A bridge is being built, plans to convert an eyesore of a stormwater basin to a conservation area are in place, rejiggering of an old loan has been approved, the promise of construction is in the air. It’s been a busy year south of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in downtown Des Moines.

That’s where you’ll find two developers busy on two separate projects, one in the works for more than a decade. Both have the potential to transform the area that lies between the heart of downtown, the Raccoon River and Gray’s Lake.

At one time, the area fell under the name of River Point West, an entity created by Minneapolis-based Sherman Associates Inc. to acquire land and process the financing for a mixed-use development in an area of old industrial sites and abandoned railroad lines.

Sherman, whose area is now called Gray’s Landing, shares billing with Hubbell Realty Co., which is developing Gray’s Station on 75 acres that by and large make up the southern stretch of the area. Hubbell has started work on a bridge over the Raccoon River that will link both developments to Gray’s Lake, Water Works Park (via a tunnel) and the area’s system of bicycle and pedestrian trails.

Gray’s Station could add 2,000 residents to downtown in a range of housing types that include for-sale condominiums and multiple price points, as well as apartments and single-family homes. The area will have green spaces and paths.

Construction of the first apartment building, Linc, is underway, as is construction of the bridge. Hubbell plans to begin work this spring on single-family homes.

A series of recent Des Moines City Council votes helped pull together all of the pieces — land swapped for the construction of streets, property exchanged for a $3 million conservation wetland at the southern end of Gray’s Station that will serve as an education piece in controlling stormwater runoff and serve a downtown watershed of 390 acres.

Among those votes was approval of a refinancing plan for an $8.5 million federal loan that the city passed on to Sherman more than 10 years ago to launch the development when the company hoped to control all of the development between Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and Raccoon River in an area that falls generally between Southwest Ninth and Southwest 16th streets.

Working out the details of that loan is one thing, working out the development agreements is another, especially for Rita Conner, the city economic development director charged with bird-dogging development in the area.

“The big news is that all of the development agreements, all of the three-party agreements have been approved,” Conner said after the City Council voted Jan. 14.

When reminded that the area, once called River Point West, has taken a long time to develop, Conner said, “I’m always an optimist.”

And you would have to be. The original loan to Sherman was approved in 2007. The Great Recession was in play the following year, and by 2014 Sherman was coming under criticism for not having done more in the area. The company did buy land and made some infrastructure improvements. Sherman bought some of the land for Gray’s Station from Hubbell. Other land contracts were allowed to expire.

However, in 2014, Sherman put plans on the table for two apartment buildings and a hotel. A year later the city worked out the first agreement to change the financing and repayment of the $8.5 million. By that time, Sherman had started construction of a 121-room Holiday Inn Express hotel and closing the financing for the 142-unit Nexus at Gray’s Landing apartment project, the Edge at Gray’s Landing 90-unit apartment project and the Gray’s Lake Office Park.

The hotel and apartment buildings have been completed. Sherman also sold a strip of land for development of a day care center that is now operating. Gray’s Lake Office Park remains a concept.

Under the third amendment to the development agreement with Sherman, another $154 million in projects is promised, including a market-rate senior living community called Link. The $25.5 million project is planned in two phases at the southwest corner of Tuttle and Southwest 11th streets that will provide 120 independent living units for “active seniors” age 55 and older. The second phase will have an additional 122 units. The project includes a clubhouse with an indoor pool, fitness center, community room, spa and hobby room. There will be one level of underground parking. Residences will be a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. Construction should start in the spring and be finished in the spring or summer of 2020.

Sherman also plans an office building, another hotel and a commercial pad. 

Current plans, awaiting final approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, call for the loan to be paid off by 2012 at a cost, with interest, of $11.8 million. Refinancing the deal will result in about $700,000 in savings on interest. It is estimated that Sherman will receive about $11.2 million in tax increment revenue payments toward repayment of the loan and to cover some development costs. 

While working out the details of the refinancing, the city also was working through the paperwork for the transfer of land to the city from Hubbell and the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority for the wetland.