Bondurant breaks ground on Grain District with plans for wheelchair-accessible distillery

The city of Bondurant released a new downtown redevelopment plan that envisions new housing and businesses, a trail extension and more park space, and grain silos remade into a hotel and condos.

The city of Bondurant and a distillery have broken ground on the Grain District, a vision for turning Bondurant's downtown into a mixed-use entertainment district centered around its agricultural history.

City leaders and developers turned dirt for the Grain District on Wednesday, July 16 at 100 Lincoln St. N.E. with what's being touted as the first fully wheelchair-accessible distillery in the United States, T12 Distillery. The distillery is launching a plan to turn 140-foot-tall grain silos into the heart of a bigger downtown Bondurant with new housing, a condominium, hotel and recreation options.

The Grain District will transform the 25-acre former Landus Cooperative site, which went up for sale in 2021 because of old age and damage from the August 2020 derecho.

A rendering of T12 Distillery, which is planned at a former co-op site in Bondurant, Iowa.

Some openings years away, but food and drink options soon

Bondurant Mayor Doug Elrod and developer Scott Turczynski did not have much information in terms of the timelines for some key parts of the project. Turczynski said a best-case scenario would be that the conversion of the silos into hotel rooms or condominiums is five years away.

He plans to open the distillery and maybe another building at the site first. But the distillery might open in late spring 2026, Turczynski said, and it will use some of the silos for production and storage space.

Local soda shop Twist Sips and restaurant Farm Boys BBQ also plan to open brick and mortar locations in the Grain District, Turczynski said, and those locations may open in January.

The City of Bondurant breaks ground on its new Grain District development on July 16, 2025.

VIEW THE PHOTO GALLERY / PHOTOGRAPHY BY CODY SCANLAN

On the public side of the project, Elrod said the city is focusing first on extending Lincoln Street through the site and building a bike trail extension.

The city also as early as October may transition its current fire station at the intersection of Grant and Grain streets to a new station that's under construction, he said. That will allow the current fire station to become an indoor community space — maybe as soon as March 2026 — that could offer indoor farmers' markets and festivals.

Elrod said there's not yet a timeline or cost estimate for other aspects of public Grain District development, including an outdoor amphitheater for events or the creation of an indoor and outdoor recreation center.

But he said there could be up to $100 million in private investment opportunities in the Grain District.

Scott Turczynski, founder of T12 Distillery, claps during the groundbreaking for Bondurant's new Grain District development on July 16, 2025, in Bondurant.

T12 is core of Turczynski's Grain District passion project

Turczynski saw the grain silo property's "for sale" sign in 2022 and made an offer to buy the land in November 2023.

T12 Distillery is Turczynski's passion project, named after his spinal cord injury to the T12 vertebra in his thoracic spine that was the result of a 6-foot fall in August 2010 from the top of a retaining wall.

"I want to make some good product that people could enjoy, and a speakeasy to have a little fun in, but I wanted information and education about living with spinal cord injury," he previously told the Des Moines Register.

A rendering of T12 Distillery, which is planned at a former co-op site in Bonderant, Iowa. Provided by Scott Turczynski

Turczynski, the owner of T12, said he plans to name each of the beverages he sells to relate to spinal cord injury education and have a brief story on the packaging. Once the distillery is open for a few years, he wants to give a certain percentage of profits to spinal cord injury research.

He said the Grain District will be a first of its kind in Iowa.

Beyond T12 being the first accessible distillery in the United States, Turczynski went a step further at the groundbreaking with "I'll even say in the world."

PHILLIP SITTER, THE DES MOINES REGISTER

PUBLISHED JULY 17, 2025