Electrical Workers constructing new facility in Ankeny

Building permit valued at $5.7 million for the project was among 60 commercial permits issued in March in the Des Moines area

/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/BR_web_311x311.jpeg

Construction is underway in Ankeny on a building that will include new offices and meeting space for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 347. The new facility will be located at 6809 S.E. Bellagio Court. Architectural rendering by Studio Melee

Construction has begun on a 15,203-square-foot, one-story facility for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 347, according to commercial building permit information from the city of Ankeny.

The permit valued at $5.7 million was among the 60 issued in the Des Moines area in March, records show. The value of the March permits totaled more than $146.5 million; in the first three months of 2021, 147 commercial permits have been issued with a total value of over $521.8 million.

The new facility for the electrical union local is under construction on 2.6 acres at 6809 S.E. Bellagio Court in Ankeny. The group bought the vacant ground for $750,230 in October 2019 from Kimberley Commercial LLC, Polk County real estate records show.

The facility, made with precast concrete panels, will be visible from Interstate Highway 35, said Scott Farnsworth, assistant business agent for the union, which currently has offices at 850 18th St. in Des Moines.

The union has outgrown its Des Moines office, which has limited parking, Farnsworth said. The local has about 1,800 members, he said.

“We usually don’t have enough parking spaces when we have meetings and our meeting hall doesn’t always hold everyone,” he said. “COVID really brought out how small the hall is. It’s been a challenge to get everyone socially distanced during meetings. The new hall will have plenty of room.”

The new facility, being built by Weitz Co., will include 108 parking spaces. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Farnsworth said.

Plans include allowing members of the local to rent the meeting hall for weddings and other gatherings. Space will also be available at the facility to store floats used in parades, he said.

“The building isn’t fancy but it’s got a lot of nice features, Farnsworth said. “We’re hoping it’s a building that will last 100 years.”

A commercial permit was also issued in March in Ankeny for a 60,000-square-foot production and warehouse addition at Mrs. Clark’s Foods, located at 740 S. E. Dalbey Drive. The addition is being built on the east side of the existing facility.

 

Elsewhere in the Des Moines area:

 A permit valued at $3.4 million was issued for construction of a Kwik Star convenience store and car wash at 855 S.E. Alice’s Road in Waukee. The store and car wash are 9,175 square feet. The site will also include 10 fuel pumps under a canopy and parking spaces for 50 vehicles. Site plans for the convenience store were approved more than a year ago but the start of construction was delayed because of the pandemic, according to Brad Deets, Waukee’s development service director. The convenience store will be the Wisconsin-based company’s first location in Waukee.

• Two permits valued at $6.6 million each were issued for the construction of three-story apartment buildings at Bricktowne at Prairie Crossing in Waukee. The buildings are located at 701 and 721 N.E. Venture Drive. When completed, the development is expected to have 300 apartment units.

• A permit valued at $18 million was issued for the construction of the Des Moines Transload Facility at 301 S.E. 15th St. The facility will serve as a logistics park where bulk materials are transferred between semitrailers and trains, and vice versa. Development plans include adding 15,000 linear feet of track infrastructure and building a 115,000-square-foot warehouse. Construction is expected to be completed this year.

• A permit valued at $26.6 million was issued for the 130-unit Glen Meadows Retirement Community at 850 S. 60th St. in West Des Moines. The facility is being development by Resort Lifestyle Communities located in Lincoln, Neb.

 

March commercial
building permits


Commercial building permits valued at more than $146.5 million were issued for projects in 13 Des Moines-area communities and Polk County in March, data from the permits shows.

Click here to find out what commercial building permits were issued in the Des Moines area in January through March. View a spreadsheet that includes the commercial building permit information.

You can also view commercial building permits issued in 2020.