It takes more than a street to make a village.

But as development revived a two-block stretch in front of the Capitol, East Village advocates have used the “village” name to help increase awareness of the district. Now the name is beginning to fit, as retailers and community leaders patiently await several plans for more retail development in surrounding areas accompanied by residential living.

Fueling the area’s fast-paced development is people’s increased interest in the East Village as the Principal Riverwalk helps connect it to the rest of downtown and Historic East Village Inc. hosts special events.

“It’s probably the most up-and-coming area, second only to the west side of town,” said Larry Hon, who will soon open a business in the East Village.

“Now’s a busy time for developers to get projects going,” said Sarah Oltrogge, chairwoman of Historic East Village’s board of directors. “I still see the East Village as an emerging area. We are still growing and we are still having growing pains, trying to decide what we want the future of the East Village to be. There have been many efforts taken to ensure some of older buildings remain historically correct, but then also see new development come in. That’s kind of what we’re all about. The eclectic part of the East Village is what makes it unique.”

The area especially is extending outward with stores opening along sections of East Grand Avenue and the connecting streets between Grand and Locust Streets.

Marsha Steele and her son Chris, opened a store that joined Olympic Flame Restaurant and The Bargain Basket on the north side of the 500 block of East Grand late last year. The consignment shop, which sells anything from furniture to collectibles and antique decorations, has done very well, said the Steeles, even without a store sign in front.

“We’re at the break-even point, being open since last October,” said Chris Steele. “If you look at small businesses in general, it sometimes takes a year and a half to two years to break even.”

The Steeles believe they will soon be joined by new retail development, which may include a piano bar and cocktail lounge specializing in margaritas by the end of this year. Tim Rypma, co-owner of RE Properties, which owns the four buildings in the 500 block of East Grand, said that he has two retail spaces for lease that he hopes to fill as soon as possible, but would not disclose the identities of any prospective tenants.

Competition for space on the block is steep. Rypma said that he’s received several inquiries about his two retail spaces. Marsha Steele said that when she looked at moving in, there were several businesses interested in coming in as well. She had to move quickly, opening her shop within a couple of months of drafting a business proposal.

Just to the west, the $16.2 million East Village Square development at East 4th Street and Grand is expected to open in November with 115 units, 51 of which are affordable housing and 21 are work/live lofts on the first floor. Mike Rossi, senior associate for Hatch Development Group that spearheaded the development, said they already have received 22 deposits, five of which are for the work/live spaces.

The 900- to 1,150-square-foot lofts on the first floor are designed to let artists and small entrepreneurs rent a single space for both their business and living needs. The units include a living space and bathroom on the loft level and bedroom and bathroom behind the shop. Although there will not be strict guidelines on the work/live lofts, said Rossi, stores will be required to open at least a certain number of hours a week

Hon, who has already reserved one of the live/work lofts, said his gay pride and mystic store, which will offer home décor, house goods and jewelry, along with oil candle burners, dragon statues and incense, will fill a need in the East Village and in the larger Des Moines community. Without the live/work arrangements, however, the Bath and Body Works manager couldn’t afford to open the business at this time.

“What’s great about this is I wanted to open a business for a very long time and financially just was not able to open a full-fledged business and be able to support that business and be able to support paying my current rent,” Hon said. “This enables me to live out of the store.”

He expects to open his store about two weeks after he is allowed to move in. He plans on keeping his job at Bath and Body Works and hiring someone to manage the store.

Having a work/live option could make it possible for smaller shops to open in the area where Nate Niceswanger, owner of Zzz Records and former chair of the East Village retail promotions committee for two years, and Oltrogge believe there is a high price for businesses to get started.

“I think as more spaces open up, we’ll see an increase in retailers,” said Oltrogge. “Right now, what have is fairly limited and comes down to affordability.”

Don Roberts, owner of Don’s East Grand Service with his son Craig, is looking to expand his gas station’s convenience store as well, in part to take advantage of a greater population moving into the East Village. Roberts has owned the station, located a block from East Village square, for 40 years, and said he should know next month if his plans will go through.

Niceswanger said the owner of New Oriental Food Market on East Grand has discussed adding a more general grocery section as well.

Locust also booming

East Locust is swarming with development as well.

Luke Garnaas of Ladco Development Inc. said that his company just finished renovating the former Scandia Savings building at 510 E. Locust, now called the MPI building, a few weeks ago. Durrant Group Inc. has already moved in on the second floor and the company is now looking for tenants to fill five spaces ranging from 1,200 to 3,000 square feet on the ground level.

With three to five tenants, “I think it will be built out in full by January,” said Garnaas. Receiving a few calls a week about the property, Garnaas said his company is being selective in whom it chooses to rent to.

“We don’t want to compete with other businesses. We would like to bring new businesses down here,” he said.

Garnaas said that his company is already looking at floor plans with two retailers, one of which will likely be a restaurant.

The few stores that have recently opened along East Locust are enjoying the growth of East Village.

Opened this summer at 420 E. Locust, Lucca Restaurant has maintained the large following of owner Steve Logsdon’s Basil Prosperi bakery, in addition to attracting an older crowd and young professionals.

“It’s nice to have another place this side of the river,” Logsdon said. “When the Civic Center season starts again, now there’s another place for people to go before the show.”

Logsdon said the new restaurant has more space and features many of the same dishes as his former restaurant with a few more Tuscan-inspired Italian dishes. In addition to a prix-fixe menu on Fridays and Saturdays, he is looking to offer an a la carte menu during recently added hours from Tuesday through Thursday.

He also expects an increase in residents nearby to continue to boost business.

With this expectation, Logdon is working on plans to open a food market, which he hopes to start working on in October. According to Historic East Village’s 2006 annual meeting minutes, he plans to open the store in GE Wattier Architecture’s current space on East Fifth (the architecture firm will move to East Village Court, a new building being completed nearby) and provide staples along with wines, cheeses and possibly deli sandwiches.

He also would like to add a stairwell from the first floor behind Lucca’s and eventually develop the space he owns on the second level. He may also have plans to change the Basil Prosperi Bakery on East Fifth Street, which is currently being used to supply baked goods to his restaurant and 801 Grand bakery.

S. Teshan Boutique, located at 505 East Locust in Absolute Art’s former building, opened in conjunction with Melrose Boutique in late June. Owner Stephanie Christy said her store has been successful so far, because it brings accessories such as shoes, bags and jewelry to an area dominated by fashion clothing.

“We had such a great stock from our first trip to New York that we opened early,” said Christy. “The response has been fabulous.”

Although Niceswanger is pleased with the growth, he cautions people to wait and see how the East Village develops over time.

“Sometimes explosive growth and [a competitive] market dictate what stores make it and which don’t,” he said. “Right now, we have a lot of clothing stores. It seems OK now, but the nature of small businesses says most businesses fail in five years. Come back in a couple years and this could be a different makeup.”

Living the dream

The growth in residential units will likely be the lifeblood of the East Village in the years ahead. Retailers recognize that with more people hanging around after the workday and on weekends, the area has the potential to become a 19- to 24-hour community.

“I definitely think it will bring vibrancy to neighborhood having people who live down here, who can bring a 24-hour aspect,” Oltrogge said.

If East Village attracts more people on nights and weekends, however, it may require stores to stay open longer, something which Niceswanger said the area has been criticized for already.

According to Historic East Village’s annual meeting minutes, future housing and retail projects include:

• East Village Court at 301 E. Court. Tom Howard, the building’s owner, said work has already begun on the building and should be completed by the end of the year. The building will include commercial space on the first floor and eight condominium units on the second floor priced from $150,000 to $225,000.

  • The Paskin property on East Fifth. Tom Howard recently purchase the parking area and building and plans to build a four- or five-story building with retail on the first floor and condos or other residential housing on the upper floors.

  • Village Place L.L.C. at 517 E. Locust. John C. Burgeson will begin construction of a $12.1 million retail, office, housing and parking garage project on the current Iowa State Bank land.

• While residential projects slowly develop in the area, events such as Biker Night and East Village Holiday Promenade continue to draw people there.   “I think there’s plenty of opportunity and I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” said Oltrogge. “At same time, the [Historic East Village] board is looking to create events that draw people to the area and keep things fresh.”

Yet Niceswanger has noticed that it takes more effort for the East Village to get publicity than it did in the past.

“One of the challenges we’ve had in the past 12 months is that it’s harder getting people to be cheerleaders for us,” he said. “We were spoiled in beginning.”

Yet in the process of rapid development, many believe the East Village has finally discovered its true character as an eclectic area.

“I think in beginning, people thought the East Village should be either really hip, trendy and upscale or lower-end like my store,” Niceswanger said. “I think now people realize a need for both. Why limit ourselves to one kind of customer?”