A Cedar Rapids property management and development company has purchased the Insurance Exchange Building in downtown Des Moines, a landmark commonly recognized by the large, red Travelers umbrella that dots the skyline.

High Properties, an equity, management and development firm, closed on the sale of the 10-story, 136,000-square-foot building, which was owned by the Graham Group, on Oct. 31. According to online property records, the sale price was $4.3 million.

Darryl High, owner of High Properties, said the company has been looking to create a presence in Des Moines for a while, first exploring the possibility before the COVID-19 pandemic, which slowed the process until recently.

High first only planned to open an office in Des Moines, but plans changed when there was an opportunity to buy the Insurance Exchange Building, he said.

“I wouldn’t say we were looking to buy a building,” he said. “This building became available and we decided to buy it.”

High said he was working with JLL, which leases space in the building, and the possibility of buying the building was introduced.

“I really love downtowns, so when we were thinking about Des Moines, downtown had real interest to us,” High said. “We like to be in the core of the business district and I believe downtowns are very important to communities.”

He acknowledged that having a daughter who lives in Ankeny and another who is a student at Drake University provided some extra incentive to open an office in the Des Moines market. High Properties will have an office in the building.

High said he met with representatives from Graham and developed a high level of comfort in moving forward with buying the building, which wasn’t listed.

The plan is to keep the building all offices. He said the building is about 75% leased with a good tenant mix, and he’s excited about working with JLL to find tenants for the remainder of the space that’s available.

“This sale is yet another example of the resiliency of the downtown market, especially considering this building will continue to operate as an office property,” Justin Lossner, senior managing director at JLL, said in an emailed statement.

The building, which opened in 1936, generally caters to smaller users who need a few thousand square feet of space.

Doug Den Adel, president of the Graham Group that purchased the building in 1982, said the decision to sell it was based on the company’s continued focus on its industrial business.

“This was really our only office building for a long time,” he said. “We’ve had our medical building and we started our industrial side in 2013 and since then we’ve continued to mainly focus on industrial.

“I think the sale was a good fit and we’re super excited about the relationship.”

Den Adel said Graham Group will continue to lease space in the building.

“We’re sticking around,” he said. “It’s not like we didn’t like the building and wanted to get out. We’re sticking around and plan to be a long-term tenant of High Properties. We’re just going to be able to shift our focus.”

High said he’s also excited to be in an area where future redevelopment is expected, citing Graham Group’s decision to demolish the adjacent parking ramp known as the Brown Garage, which will open up two vacant lots downtown.

He also mentioned amenities in downtown that make the area attractive, and the YMCA across the street.

“We love the location,” High said. “We’re big local people. We like local people investing and I could see that area really redeveloping, and [that area] could really be something 10 to 15 years from now.”

Den Adel said leases in the Brown Garage expire on Dec. 31 and the structure will be demolished sometime in 2026.

“All the leases were coming due at the same time, and then there’s the fact that there’s three empty parking garages around us, it kind of tells you what’s going on downtown with parking, so it is just the right time,” he said.