This will be built where the eastern half of the old Younkers building burned several years ago. Definitely infill right in the core of downtown. Great addition. Downtown Des Moines is on fire right now with development in every corner.
This building replaces a hole in the ground left by the devastating fire of the Younker's Department store while it was under renovation to be converted to apartments.
This portion of the historic building is being saved and converted to 60 apartments with retail.
And here are more and larger renderings of this tower project.
Reflective metal, meant to cast different colors/appearances throughout the day.
A whole collection of new renderings of this project, which is now called 701 Walnut Street. Down to 26 stories, but still packing a lot of wow factor. This is expected to start late 4th quarter this year.
This project has now increased in size to 33 stories, with 336 total apartment units and now 7 floors of office space. This will push this proposal above the 300 ft. mark.
From DSM's Business Record:
Quote:
New name, more floors for Blackbird's luxury tower project
BY KENT DARR, Senior Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 08, 2017 4:03 PM
A planned luxury high-rise at Seventh and Walnut streets is getting a new name, enough floors to make it the third-tallest building in the state, and local investors who will fill a void left by a Chicago investment firm that is no longer part of the project.
The new plans are being rolled out by Blackbird Investments, which has spent the last several months rejiggering plans for what is now a 33-story, 336-unit luxury apartment building that will be topped by two floors of commercial space — with tenants already in tow — and a partially enclosed fitness center that will provide panoramic views to folks working up a sweat on exercise machines.
Once called 701 Walnut, the high-rise has been renamed The Blackbird in recognition of the local firm's transition from developer with little equity in the project to principal investor and developer. Project costs are estimated at around $103 million.
Kaleidoscope at the Hub will be demolished early next year to make way for Blackbird Investments' 33-story tower, according to city documents released Friday.
Demolition will begin in February and require about three months to complete. Construction on the tower will begin shortly after.
A former Kaleidoscope at the Hub tenant is suing the building's owner, Blackbird Investments, for failing to pay nearly $100,000 as part of a lease termination agreement.
U.S. Bank operated a branch office at the Kaleidoscope for 17 years before closing in February.
It was the last of 15 tenants to close after Blackbird Investments purchased the property in May 2018 with plans to tear down the aging indoor mall and replace it with a 33-story apartment tower.
Six months later, the mall sits vacant with no demolition date in place.
Blackbird announced plans to demolish the building shortly after U.S. Bank closed Feb. 22. Construction on its $100 million project, known as 515 Tower, was expected to start in July.
Those plans have not come to fruition, but Blackbird continues to work behind the scenes to ready the project, said Rachel Wegmann, the company's director of communications.
I'm confused for a moment. The earlier pieces in this thread were for a project at Walnut & 7th but this is for a proposal 2 blocks east at 5th & Walnut. So which is it?
__________________
"When you don't want to Dallas your Austin, you just emulate the Bay Area."
Here is a highrise project that's had several stops and starts and been around in some format over the past seven years has started site prep work for a construction start in 2025. Talking with several people in local economic development circles, this project is apparently now a go. With the history of this, it's worth keeping an eye to ensure that construction advances, but the foundation permit has been issued and there is a decent amount of activity on the construction site.
The 515 Walnut project is 33 stories, 360 ft. tall, and contains 390 apartment units with first-floor retail space. If constructed, this will be the first 300 footer built in DSM since 1997.
The development agreement has been all approved by the city council and construction is intended to start in early 2025. Once built, this will be the 4th tallest building in DSM and Iowa.
From the DSM Register: Downtown Des Moines is getting a new skyscraper. Here's what to know about 515 Walnut
The 515 Walnut tower is expected to have 390 apartments comprised of a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Of that number, 39 will be priced to be affordable to households that earn 65% of the area median income.
Aside from housing, 515 Walnut also is projected to have a coffee shop and bike storage on the first floor, as well as a dog park. The second floor will have shared workspaces, conference rooms, fitness rooms and a yoga studio. The top floor will include gaming and dining lounges with a deck and pool.
The exterior of the building will be composed of varied panels of reflective and clear glass.
I just noticed in the photo above how visible the grass lot up against the parking ramp was. This was the site of a 40-story proposal called "The Fifth" that never materialized and is a development saga in and of itself that could fill a book. Only the parking ramp part of that project ever got constructed, but what a time it was in small midwest city skyscraper chronicles with buildings of 33 and 40 stories proposed simultaneously.
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