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Old Posted Apr 17, 2018, 2:36 AM
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DMRyan DMRyan is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 1,482
Regarding the two skyscraper proposals, I'm disappointed to report that neither has started yet.

The site for The Fifth proposal (first photo) just wrapped up demolition efforts and the site is shovel ready. An early summer groundbreaking was the last I heard.

The other 33 story tower has been renamed The Blackbird (after the developer group's name). This one was set to break ground late last year when one of the big insurance companies in town made them an offer they're seriously considering. The insurance company would propose to swap them for a largely vacant downtown shopping mall called Kaleidoscope at the Hub for the original site of the tower. There are many hurdles, but if this plan moves forward, the mall would likely be demolished for the tower. The mall sits on a more attractive site with a better location and the insurance company ends up with a site adjacent to their campus of high rise buildings where they will likely add another mid-rise tower for their growing staff. Could be a big win-win, but it's easy to get more and more skeptical with each passing day.

The Fifth site:


Potential land swap for downtown mall site in foreground:
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