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Hubbell Realty Co. has emerged as the last potential buyer standing in efforts to devise a workable development plan for the Riverfront YMCA, which sits on what many city officials and business leaders believe is the most alluring piece of real estate in Des Moines.

“We have to come up with a concept to see if it even makes sense,” Hubbell President and CEO Rick Tollakson said today. “We are looking at it to see if we can figure it out.”

At least two other potential buyers have made preliminary offers on the nearly 2-acre site at 101 Locust St. that has been empty since late last year when YMCA of Greater Des Moines moved to tonier digs at the Wellmark YMCA, the renovated former Polk County Convention Complex at 501 Grand Ave. 

Though a state document indicates that a Hubbell entity is the owner of the property, a deed has not been filed. As Tollakson pointed out, other prospective buyers have backed out of the deal.

A glimpse at Hubbell’s thinking for the property — a mix of townhomes and rental units — was unveiled when the company submitted an application in March for state brownfield tax credits. 

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