héld under reasonable competitive bidding procedures.”

Wilden Clinic, Inc. v. City of Des Moines, 229 N.W.2d 286 (Iowa 1975). “Section 403.8(2), The Code, provides in part: *291 “A municipality may dispose of real property in an urban renewal area to private persons only under such reasonable competitive bidding procedures as it shall prescribe, or as hereinafter provided in this subsection.”

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