Colby Interests has a plan B for Apple Valley
KENT DARR May 11, 2016 | 9:23 pm
<1 min read time
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Colby Interests hopes to start construction next week on its backup plan for the rejuvenation of Apple Valley shopping center at 73rd Street and University Avenue, President Theresa Greenfield said.
Rather than a wholesale clean sweep and reconstruction of the Apple Valley property as originally planned, Colby will launch a major rehabilitation that will begin at what Greenfield called the west building, a 22,000-square-foot structure that is located near the busy intersection. It is a building that Colby had hoped to demolish to make way for an Aldi’s grocery store that would have served as an anchor for the shopping center. However, the city of Windsor Heights nixed that plan and Colby Interests moved on to plan B.
Colby plans to replace concrete columns with steel-framed signboards, add floor-to-ceiling windows, install grease traps to accommodate restaurant users, re-shingle the roof, replace sewer lines and a sprinkler system, all in an effort to provide future tenants with clean, wide-open spaces that can be structured to fit their needs.
“We want it to be good to go for another 20 years,” Greenfield said.
The revamped plans will not add the estimated $10 million in taxable value that Colby envisioned when it submitted a site plan for city approval more than a year ago, but it will improve the appearance and bones of the structure.
“We’re really going to clean it up,” Greenfield said.
Once tenants are found for the west building, Colby Interests will consider plans for the remainder of the property, Greenfield said.
Apple Valley was built in segments between 1979 and 1981. It is located immediately north of the Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart Superstore that were built over an old coal mine on property owned by the Colby family. That site originally was planned for what is now Valley West Mall in West Des Moines.
Colby considered a name change for Apple Valley when it contemplated a total overhaul of the site, but has decided now to stick with the original, familiar name.
Tenants, including restaurant users, have shown an interest in the rehabilitation plan, but leases have not been signed. Greenfield said local and national credit tenants, “with a mix in between,” are expected to set up shop at Apple Valley.
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