They held up the development of Gateway West and dove into downtown housing when it still seemed like a shaky idea. Now the Gateway is blossoming, developers are building and rehabilitating apartments and condominium units all over downtown – and last year, for the first time, Leslie Gearhart and Jodi Beavers actually made some money off the buildings they fought to save from demolition.

The two women formed Metropolitan Properties in 1994 to rehab apartments and houses in central Des Moines. They drew some attention in 1996 when they bought the Ayrshire Building on Sixth Avenue, a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and spent a couple of years renovating it. But they really got noticed when they stepped into the path of the Gateway project being pushed by some of the city’s major business leaders.

The Arlington Building stands at the corner of 13th and Locust streets, and the Hallett Building is adjacent to the west. As the city prepared to open up several blocks for green space, the plan called for demolishing those buildings along with all of their neighbors.

“In September of 1999, the city was voting on a demolition contract,” Gearhart said. “Jodi spoke to the city council and asked for 90 days” to put together a plan that would allow them to buy and restore the two buildings. “We had the financing lined up; banks were calling us,” Gearhart said.

The purchase was not the problem; Metropolitan Properties wound up buying the buildings from Des Moines Development, a predecessor of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, for $10. But the work that followed lasted two years and cost $2.7 million. Most of today’s downtown residential rehab projects receive some financial help from the city, but the Arlington-Hallett effort didn’t. “Eric Anderson [then the city manager] told us there was no money,” Gearhart said.

However, the project did take advantage of historic preservation tax credits and Enterprise Zone tax credits.

“There were some cost overruns, and dragging out the Gateway project didn’t help us any,” Gearhart said.

Now the Gateway demolition is complete. The block to the east, now home to the John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center, has been landscaped and the wide-open area to the west is about to be transformed into a park.

Nearby, developer Jack Hatch envisions an eight- to 10-story building with high-end condos on the upper floors, and Hubbell Realty plans to convert the Mitchell Transmission building at 15th and Locust into condos.

“We hope the condo projects work,” Beavers said. “We’re a little concerned about the prices.” The two expect downtown apartments to continue to achieve good occupancy rates.

Beggars Banquet and the Ritual Café occupy the ground floor of the four-story Arlington. Above are 36 studio apartments and three one-bedroom apartments. The Hallett is all residential, with one- and two-bedroom apartments. Studios rent for $500 to $525 per month, and the larger units rent for $700 to $850.

Metropolitan Properties didn’t stop with the Arlington and Hallett buildings, but has continued to add properties. Last fall, Gearhart and Beavers bought a 15-unit building on 40th Street between Grand and Ingersoll avenues and a five-building, 15-unit complex at the corner of 31st Street and Kingman Boulevard.