A recently completed downtown building has been converted from condominium units to rental apartments, and an old building that was to be rehabbed for condos will be converted to office space instead. Jim Parrack, a senior vice president at Precor Realty Advisors Inc. in Oklahoma City, the owner of both buildings, said the company is making the changes in response to trends in the Des Moines market.

Precor recently hired Conlin Properties Inc. to manage the new Gateway Lofts building at 1719 Grand Ave.; some would-be condo buyers had reserved units in the building, but no sales had closed, according to Parrack. The Wallace-Homestead Building at 1912 Grand Ave., purchased by Precor from Meredith Corp., already has been gutted in preparation for condos. Instead, parking will be added and the interior will be refurbished for office use.

Parrack said the change in strategy for Gateway Lofts came about because “our assessment is that the rental market downtown is good. It’s not so much a weakness in the condo market; it’s that all of the rental downtown is full and commanding high rents.”

As for the Wallace-Homestead Building, Parrack said, “we think there’s a need for nice multi-tenant office space, and the building is set up for that anyway.” The project will add about 100,000 square feet of office space to the downtown market about a year from now, he said.