Investor Snapshot
Three operating assets.
One disciplined developer.
A focused look at three completed, operating Nelson developments — two behavioral health recovery centers and a senior living community — and the integrated team that develops, builds, and owns them.
- 3
- Operating Properties
- $79M
- Total Development Value
- 239
- Units & Beds
- 2
- States
About Nelson
An integrated developer, builder, and owner.
Nelson Construction & Development is a real estate developer, investor, and general contractor based in Des Moines, Iowa, with 27 years of building across the Midwest. Across three specialized verticals — behavioral health, senior living, and multifamily — Nelson develops, builds, and owns the real estate, then partners with experienced operators to run each community.
Develop
Site selection, capital structuring, design, and entitlement — projects shaped from the earliest stage.
Build
A general contractor in-house, delivering the buildings it develops with control over cost and schedule.
Own
Nelson owns and stabilizes each asset with an experienced operator in place — generally selling once stabilized, while holding select assets longer term.
- Des Moines, Iowa HQ
- 27 years in the Midwest
- Behavioral Health
- Senior Living
- Multifamily
The Portfolio
Three featured assets.
$79M across 3 operating assets in 2 states, delivered 2023–2024.
Behavioral Health
ThriveNow Pleasant Hill
Pleasant Hill, Iowa
Behavioral Health
ThriveNow Iowa City
Iowa City, IA
Senior Living
Woodlands at Canterfield
West Dundee, IL
Locations
On the ground in the Midwest.
3 locations · IA, IL
The three assets in this snapshot
The properties featured on this page, mapped together.
The broader development portfolio
Nelson’s senior living, behavioral health, and multifamily developments. The three above are part of this larger body of work.
Map shows development projects only. For Nelson’s complete portfolio — including hospitality, industrial, office, and retail — see all projects
01 Behavioral Health
ThriveNow Pleasant Hill
ThriveNow Pleasant Hill is a behavioral health facility in Pleasant Hill, Iowa, providing detox and inpatient addiction treatment in a welcoming environment designed to reduce barriers to care. The center is part of Nelson’s behavioral health development portfolio and reflects the company’s commitment to expanding access to addiction treatment across Iowa.
02 Behavioral Health
ThriveNow Iowa City
ThriveNow Iowa City is a 60-bed behavioral health facility in Iowa City, Iowa, offering detox and inpatient addiction treatment in a purpose-built, patient-centered environment. The facility expands access to behavioral health services in eastern Iowa as part of Nelson’s growing recovery-focused development portfolio.
03 Senior Living
Woodlands at Canterfield
Woodlands at Canterfield is a 128-unit assisted living and memory care community in West Dundee, Illinois, offering residents a vibrant and supportive environment with the amenities and programming that today’s seniors expect. The community reflects Nelson’s experience designing and delivering senior living communities across the Midwest.
The team
The people behind the portfolio.
Nelson is led by a small team with deep experience across development, construction, asset management, and finance — the people who shape each project and see it through stabilization.
Get in touch
Have a question? Let’s talk.
These three assets are a snapshot of a broader Nelson portfolio spanning behavioral health, senior living, and multifamily — each developed, built, and owned by one integrated team.
This snapshot is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Figures reflect completed developments and are not indicative of future results.