Des Moines to consider adding two more urban renewal areas

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The Des Moines City Council is expected to hear plans next month for two urban renewal areas, one a fresh entry into the city’s development future after an annexation in 2009 of land in Warren County and the other in an area near Eastgate Plaza, where the city hopes some renewed attention can lead to revitalization. The 332-acre Echo Valley Urban Renewal district is bordered by Echo Valley Drive on the north, Southwest 28th Street on the west, Beardsley Street on the south, and Fleur Drive on the east. It was voluntarily annexed into the city in 2002. As of Jan. 1, its base property valuation for the purposes of calculating tax increment financing was $1.8 million. The Eastgate Urban Renewal district is made up of about 482 acres generally bordered by East Eighth Street, Northeast Aurora Avenue, East Dixon Street and Hull Avenue. The area includes the former Eastgate Shopping Center, commercial and industrial buildings, and vacant sites, with buildings that were constructed in the 1950s. Some industrial buildings have had some degree of new investment, while others “are not seen as competitive for today’s business operations,” according to a staff report. The base value for TIF purposes is $66,583, according to the report.