A building permit has been issued for a long-awaited mixed-use project in the neighborhood adjacent to Drake University, a review of Des Moines permits shows.

However, the project that will include 116 apartments and office and street-level commercial space is moving forward without an expected tenant, Brent Dahlstrom, co-founder of Merge Urban Development, told the Business Record.

“The good news is that the project has started; the bad news is that Toppling Goliath no longer is part of the project,” Dahlstrom said. “They’ve decided that they’re going to focus on their brewing and not expand” into Des Moines, he said.

Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., the Decorah brewer that makes Pseudo Sue pale ale and Dorothy’s New World Lager, asked Central Iowa developers in 2021 for proposals for a taproom and brewery in the Des Moines area. The brewer’s development team talked with several developers and toured numerous sites before announcing in mid-2023 that it would anchor Merge Urban’s development at 24th Street and Carpenter Avenue.

Since the announcement, the brewer had been largely silent about its expansion plans. The company, including owner Clark Lewey, did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls from the Business Record.

Dahlstrom said the mixed-use project is moving forward without an anchor tenant.

“We’re restarting the search but first we want to get this project off the ground,” he said. “Once we get to the framing stage, which is only a few months away, we’ll have a better idea of our construction schedule and then we can start looking for some retail tenants.”

The project is expected to be completed in 2026, Dahlstrom said.

Merge Urban, based in Cedar Falls, is building its five-story project at 1236 24th St. The project was first announced in summer 2019. The pandemic, rising costs for materials and high interest rates all contributed to project delays, Dahlstrom said.

“The inflationary pressures and interest rate pressures were a little bit more to handle on this project than some of our other ones,” Dahlstrom said. “Thankfully, we’ve navigated all of that and we’re comfortable with where we’re at today.”

The building permit placed the project’s value at $22 million. The permit was among 14 issued in May for new projects by the 13 communities and Polk County, whose building activity is reviewed by the Business Record.

Other building permits issued in May for new projects include:

• One issued in Waukee for the construction of an Olive Garden restaurant at 420 S.E. Alice’s Road. (Rendering at right) The mostly stone and brick building will include 6,496 square feet of space and be constructed on a parcel that is adjacent to Target. The project is being developed by Darden Restaurants Inc., located in Orlando, Fla. The building permit valued the project at $1.3 million.
• One issued in Ankeny for the construction of a multi-tenant, 105,000-square-foot data center at 2701 S.E. 90th St. The data center is being developed by Edged Des Moines LLC. The building permit valued the project at $41.4 million.
• One issued in Des Moines for construction of the second phase of an apartment project at 1619 High St. The three-story, 45-unit apartment building will include an underground parking garage. The building permit valued the project at $7.2 million.