The Des Moines City Council has approved a development agreement with Riverview Parking LLC to build a more than 345-stall parking garage to accommodate the renovation of the former federal courthouse annex building at 110 E. Court Ave.

Riverview DSM LLC, the owner of the 109,000-square-foot building, is renovating the building for restaurant and office uses. The parking garage, which is being sought by the same owner, Doug Wells of Wells Porter Design and officer with Riverview DSM, will address the parking demand the building’s tenants will generate, city documents state.

The request to build the four-story parking garage east of the former annex at 200, 210 and 216 E. Court Ave., was considered by the City Council at its meeting Monday evening, where it was approved as part of the consent agenda with no discussion.

Wells bought the parcels as part of the project to redevelop the building.

According to city documents, the total project cost, including building renovations and construction of the parking garage, are estimated at $36.3 million —  building renovation is estimated at $22.5 million with $13.8 million for the parking garage. The agreement calls for the city to provide the developer an economic development grant for 20 years totaling $6.02 million in lieu of a tax abatement.

The parking garage will have charging stations for electric vehicles, and be available for public use on nights and weekends, documents show.

It will be built with a precast concrete frame and deck and covered in a red brick facade to match the brick commonly found in the East Village, the staff report said.

Construction is expected to begin as soon as possible with completion anticipated approximately one year after obtaining a building permit, the report said.

In September 2024, Wells spoke to the Business Record about his vision for the building.

Wells said he designed and built the building in the early 1990s and leased it to the federal government until April 2024.

The U.S. General Services Administration had leased space in the privately owned annex for several federal judicial divisions before the lease expired. Those offices have since moved into the new federal courthouse.

“We always thought it had good potential and some of the best views of the downtown and the riverfront, so we thought it would be a good site to have a mixed-use building when the government left,” Wells said in the 2024 article.

He said the vibrancy of the East Village and the expected continued development along the riverfront made it the time right to redevelop the building, he said.

“We think it’s going to be well positioned for the future,” Wells said.