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The eye-catching construction projects that began rising from Greater Des Moines soil last year also claim top billing for the largest projects of 2009.

Downtown Des Moines, having seen the completion last year of a multi-block expansion for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and its Allied Insurance subsidiary, will grow another insurance complex with the construction of Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa’s corporate headquarters along Grand Avenue near Western Gateway Park

The 500,000 square-foot, $150 million campus is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2010. The West Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway bridge downtown is another eye-grabber, with cranes crisscrossing the Des Moines River as United Contractors Inc. crews drop steel pilings for what will be an initial leg in the southeast connector linking MLK Parkway to the U.S. Highway 65 bypass.

With a price tag of $12.3 million, the bridge actually is two structures, one carrying two lanes of eastbound traffic and the other two lanes of westbound traffic. Each bridge will have bicycle lanes, too. In addition, the bridges will be a kind of trail between the trails, featuring a 12-foot-wide sidewalk or recreation trail connecting the John Pat Dorrian and Meredith trails on the east and west banks of the river, respectively.

Construction is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Building to the west

Go west, construction rubberneckers, where the headquarters of Aviva USA will continue to grow along Mills Civic Parkway, just west of Jordan Creek Town Center. The $120 million campus will occupy 71 acres and boast a view of the Raccoon River valley to the south. Construction began last year and is scheduled for completion in 2010.

The seven-story main tower will be among the tallest buildings in West Des Moines. When that structure is joined with a two-story annex, the campus will accommodate 1,500 employees and feature walking trails, ponds, waterfalls and an amphitheater. The parcel holds enough vacant land to accommodate growth. Construction is scheduled to wrap up in spring 2010.

Aviva and Wellmark also are jockeying for U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification, which, if achieved, would make them the first commercial buildings in Greater Des Moines to gain that status.

Also in West Des Moines, Ladco Development Inc. and Ball Construction Services LLC continue to grind away at the $250 million Village at Ponderosa project, which is scheduled for completion in 2011.

Ryan’s corner

Though these mega-million-dollar projects grab a lot of attention, other, somewhat smaller jobs are keeping contractors busy through what many expect to be a slow construction year.

In Johnston, Ryan Companies U.S. Inc. has projects under way near the intersection of Northwest 86th Street and Northwest 62nd Avenue that are indicative of the company’s long-term relationships with two clients, John Deere Credit and Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.

On the northwest corner of that intersection, Ryan is under roof at the 140,000-square-foot expansion of John Deere Credit. Ryan built the original three-story headquarters building and will serve as property manager with on-site engineers when the expansion is completed.

Cross Northwest 62nd Avenue from the John Deere Credit project, and you’re standing near two office buildings totaling 71,000 square feet that Ryan has completed or has under way for Pioneer.

Ryan owned the land in question and had development agreements in hand with the city of Johnston when it was approached by Pioneer, which wanted to either construct new office buildings or enter into a lease arrangement for the necessary space.

Brad Schoenfelder, vice president of development for Ryan, said Pioneer determined last fall that it needed to decide on short notice whether to build or lease.

“We had a concept ready in two weeks and we were ready to go in four or five weeks,” Schoenfelder said. The walls are up on that project.

Ryan also will act as property manager for the Pioneer office buildings.

Ryan recently wrapped up construction on multiple expansion projects for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., including a parking ramp at 11th and Mulberry streets that Nationwide eventually will turn over to the city.

Schoenfelder said that in addition to the nearly $30 million John Deere Credit project, Ryan has a $30 million project in Sioux Falls, S.D., and a $150 million project under way in Cedar Rapids.

Improving what’s here

However, with Wellmark and Aviva set to move out of leased office space and into their own buildings next year, Schoenfelder doesn’t see a pressing need for other large commercial projects in the near future.

“We’ll probably be in more of a mode of utilizing existing assets that are vacant,” he said.

And like other contractors, Schoenfelder said Ryan will stay busy with ongoing work and smaller projects with a cost of $3 million to $4 million.

“Our Iowa operation is having a good year,” he said.

Weitz Iowa also is staying busy with projects that might not have the glitz and glamour of the Wellmark and Aviva complexes, but offer interesting possibilities for their users.

Weitz is constructing the Iowa Soybean Association’s first self-owned headquarters in a building near Des Moines Area Community College’s Ankeny campus whose entrance is shaped like a grain bin. The $7.5 million structure is being built on land donated by businessmen Dennis Albaugh and Harry Stine.

Another Weitz project includes a leadership development center for the Iowa FFA Association that is also located at Des Moines Area Community College.