Designs on a Walnut Street duplex
KENT DARR May 4, 2016 | 9:53 pm
3 min read time
607 wordsBusiness Record Insider, Real Estate and Development
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| Bruce Myers designed this home in Arizona |
Des Moines mortgage banker Bruce Myers is a designer and developer at heart, one with an interest in unique spaces.
He has found that spot in a 49-foot-wide swath of grass at 1430 Walnut St.,where he hopes to build what could be the only stand-alone duplex in a downtown that is sprouting apartment buildings and visions of 32-story residential towers.
Myers will be happy if city officials look kindly on his plans for a structure whose height must measure out three stories or 36 feet because of its downtown location and whose space will accommodate him and a next-door renter.
“I know the city wants higher density, it wants more units, but on a lot that is 49 feet wide, how can you do it? There’s not much more you can do, especially if you want any kind of parking,” Myers said.
The lot had been owned by the late Kirk Blunck’s Crane Investments LLC. Myers was negotiating to acquire the property prior to Blunck’s death on Jan. 24. Myers later bought the property at auction from the architect’s estate for $215,000. The deed was recorded today.
Myers plans units that will touch 3,000 square feet, with his side of the duplex slightly smaller than the rental unit. He’s hoping the city will allow him to meet the three-story requirement by counting subterranean garages on the lower, southern section of the property. They will be topped by patios. If that plan doesn’t work, he will add a room to the third floor that could be used as an office or game room. It will not fill out the entire floor.
He plans to work within a budget of $1.25 million. Tenants will pay a monthly rent in the $3,000 range. He said the rental unit will have three bedrooms, making it suitable for families. It also would be suitable for corporate executives who are in the city on short-term assignments or an executive who is in transition due to professional or personal circumstances.
The property nearly slipped away, Myers said. He began negotiating with Blunck about a year ago. When the property went up for auction after Blunck’s death, Myers lost out in the bidding. However, the winning deal couldn’t be closed, and Myers got the chance to close on the lot, which is adjacent to Crane Artist Lofts, another property that at one time was owned by Blunck.
There were other interesting twists. When researching previous deeds, Myers found out that his late father, Lawrence Myers, then an attorney with the Nyemaster law firm, was involved in Blunck’s acquisition of the Crane building in 1998. That property was purchased in 2011 by a St. Paul, Minn.-based limited partnership.
The contractor on the duplex construction is Todd Buchanan, a high school buddy whom Myers ran across after returning to Des Moines several years ago.
Myers first dabbled in design and development when he lived in Tempe, Ariz., in 2000, he drafted plans for a house after buying off-the-shelf home design software. That project was located on about two acres of land in Flagstaff, Ariz.
His preference as he moved across the country and globe, including stops in San Diego, Seattle and London, has been for urban lofts. He has owned a unit at Brown Camp Lofts and currently lives at Mulberry Lofts, where, by the way, his condominium is going on the market.
“I’ve always loved urban living,” he said.
Myers plans to hire a professional architect to review his plans for the Walnut Street project and make tweaks necessary to submit a formal design to the city.
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