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Canadians taking troubled downtown properties off the market

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A Canadian investment group bought Keck City Center on Friday and four days later unveiled its remodel of the Partnership Building to accommodate 34 executive office spaces.

The Winnipeg-based group paid cash for both buildings: $4.5 million for the Partnership Building at 700 Locust St. and $3 million for Keck City Center at 500 Grand Ave., said Keith Olson, an associate with NAI Ruhl & Ruhl Commercial Co. in West Des Moines.

The buyers are representative of investors who are entering the Greater Des Moines market, holding large amounts of cash that generate scant returns in other investments, said Kurt Mumm, who leads the Greater Des Moines Ruhl & Ruhl operation, in a recent interview.

Olson brokered the sale of Keck City Center and is the leasing agent for it and the Partnership Building, where $1 million was spent to remodel 10,000 square feet on two floors into one- and two-person offices called Space2Work that can be rented under leases as short as one month.

“We’re flexible; we just want to fill the space,” Olson said.

Monthly rents start at $675 for a one-person office and $1,200 for a two-person office. Rents include Internet access, parking, storage space, boardroom areas and a coffee bar.

One tenant is in place. Click here to learn more about Space2Work.

The Canadian group plans additional improvements to the Partnership Building, which was bought at auction, including upgrades to the food court and atrium, Olson said.

Meanwhile, the group also plans improvements for the Keck City Center, including a remodel of parking spaces and the 25,000 square feet that formerly housed the Downtown School.

Regions Bank foreclosed on a mortgage covering Keck City Center, then bundled the property with several others and sold them all to a Texas investment group last year.