The Americana restaurant in downtown Des Moines is preparing to close its doors this weekend, wrapping up a 14-year run in the building that was once home to a Chrysler car dealership.

As the restaurant, at 1312 Locust St., gets ready to shutter, the building’s owner says it will be converted to office space.

Scott Carlson, the restaurant’s owner, announced last month that Americana would close, citing changing workplace dynamics downtown and increased costs of operating as factors in the decision.

He said the restaurant’s lease was also expiring.

“Like most things, it wasn’t just one thing,” Carlson said.

He said the decision by companies in the neighborhood to move, downsize, along with the continuation of hybrid and remote work among some companies, has hurt weekday business.

“And the cost of insurance is up. Energy is up. Food costs are up. Labor is up. So it’s all those pieces,” Carlson said.

The restaurant will close at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7, when brunch service ends for the last time.

Then Carlson and his employees will return to organize the restaurant on Monday and Tuesday, with an auction company coming in on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to itemize equipment and furnishings. Everything will be picked up the next week and the restaurant will be moved out of the space by the end of September, he said.

The restaurant employs about 30 people, down from as many as 70 at one time. Instead of throwing a party for them, Carlson said he is going to give them all bonuses to help make sure they are taken care of while they find other jobs.

“I just want to make sure they have some cushion,” he said.

Carlson said he’s reached out to other downtown restaurants about his staff in hopes of helping them find other positions.

“I’m trying to make sure they get a soft landing because that’s important to me,” he said. “A good thing about our industry is it’s always kind of hiring. They’re good people and they’re good at what they do.”

Richard Hurd, a developer and investor who is part of Hurd Plattsmouth LLC, which owns the building, said the plan is to convert the restaurant to office space.

Hurd also owns the adjacent building at 1408 Locust St., along with four parking lots.

Americana closing creates the only vacancy he has in the buildings, which were purchased in early 2020, Hurd said.

He said making improvements to convert the space to office will likely take the rest of the year and he doesn’t anticipate having a tenant occupy the space until early 2026.

Hurd said a tenant is not in place, but that “we’re talking to some potentials.”

He said the building provides unique interiors and would be ideal for a creative firm.

The area is attractive for offices because of the nearby sculpture park and the mix of use in the neighborhood, including other offices, downtown residential, retail and restaurants.

“I just think there’s a lot of availability of services and parking,” he said. “Parking is a big challenge in the Central Business District. Some of the buildings have their own parking, but having parking is a huge benefit.”

Hurd said he’s had other restaurants reach out to him about the 6,300-square-foot space, but is confident it will become office space after Americana moves out.

He said office space generally demands lower rents than a restaurant, but that converting the space to office will be easier to manage.

“There’s an awful lot of infrastructure in that space for a restaurant, but I think for us, it’s just less management intensive to convert it to office,” Hurd said.

As Carlson prepares to close Americana, he reminisced about the decision to open it in 2011.

The premise behind the restaurant was to carry on the legacy of the building’s history when it was part of the old Auto Mile on Locust Street. The Manbeck Chrysler and Plymouth dealership was the last car dealer to be located in the building.

Carlson said Sue Manbeck and her son used to visit the restaurant and talk about the days when her dad owned the dealership before she died in 2014.

“So the name came from celebrating the American cars and culture, and manufacturing, and that auto mile,” he said. “We just wanted to pay homage to that era.”

The idea for Americana was born a few years before it opened, Carlson said.

“We were like, ‘Boy, we’d love to come down here,’ but we didn’t really know how exactly to get our arms around that corridor and then we heard the sculpture garden was going in,” he said. “We engaged with the landlord at that time and opened a year or so after the sculpture park kind of took off. We wanted to see that synergy start to happen so we were happy to be one of the first new businesses in the Western Gateway.”

Carlson, who stepped away from his ownership role with Court Avenue Brewing Company about 18 months ago, still owns Gilroy’s Kitchen+Pub+Patio in West Des Moines and the Iowa Craft Beer Tent.

He said he’s received a lot of positive comments and support since announcing Americana’s closure.

“We’ve had a huge outpouring of comments,” Carlson said. “It’s always hard [to close a restaurant] … so that’s been really heartwarming.”