A new business in Grimes is offering what its leaders say is the future of construction and design, and could potentially help save big money in the process.

Walk Your Plans opened at 1500 S.E. 19th St., Suite 255, on June 9. They work with anyone who has a two-dimensional plan to help find mistakes or errors that may not otherwise be found until walls start going up and mechanical systems are in place, potentially saving tens of thousands of dollars or more in change orders. They can work with architects, home builders, contractors, interior home designers and landscape architects.

How does it work?

Using a series of projectors and a proprietary software program, Walk Your Plans can create to-scale layouts of a building or office to give customers a better understanding of what the space will feel and look like before construction begins.

Does a door or window need to be moved? Does a room need to be bigger or smaller? Does a wall need to be moved? Does a floor plan need to be rearranged? If so, the Walk Your Plans program allows those changes to be marked in real time by those stakeholders working on a project.

James Machamer, the president and co-owner of Walk Your Plans Grimes’ office, said Walk Your Plans can be used for commercial, industrial, retail, office and residential projects, from new construction to tenant improvements and conversion of space from one use to another.

“We are just an extension of those folks with whatever the genre of project,” he said.

Machamer said the Walk Your Plans technology takes someone’s plans and scales it to a life- size display that is projected onto the floor and walls for someone to walk through to make final design decisions before construction begins.

“This is a fundamental piece of the planning process that preferably before the bid gets done,  that if something needs to be tweaked before they begin building, it’s better to get in here and get a look at that, get a fresh frame of reference, make those changes before the studs go up,” he said. “Once the studs are up and all the mechanical, electrical and plumbing is in, once you start making changes to that, that’s where it starts getting expensive.”

Machamer said Walk Your Plans also leads to greater communication, collaboration, teambuilding and trust between all the stakeholders, from architect and contractor to subcontractors and buyers.

Andy Erickson, marketing project manager for Eppo Marketing in Des Moines, is working with Machamer to market Walk Your Plans to the architectural, design and construction sectors. He said Walk Your Plans doesn’t decide what changes to make, but provides a visual representation of a space that will show those people who are involved in a project where changes can be made.

“This provides a wonderful studio for people to do their job better and to experience and walk through the ideas of what they will be building,” he said. “They’re using the space purely as a studio, and orchestrating that relationship to bring stakeholders in, all those people can come in and experience it and get their ideas,  all those people can come in and experience it on a whole different level and start to visualize it. You have a collaborative environment where you’re there to be the host and let them steer and drive and talk through their issues.”

Machamer, who worked at Neumann Brothers for five years before embarking on the Walk Your Plans journey, said he was at home recovering from a health issue when he learned about Walk Your Plans.

“I was at home in January 2024 and scrolling through my phone and this reel came up that had gone viral on Instagram that had 30 million views and it caught my attention because my wife and I were designing our next home,” he said. “After I got through the coolness of what that could mean for us and our new home, I immediately stopped and said who is this, where are they doing it and how are they doing it, so I immediately went down the rabbit hole.”

Machamer sent in an inquiry to Walk Your Plans, which is headquartered in Lakewood, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland.

Machamer and his wife, Lorie, who is a partner in the business, traveled to the headquarters and spent the next couple of years putting together a plan and the funding to open their office in Grimes.

He operates as a licensee and not a franchise, which allows him to operate more freely and independently than a franchise.

Des Moines was the 13th Walk Your Plans location to open in the U.S. The company has 15 sites total.

Machamer said he’s already worked with customers that run the gamut of sectors, including agriculture, retail, office and residential.

He said some projects are so small he would turn them away.

For example, smaller residential projects or small office spaces, wouldn’t be worth the expense to the buyer and wouldn’t make sense if the builder has a similar spec house they could walk through or for a small business with only a few offices and a bathroom.

“On a small project, it’s not a fit,” Machamer said “There has to be value in it for the customer. If there isn’t, I don’t want them coming in here.”

What’s next?

Although Walk Your Plans just opened two months ago, Machamer is already eyeing the future.

He said the technology is continuing to evolve. He wouldn’t specify what that evolution will look like, but insisted it’s not virtual technology, which he described as too isolating and would hinder the collaboration and teamwork Walk Your Plans fosters.

“We have some other things in the works,” he said. “There’s more coming to make this technology even more incredible than it already is.”

Whatever that will be, Machamer said he’s beyond excited about this venture.

“We’re having a blast,” he said. “I love it. I’ve gone from just being passionate about it to being completely obsessed.”