Knapp Properties has plan for neighborhood commercial center that is long in the tooth
KENT DARR Jun 22, 2016 | 9:04 pm
2 min read time
448 wordsBusiness Record Insider, Real Estate and DevelopmentHere’s something that doesn’t happen very often in Greater Des Moines. Knapp Properties Inc. is about to demolish a two-story retail and office center on the east side of Des Moines to make way for a new development.
Fairmount Plaza at 2525 E. Euclid Ave. is about to meet the wrecking ball. The center was developed by Allied Properties Inc., a development company that was formed in 1959 by Bill Knapp and John Grubb. Allied owned lots of properties in the area, some of which have been sold, others that are still owned by various configurations of Knapp Properties.
A two-story retail and office center is passe these days, as is the open stairwell that connects the two levels. The center was stylish in the 1960s, when it was planned, and the early 1970s, when it opened.
And it was considered one of Knapp’s “premium investment” properties, which were held by Allied Development, Knapp Properties President and CEO Gerry Neugent said.
Though Knapp Properties rarely takes down one property to replace it with another — Neugent could think of just one other property that had such a fate — the redevelopment is typical of activity that is occurring in the retail sector. To read more about that, read this Business Record Insider article.
These days, Ben Garrett, a sales associate in the brokerage side of Knapp Properties, is waiting for the building to come down and watching the turns of the economy that might help determine a tenant base for the new structure. A section of the property could be a good fit for a fast-food restaurant, he said.
Garrett has helped find new locations for tenants whose leases were not renewed in order to make room for the project. The building had been about 50 percent occupied, but some longtime occupants — a dentist stood out in Garrett’s mind — liked the location.
“It’s too bad we couldn’t build a building next door and move them over,” he said.
Other services, such as insurance agencies, like to be close to their customers and could help fill the new center. Other uses could include restaurants as well as retailers that are drawn to neighborhood centers.
It is a safe bet that at least a few tenants will have signed letters of intent to lease space before the building comes out of the ground.
“In a hot market, sometimes you build a spec building and see what happens, but when the economy turns you wind up paying taxes on an empty building,” Garrett said.
The building will be about 10,000 square feet and will cost about $170 per square foot to build.
Garrett said market demand will determine the final configuration.
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