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Des Moines native Craig Mettille, who now lives in Cedar Rapids, is expanding his operations in his old hometown.

Mettille, who has been in the restoration/reconstruction business for 17 years and is among the state’s largest reconstruction contractors, has purchased three ServiceMaster Clean franchises in the Des Moines area in an effort to expand the range of his services in the state.

ServiceMaster helps restore buildings and personal property after unexpected calamities such as fires, floods and storms.

Mettille, who along with his wife, JoEllen, owns ServiceMaster 380 franchises in Williamsburg, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Cedar Falls, said the purchase was signed, sealed and delivered as of three weeks ago, and said he will be closing on the deal by Dec. 15. Mettille also owns First General Services in Cedar Rapids.

He will purchase ServiceMaster franchises in Ankeny, East Des Moines, and South Des Moines, all of which had been owned by Kirk Kintz. Mettille said he will provide services to the entire Des Moines area. A fourth ServiceMaster franchise in the Des Moines area, ServiceMaster Clean West in Clive, is owned by Austin Rice Sr.

“Here is the reason why I bought (them),” Mettille said. “By purchasing the Des Moines franchise, it puts me at a one-hour radius if you will, or one hour from any customer’s home in about 70 percent of the state.”

With the purchase, he said he now almost completely covers the central and eastern thirds of Iowa, and approximately half the western third of the state. Mettille said he will be spending quite a few days in Des Moines helping get the business turned around, getting the marketing effort started and trying to stimulate the growth he wants.

Paul Davis Restoration in Urbandale, which does similar work to ServiceMaster franchises, is co-owned by Ed Gochenour, and will likely be a prime competitor in the region. Gochenour said in a Nov. 2 Business Record article he hopes to open an office in Iowa City in the next few months, and eventually would like to have a presence in Davenport and Waterloo as well.

Mettille, who developed Ingersoll Square and condominium projects at 3031 Grand Ave. and 2901 Grand Ave., said the development side has always been a hobby, and that restoration/reconstruction is his profession and has helped him stay diversified through the tough economy.

“The ServiceMaster side and the reconstruction side is almost recession proof, because Mother Nature really doesn’t give a rat’s ass about interest rates,” Mettille joked. “You are always going to have fires; you are always going to have hail, fires, floods and kids lighting matches.”

Mettille said Ingersoll Square – a 2.8-acre loft project with residential units and commercial space out front – is about half completed, but he has had to put the brakes on the commercial aspect of the project due to the economy.

However, the residential units stand at 4 percent vacancy.

“Banks usually allow 10 percent, so we are pleased with 4, but I’m never really pleased with any vacancy,” Mettille said. “If you got 4, you can always be at 3 or you can always be at 2, and the ultimate goal is zero …”