Booming Bettendorf: The story behind the city’s exploding growth

BETTENDORF, Iowa (KWQC) - Troy Gutknecht co-owns Willie’s Wine and Spirits, one of dozens of new businesses springing up near the TBK Bank Sports Complex in Bettendorf.

The area is such a hot investment: “I have other businesses here along the Forest Grove area,” he said. “And it’s booming.”

Altogether, Bettendorf’s taxable value has skyrocketed a whopping 48% in the past decade, largely driven by new development near the TBK Sports Complex. That’s according to a TV6 Investigates analysis of city budgets and other documents going back to 2015.

“You’ve got hotel properties, you got restaurants, you got businesses, you got retail, you’ve got a fantastic state-of-the-art sports complex that added Iron Tee and that whole new development there,” said Visit Quad Cities President Dave Herrell.

Each year, about 750,000 people visit the sports complex alone, not to mention the dollars spent at businesses popping up as fast as developers can build.

But it’s locals driving most of the business. Gutknecht estimates 75% of his customers live in the Quad-Cities.

All this growth is allowing Bettendorf to pour money into city amenities -- millions of dollars for new roads, a pedestrian bridge over Middle Road, and investments in other parts of the city.

Everyone in Bettendorf is benefiting, said Finance Director Jason Schadt

“Over the last 10 years on the operating side, we’ve been able to add six police officers and 15 firefighters” due to growth, he said.

Back at Willie’s, Gutknecht put the area’s boom in perspective.

“From when I moved here in 2014, Forest Grove was just a rounded blacktop road with no lights, and your fingers are crossed if it was the fall time and the deer were running,” he said. “So it’s come a long way.”

That includes street after street of new high-end homes – houses that will boost Bettendorf’s tax base even more. Schadt said Bettendorf is adding about 100 new single-family homes a year.

New construction and in-migration have boosted Bettendorf’s population by more than 17% since the 2010 census, according to an examination by TV6 Investigates. For perspective, Davenport’s population grew by 2%.

Bettendorf has plans to add even more.

“We’re actually getting some inquiries right now about the potential of multi-residential within the complex,” said Jeff Reiter, assistant city administrator and Bettendorf’s economic development director. “People actually want to live within the complex.”

So what’s next?

Other high-profile projects confirmed to be coming soon include a new MercyOne hospital, Quad-City Bank and Trust headquarters and an ORA orthopedic facility.

Bettendorf expects more C-suite-type construction, like business headquarters and office space.

One thing not on the table: a long-rumored indoor water park. Reiter said developers have looked at spaces north of Interstate 80, but he’s skeptical.

“The closeness of Wisconsin Dells, the opportunities in other markets for an indoor water park,” he said, “I just couldn’t see it coming to fruition.”

Still, he says there’s no end in sight for the TBK area. Bettendorf has already broken ground north of Interstate 80 near the complex in a $10.3 million project set to unlock 1,900 more acres for development.

All told, Bettendorf could still develop about 5,000 acres, or 7 square miles.

“We believe it’s going to come,” Reiter said.