Developers leading an effort to redevelop a portion of an aged industrial area east of the Des Moines River in downtown have acquired property previously owned by the city of Des Moines, Polk County real estate records show.
District Developer LLC paid the city $1.7 million for the 2.6-acre parcel at 212 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway that previously had been occupied by public works. The city’s public works department is relocating to a new facility at 1700 Maury St.
District Developer LLC is a consortium that includes developer James Cownie’s JSC Properties, MidAmerican Energy Co., Knapp Properties, developer Tim Rypma and others.
The group plans to redevelop 39 acres of the Market District, a 260-acre area roughly surrounded by East Court Avenue, Southeast Fourteenth Street, Scott Avenue and the river. When completed, the redeveloped area is expected to include multifamily residences, at least one hotel, and office and commercial space.
Officials have estimated it could take up to 10 years to complete the redevelopment, estimated to be valued at a minimum of $245 million.
Over the past 18 months, new sewers, streets, utilities and bioswales have been installed in a portion of the 39-acre area. Infrastructure improvements will continue west of Southeast Fourth Street in the coming months, said Paul Hayes, president of JSC Properties..
Also, demolition of the city’s former maintenance building is expected to begin next week, Hayes said.
In addition, the city expects to begin razing the remainder of the buildings (shown at right in blue shaded areas of map) it owns in the area in 2023 and cleaning the sites, Ryan Moffatt, economic development coordinator for Des Moines, wrote in an email. The timing of the work is dependent on acceptance of bids by the City Council, he wrote.
“When all of those buildings are down it will really clean up the area quite a bit,” Hayes said.
It’s difficult to know when new buildings will start to be constructed in the area, he said. The timetable is dependent on the national economy.
“We’re going to have to wait and see what happens with interest rates,” he said. “That’s the biggest challenge developers are facing right now. They just don’t know where [interest rates] will be two years from now when they’ve got the project completed and financing locked in. It’s a challenge.”
Still, Hayes said there continues to be interest by developers in doing multifamily projects in the Market District. “It’s going to be a great location for [multifamily] with the park amenity along the river,” he said.
Hayes said there have been several out-of-town developers asking about multifamily projects, including housing for seniors. He said there’s also been some interest in hotel development and mixed-use office development.
“I think there’s some hesitancy about being the pioneer – the first one doing a project,” Hayes said. “I think some might want to wait until after that first project is started.”
Hayes said he expects that about 60% of new development in the Market District will be multifamily. The remainder will be commercial and office development, he said.
What happened to proposed entertainment venue?
Since the proposed Market District developed was unveiled about three years ago, a highly touted feature was an indoor-outdoor event venue.
That feature is no longer part of the proposed development, said Paul Hayes, president of JSC Properties.
“We had been in discussion with Live Nation,” Hayes said. “When they went to Waukee, that was the end of [an event venue]. … It would have been a great attraction, but it also could have been a disruption as well.”
A Live Nation entertainment venue is under construction in Waukee’s KeeTown Loop, located on the northwest corner of Grand Prairie Parkway and Ashworth Road.
Live Nation Entertainment Inc. signed a 20-year lease agreement to occupy a 3,500-seat concert venue at KeeTown Loop. Construction is expected to be completed by late 2023.
