The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority is preparing to move into its new maintenance facility on the city’s southeast side in late spring, as it works to relocate its operation from downtown, opening an opportunity for the site to be redeveloped.

The first phase of the project is the maintenance facility, which is being built on 38 acres DART bought from the city of Des Moines on Vandalia Road in 2024 for $3.91 million. The transit agency has worked with Sidekick Development on the design of the new maintenance facility.

According to a recent update from DART, the project has stayed on time and is under budget, which was estimated at $34.8 million, with $17.2 million coming from an Federal Transit Administration grant that was awarded in 2019. The rest comes from a variety of other sources, including local matching funds and capital funding.

DART officials said the cost of renovating the existing maintenance garage would have been nearly double that of building the new maintenance garage, and the cost of operating the aging structure would only go up.

DART officials cited several factors in the decision to move its operations on DART Way, just off Southwest Ninth Street. Leaders said the current site is landlocked in an area of changing use and is in a flood plain. The maintenance building has flooded several times over the years when the nearby Raccoon River breached a nearby levee.

The area, once industrial, is now bordered by mixed-use developments of condominiums and retail.

The inability to expand in its current location and being in a floodplain makes it unlikely DART would qualify for federal funding to improve the site and continue to meet the needs of the community, leaders have said.

Leaders said the current maintenance facility was built in 1970 when buses were smaller and there were fewer of them.

Today, DART has a fleet of 168 buses and support vehicles. That number will drop to 147 when the recently approved redesigned network is launched this summer. The design of the new facility will account for the smaller fleet in the near term, while keeping the option to expand in the future as the region’s transit needs evolve.

The current maintenance shop has 11 bays, which are tight and don’t provide adequate space for mechanics to work on buses. Employees need to repair and change tires outdoors, and the bus wash (similar to a car wash) is exposed to the outdoors and has to be shut down when the temperature drops below 20 degrees to prevent components from icing up.

Leaders said the body shop is also too tight to get one of today’s buses in for repairs, and bus panels have to be removed in order to be repaired. There is also a lack of storage for parts and equipment.

The new maintenance garage will have 16 bays and provide more space for crews to work. It would also move all repairs indoors and allow for the bus wash to continue operating in colder temperatures.

The new facility will also provide more in-house storage for tools, parts and equipment, which currently are stored in various areas on the property.

The current garage where buses park is also too small for modern buses, forcing operators to get out and fold in mirrors to fit them through the garage doors. It also is being used as overflow storage for parts, such as tires.

The overall project will be done in phases, with the first phase being the maintenance facility and storage.

The project is designed in phases to provide flexibility to add additional phases as funding and needs evolve, a spokesperson said.

The recent update from DART said the maintenance team should be moving into the new building around May. DART will be applying for additional federal funding over the next year to help fund additional phases, which will include construction of the bus garage and administrative offices, leaders said.

A spokesperson said the focus is to secure funding to build enough bus storage and administrative areas to move out of the current space, and sell the existing facility to help fund the project.

Moving and selling the existing site opens the opportunity for it to be redeveloped for uses more compatible with surrounding development and the proposed Pro Iowa Soccer Stadium and Global Plaza, the spokesperson said.