Des Moines Development News

[kcmetro]

Des Moines is a great looking city!! Looks very clean, kinda like a small MPLS. How wide are they making that highway that runs through downtown? The interchange above looked nice.

[Ingersoll1978]

Originally Posted by kcmetro

Des Moines is a great looking city!! Looks very clean, kinda like a small MPLS. How wide are they making that highway that runs through downtown? The interchange above looked nice.

Interstate i-235 will be 3 thru lanes for the entire 14 miles...It will be 4 lanes from 63rd St. to Downtown (plus axillary lanes). One more year of construction...and then landscaping for the next couple of years.

[DMRyan]

A couple of updates on some projects recently.

There are two new suburban hospitals planned for West Des Moines, which unfortunately will require the closing of two smaller, older hospitals in downtown Des Moines. Luckily, both of the hospitals proposed for closing have uses tenatively identified for them so they shouldn't sit vacant for long. The new hospitals and a large clinic expansion are $220 million worth of additions to what has been billed as West Des Moines' "Medical Mile".

Mercy Hospital West




Methodist Hospital West


Iowa Clinic Expansion


Construction at some of the local colleges is ramping up. Drake University is adding 500+ units of student housing in three buildings, which will have mixed retail along the base of the building. A pretty large development for this campus. The much smaller Grandview College is expanding some education buildings as well.

Drake University Student Housing




Grandview College Expansion





Downtown News:

The Mitchell Transmission Building in the Gateway West Redevelopment Area is slated for conversion to 60 condos, with downtown retail space.


Finally, the downtown YMCA is rumored to have a project slated on this key downtown riverwalk location. Early rumors are that the building will be a condo development, but nothing has been finalized.



Also, we should be finding out about a potential 450 room convention hotel for the Iowa Events Center sometime in March.

[jpIllInoIs]

^ That YMCA looks like it is on PRIME property. Should be a successful conversion. What will happen with the current Y clients?

[DMRyan]

It's very early in the process, but a little bit of news has come out of the RFP for a convention hotel next to the Iowa Events Center. The best (tallest) proposal is for an 18-20 story building. There will be much more news about this in the future, as the City and County get closer to choosing a developer.

Three developers submit hotel proposals to Polk
By JEFF ECKHOFF
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

January 30, 2007

Polk County's call for developers willing to build a first-class hotel near the Iowa Events Center has drawn three responses.

The developers - from Dallas, Texas; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Minneapolis - were the only ones who met Monday's deadline for submitting qualifications to the county.

Polk officials are scheduled to spend the next few weeks evaluating paperwork to see whether any or all of the contestants will be asked to submit more detailed proposals. A developer could be picked as early as March.

The numbers of hotel rooms in the plans range from 200 to 450. Two of the developers propose to build their projects on a parking lot north and slightly west of Veterans Memorial Auditorium, while the third company would put its hotel farther east. None would raze the auditorium.

The developers are:

Garfield Traub Development, a Texas company that has proposed a 400-room Sheraton hotel, 18 to 20 stories tall, along Third Street north of Crocker Street. The hotel would contain approximately 25,000 square feet of meeting space, a 12,000-square-foot ballroom and a restaurant that would seat up to 110 people.

A 600-car parking garage also would be built on the south side of Crocker.

To finance the hotel, Garfield Traub proposes a public-private partnership that could include county bonds to pay for construction. "The bonds usually are supported by hotel occupancy and real estate taxes attributed to the new hotel, (which) typically eliminates the need for a public referendum to approve the structure," according to documents submitted Monday.

Garfield Traub plans to include former Polk Supervisor Richard "Red" Brannan as a partner in the deal. Construction would include Des Moines-based Weitz Co.

Regency Inns Management, a South Dakota company now working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on development of the Honey Creek Resort State Park. Regency is proposing a 200-room hotel, with a possible 200-room addition.

Documents say the company's 40-year track record includes development of the ClubHouse Hotel & Suites in Sioux Falls and work on development and management of the Lewis & Clark Resort in Yankton, S.D. The company also owns the Radisson Hotel and Convention Center in Plymouth, Minn.

Mortenson, a Minnesota developer that proposes to partner with Walsh Bishop architects and Hilton Hotels.

Mortenson, which recently completed a $54 million convention center in Coralville, suggests that Polk County's goal of a 450-room hotel "may only be achievable through county or public ownership."

[shane453]

A 400 room hotel next door would make the events center a lot more attractive to events. But I disagree with the article saying the only way DSM could get it is with government subsidy or ownership.. It's next to a convention center, should be a really nice location for a private hotel.

The YMCA building definitely looks like it would be perfect for residential with the river so close.

[Ingersoll1978]

Allied Insurance (Nationwide) released the rendering of their new office building in Gateway West.

Some Info:
There will be a skywalk lobby from Gateway West through this building.

The NW corner of this building is slated to have 8,700 sq ft of retail/future growth space on the first floor (whew! what a relief!).

New Building:



Parking Ramp:



Overall...I really like it. It's really going to blend in well in this corridor.

[dogbo]

Kitty-corner from the Nationwide parking ramp (yeah...ho, hum, but a necessary evil), this nice little project seems to be going full steam ahead.

Here's the current building:



Rendering after rehab:


Not evident in this picture is the fact that the guts of this building is a huge space (since it was an old truck manufacturing factory) that is projected to be converted to a live music venue.

[DMRyan]

This is a long road ahead of it and it's far from a certainty, but County has received several proposals for a new convention hotel. Two of the proposals feature midrise hotels of at least 16 stories.

Here's the story from the DSM Register:

Developers say hotel needs funds from public
Potential developers of an Events Center facility all say help would be needed.

By JEFF ECKHOFF
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

March 2, 2007

One way or another, it could take a lot of public money to build a hotel near the Iowa Events Center.

Three proposals unsealed Thursday by Polk County staffers call for hotels ranging from 300 to 425 rooms - deals that would require up to $65 million in public financing, despite previous statements by county supervisors that they intend to keep the county's wallet closed.

The newly public designs range from a wavy, 18-story Sheraton tower along Third Street north of the Events Center to two proposals for a total of three hotels near an assumed-to-be-remodeled Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

All three potential developers would build some form of parking garage, and all insist they can finish construction in late 2009 or mid-2010.

The proposals include:

- Plans by Texas-based Garfield Traub Development for an 18-story, 400-room tower facing Third Street north of the Events Center. The building would total nearly 300,000 square feet, including roughly 65,000 square feet of convention and meeting space.

The proposed Sheraton hotel would include a 12,000-square-foot ballroom that developers insist "would be the best and largest hotel ballroom in the area and would be a huge key in attracting in-house groups."

According to proposals, "substantial county financial participation will be necessary in order to complete the capitalization of the project."

The proposal requests no specific dollar amount from local governments but includes a budget calling for $65 million in "city/county participation" on a project estimated to cost $105 million.

- Plans by Mortenson, a Minnesota developer, to build a 16-story, 425-room Hilton hotel on the northern edge of Vets. The proposal includes 294,000 square feet of hotel space - a development that will "reposition the Veterans Memorial Hall with the neighborhood through an interior renovation conversion to a 25,000-square-foot ballroom, related break-out rooms and fully equipped kitchen."

Plans call for a $92 million project, with approximately 30 percent of the bill paid for by some form of subsidy from the county.

- Plans by South Dakota-based Regency Inns Management to build two smaller hotels, totaling 300 to 350 rooms, immediately north of Vets for a total of $35.5 million.

Regency's plan would include $7 million in county money to pay for parking and skywalk extensions. However, "our moving forward with the hotels would be contingent upon the Iowa Events Center complex renovations."

Polk County supervisors in December rejected plans for a $35 million, 80,000-square-foot addition to create new ballroom and meeting space in Hy-Vee Hall.

The two-hotel structure would include one designed to be "an upscale boutique suites hotel," while the second would be a more standard 'Hilton' or similar-type project."

Current schedules call for the supervisors, if they decide to go forward, to name a developer by March 23.

[historybuffer]

Originally Posted by dogbo

Kitty-corner from the Nationwide parking ramp (yeah...ho, hum, but a necessary evil), this nice little project seems to be going full steam ahead.

Here's the current building:



Rendering after rehab:


Not evident in this picture is the fact that the guts of this building is a huge space (since it was an old truck manufacturing factory) that is projected to be converted to a live music venue.

Very nice, subtle transformation keeping the original character and history of the building intact.

[dogbo]

IMO, 2007 will prove to be a very crucial/important year for downtown Des Moines. There are no less that 11 substantial entertainment (bars/ restaurants/live music/gaming) venues coming online w/in the next few months. Most will be here no later than this April). Des Moines, like many other fine American cities, has faced an onslaught of competition from neighboring suburbs that has gradually moved nightlife/entertainment options further and further from the core. Finally, for those of us who appreciate and understand the value of a healthy downtown, it seems the tide may have finally changed for the better.

Today in a local entertainment focused weekly (www.dmjuice.com, we learned specific details of several very important and exciting projects that will be changing the face of downtown while hopefully causing people to reassess where they chose to spend their entertainment dollar in the Des Moines' metropolitan area.

It is very exciting to see entrepreneurs realizing and investing in the city's core. This is a long time coming for those of us in Des Moines that have lamented the past few years as nightlife continued to move further and further west into the suburbs.

What follows is a list and short summary of what we are going to soon be enjoying here in Des Moines. For those interested in the full story, I also attached a link at the end of my post that contains the full story of each project plus renderings).

From juice.com:

Coming soon to a downtown near you

In the next few months, downtown Des Moines turns another corner.

Four bars, a high-end tapas restaurant and a 900-capacity concert hall all open inside a single Court Avenue building. A few stoplights away, a sushi and noodle bar and a contemporary American restaurant debut inside the remodeled Hotel Kirkwood building. A short walk down the road, InPlay, a bar/restaurant/game room, opens at the foot of the Wells Fargo Arena. In the works are more projects, more bars and restaurants and entertainment hubs.

A few years back, downtown on any given night would be a ghost town, said Tom Zmolek, one of the people transforming the nightlife scene this year.

That started to change when new, original bars like The Lift, Royal Mile and Hessen Haus started popping up. Then came Wells Fargo Arena in 2005. Then, maybe most importantly, came all the new lofts and condos.

Major entertainment ventures like his weren't going to happen until people started living downtown, Zmolek said. People who want to spend their money on food and booze and music and art, and don't want to hop in their cars to do it.

This year, they're going to have plenty they can walk to.


Court Center


For years the three-story brick structure at 216 Court Ave. sat empty, commonly referred to as "The old Nacho Mamma's building."
Soon we will know it as Court Center. The building will house a new Legend's American Grill, A.K. O'Connor's, C.C. Taft and Company (a high-end restaurant), Liars Club (a party bar) and People's (a bar and concert hall).

Azalea and Zen Noodle and Sushi Bar

Local super-chef Jeremy Morrow teamed up with fellow restaurateur Mike Hutchison once before when the duo gave us Star Bar. Azalea will feature a bar and lounge area as well as a dining room featuring contemporary American cuisine. At Zen Noodle and Sushi Bar, you'll find contemporary Asian noodle dishes, sushi and "some surprises."

Lovejoy Building

The Nadas frontman Jason Walsmith and his father have visions of turning the downtown home of The Nadas and Authentic Records into an entertainment complex. At the heart of the project is a live music venue with capacity for 1,000 fans.

Shorty's

Another Full Court Press bar will open this spring. Kind of. The downtown owners of bars like the Royal Mile, High Life and Hessen Haus, plan to open a “key club,” the kind of tiny, nondescript bar where access is exclusive and limited to people in the know, used during Prohibition as a hidden spot to drink illegal brew without getting tossed in the slammer.

Fourth Street and Court Avenue and Riverbend Trading Company

One building will bring retail, entertainment and residential space downtown, while the other will give downtown its own grocery store.


inPlay

Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and E. Honda will become residents of downtown Des Moines when inPlay, an arcade/bar/conference center opens March 25 at 615 Third St.

Expect more than 100 video games, ranging from arcade classics to sports games and virtual reality. The venue also has crane games, ski ball, billiards and a 3/4 scale bowling alley. A climbing wall cuts through two stories of the building. The second floor features the more adult-focused games, along with classic arcade games on bigger screens so that all your friends can watch you get your spine ripped out in "Mortal Kombat."

Here's the link for renderings and further details on each project:
http://www.dmjuice.com/apps/pbcs.dll...UICE/303080002

[DMRyan]

The developer for the convention hotel has been chosen, and their proposal is for a 450 room, 16 story hotel north of Vets Auditorium with a Hilton hotel flag.

Now I know what Indianapolis feels like.

[k2h]

Thanks for sharing the photos/development info on Des Moines. I have heard many good things and the posts have confirmed it for me.

[haldcottingham]

I was wondering if anyone here could help me find two or more high resolution photos of downtown Des Moines from different points/views. Also, I'd prefer they be night shots. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's my email: capthal99@yahoo.com

Thanks in advance!

[gronier]

I lived in Des Moines as an exchange student for three months in 2005. It's a nice city, very pacific, but I just found it just a little boring, considering I come from a metropolis of over 6.5 million people. Also, I didn't like the absolute lack of public transport.

[Minneapolitan]

Des Moines has to be one of the, if not THE, most cosmo-looking cities of the 5-600,000 people range. It's so cool how Iowan's really see it as the 'big city.' (I should know, I'm Iowan at heart. Born and raised.) This attitude is evident in the state's pride and consequent maintenance & expansion of the city. It blows my mind how Omaha's metro is nearly twice the size... But come to think of it, DSM has to run with the big boys if they wanna keep in the game. They have Minneapolis/St Paul to the north, Omaha to the west, Chicago to the east, and Kansas City & St Louis to the south (with KC being more of an influence than STL, socially). That's some pretty good role models surrounding it, and I believe the people of DSM learn from all their big brother neighbors and apply what they observe. Anyway, I believe that everyone should visit Des Moines at least a couple times in their lives.

[NOG]

This project has a lot of people in Des Moines excited.

Renderings:






Project Website:
http://www.opus001.com/

Story from the Des Moines Register:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app...=2007704200374

Multi-use project for D.M. draws on creative vibe
A downtown area's artistic bent inspires plans for a residential-commercial building
By DONNELLE ELLER
Register Business Writer


April 20, 2007

Des Moines has an East Village. Architect Jeffrey Morgan believes Iowa's capital also could have a Chelsea.

Morgan and three partners plan a $33 million, warehouse-style condominium, office and retail project in the Western Gateway that he expects will attract young, creative professionals and businesses to the south-of-Locust Street business district.

He also expects the Opus_001 project at 15th and Walnut streets will become an "iconic gateway" to the city's western downtown from Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.

"It's a landmark site, and if done right, it will be a landmark building," said Matt Anderson, who leads the city's planning department. "Architecturally, the proposed building is unique. It has flair."

Morgan said the area already percolates with artist studios and photography, graphic design and architecture businesses as well as publisher Meredith Corp. The district is anchored by the city's $30.5 million Western Gateway Park.

Morgan believes it's developing into an area like the artist-filled Chelsea warehouse district in New York City or south Boston. "This whole area has the beginnings of a creative culture," said Morgan, who has studied economist Richard Florida's concepts on growing business opportunities by attracting artistic workers.

Also, Western Gateway's creative focus will become even more pronounced with John and Mary Pappajohn's donation of $20 million to $30 million in outdoor sculptures headed for the city park.

"It will be a significant art space," Morgan said.

Morgan and partners Karin Sandahl, David Llewelyn II and Steve Finnegan want to build on the district's creative vibe.

The mixed-use project includes 96 condominiums, six live-work studios, and 60,000 square feet of commercial space that includes room for a restaurant and coffee shop and possible fitness center.

The condos - which range in size from 500 to 1,600 square feet - are expected to cost between $117,000 and $456,000. They include a variety of styles - one-story flats and two-story lofts and townhouses, which feature roof terrace.

The project's views include Raccoon River and Gray's Lake. Morgan said the group wanted to make some of the condos affordable to college graduates and young professionals.

Business and residential users will have a large grass space that will sit atop a two-story garage with 113 parking spaces. The spaces will probably sell for $28,000 each.

The site is home to the former Fitch soap plant that will be demolished, and it's across the street from Morgan's studio, the former Fitch shampoo building. Sandahl's family founded the soap and shampoo business.

"I'm thrilled to be developing a building in the same location that my great grandfather did in 1930," Sandahl said.

Morgan said the city's investment in the Western Gateway Park is acting as "a catalyst."

In the past two years, three significant Western Gateway projects have been announced:

- Developer David Walters plans to build a 14-story, $50million commercial project at 15th and Locust streets.

- Across the street, Hubbell Realty plans to redevelop the former Mitchell Transmission building.

- A couple blocks east, Iowa Sen. Jack Hatch plans a $50million condominium project.

Morgan expects to ask the city for $2 million to $3 million to help finance the project. It's expected to open in fall 2009.

Anderson said developers frequently need city assistance to help offset the higher costs of downtown development - from higher land prices to added costs for infrastructure such as parking ramps.

Incentives for mixed-use projects support one of the city's goals of creating a "24/7 downtown," Anderson said.

Reporter Donnelle Eller can be reached at (515) 284-8457 or deller@dmreg.com

Current Building onsite, to be demolished:

[DMRyan]

This is another mixed-use downtown project that hasn't been shown on here. It's The Paseo project, located at the footsteps of the capitol in the East Village Neighborhood.

New project, old setting planned in downtown D.M.

The developer wants a 1900s East Locust Street aura for the $9.3 million building.

By DONNELLE ELLER
REGISTER BUSINESS WRITER


Developer Jack Hatch is hoping to recapture a piece of the past with his proposed $9.3 million commercial and condominium project in downtown Des Moines' East Village.

"We wanted to recreate and honor the past," said Hatch, who looked to historic buildings in Dubuque and Galena, Ill., for inspiration on the project's design.

Architect Greg Wattier said the design works to capture a "previous place — East Locust Street in the early 1900s."

Hatch plans to begin construction in August, but he first must clear a few hurdles.

Des Moines city officials are hammering out an agreement with Hatch, a Des Moines state lawmaker, to develop the land. Then other developers will have more than a month to meet or beat his proposal.

The land, less than a half-acre, is at East Fourth and Locust streets and was the former location of the Dewey Ford showroom. It's one of two parcels the city sought development proposals for in 2003.

Hatch won the rights to build a $15 million, 115-unit apartment complex on the first parcel. The complex, which opened late last year, is a mix of market-rate rents and subsidized rents for low-income residents.

Finding a developer for the second parcel has been more difficult - bouncing from Knapp Properties and Hatch to Tony DeAngelo, developer of Soho Lofts in the East Village, and back to Hatch.

Hatch will seek $600,000 from the city for the five-story project, called Paseo. He plans to build a nearly-46,000-square-foot structure that will include 39 condos on the third, fourth and fifth floors.

The condos are expected to sell for $180,000 to $240,000 and run from 870 to 1,200 square feet in size.

The second floor will provide parking for the condos. Nine parking spaces will be available on the street, too.

The first floor will have about 8,500 square feet of retail space with plans for a restaurant.

"The East Village just has so much potential," Hatch said. "When you leave the front door, there's shops, restaurants, banks, museums.

"The East Village is a little small town in a big city. There aren't too many places you can say that about."

Sarah Oltrogge, president of the Historic East Village Inc., said the neighborhood group likes the growing interest in developing projects that mix residential, office and retail.

"It's a corner that needs development," she said.

Oltrogge said the group also is happy that the East Village is seeing residential development that appeals to a mix of incomes - from Hatch's East Village Square Apartments to ST Development's East Village Court and Soho Lofts.

"Within the East Village, we have everything from federal subsidized rentals to luxury condos," she said. "We like attracting different kinds of people."

Hatch expects the condo prices to appeal to young professionals and empty nesters.

"We feel pretty good about that price range," he said. "We think we can attract someone who wants to experience a dynamic atmosphere."

[DMRyan]

We're getting the first look at a new county courthouse in Des Moines, which will go for a public vote this winter.

The 456,000 sq. ft., 7 story structure would be built adjacent to the current historical courthouse would be clad in limestone and serve the needs of the justice system in Polk County for the next 40 years.

This rendering is ripped from the television, but better renderings should follow.



The current courthouse could be renovated to house additional county office space.

[ClarkWGriswald]

I've always liked how the courthouse is right there by Court Ave(coincidence?). There's a lot going on in that area, for sure. Would this be located to the courthouse's south side?