Developer designs for unique living experience, beginning with a name and address
KENT DARR Jun 17, 2016 | 8:12 pm
<1 min read time
0 wordsBusiness Record Insider, Real Estate and DevelopmentNelson Construction & Development’s mixed use project that will fill the east side of Seventh Street north of Grand Avenue will operate under a new name and two addresses when it is taken up for consideration Tuesday by the Des Moines Urban Design Review Board.
Alexander Grgurich, development analyst for Nelson, said the firm is bringing a boutique living experience to the city.
The project is taking the place of a city-owned parking ramp that was razed earlier this year. In combination with a parking garage under construction on the opposite side of Seventh for Principal Financial Group Inc., the city hopes to bring new activity to the area.
Miesblock will be the official name of the 12-story residential and commercial structure that Nelson will present to the Urban Design Review Board Tuesday. The structure will share a pedestrian plaza with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines, located in a structure that was designed in the 1960s by famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. His grandson, Dirk Lohan is consulting on the design of the plaza and other elements of the Nelson building. Read a related article on BusinessRecord.com.
Lohan has “given his blessing” to naming the structure Miesblock, Grgurich said.
In addition, the Seventh Street side of the building will gain a new address, 555 Seventh, Grgurich said. That is the side of the building that will have the lobby for the residential portion of the structure. The original address, 665 Grand Ave. will be used for the south-facing side of the building, where restaurants and office users will share a lobby.
Letters of intent have been signed to lease all first-floor commercial space to a local restaurant user and all second floor office to local office user, Grgurich said. He would not identify the users. About 18,000 square feet of office space is available on the third floor.
Grgurich said the new address will allow tenants to direct ride-share and delivery operations to show up at a specific residential address.
“We think through the entire tenant experience,” Grgurich said. “We seek to design experiences, not just spaces.”