The Des Moines arts scene could reach new heights with a luxury hotel that will lend its name and operational savvy to a 131-room hotel planned for the Fifth development in downtown Des Moines.

Louisville, Ky.-based 21c Museum Hotels has signed with Mandelbaum Properties to bring a blend of art museum and upscale hotel to a mixed-use project that includes a 12-story hotel as part of a 40-story tower with 208 luxury apartments at Fifth and Walnut streets, an eight-screen, dine-in movie theater topped by two floors of commercial space at Fifth and Court Avenue, and a 690-stall public parking garage located midblock along Fifth between Court and Walnut.

21c Museum Hotel Des Moines also will provide a presidential suite that will occupy 2,500 square feet on the tower’s 40th floor and could double as event space.

The hotel will have nearly 7,000 square feet of museum space open around the clock for guests and the public, a ground-floor restaurant, a 12th-floor bar and an amenity deck that includes spa and fitness facilities to be shared with the apartment residents. Apartment residents will be able to order room service.

“I think it helps make downtown Des Moines an arts destination,” said Justin Mandelbaum, whose other downtown project is Mainframe Studios, a nonprofit that provides discounted rents for artists and nonprofit organizations at a former data center at 900 Keosauqua Way.

“My goal is to help turn Des Moines into a city that is recognized for its commitment to the arts,” Mandelbaum said.

21c Museum Hotels was launched out of a commitment to the arts. The company is the brainchild of art collectors and preservationists Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, who opened their first hotel in 2006 in renovated tobacco and bourbon warehouses along Louisville’s West Main Street. 

Brown and Wilson focus on contemporary art — in a 2017 Louisville Magazine article, Wilson said, “We can buy a lot more contemporary artists, young artists, and help them, versus buying one $500,000 piece.” 

Mandelbaum said Brown and Wilson also devote space to local artists, and it is Mandelbaum’s hope that some artists at Mainframe Studios will have their works on display at the Des Moines hotel.

Gallery space will be open and free to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The museum hotel along with a chef-driven restaurant is a theme that works. In addition to Louisville, there are 21c Museum hotels in Lexington, Ky., Bentonville, Ark., Cincinnati, Durham, N.C., Nashville and Oklahoma City. The company’s eighth property will open this summer in Kansas City, Mo., and another is under development in Miami.

In its 2017 rankings of the top city hotels in the country, Meredith Corp.’s Travel & Leisure Group ranked 21c Museum Hotel’s Oklahoma City property No. 3 and its Bentonville, Ark., hotel No. 8. Conde Nast ranked the Bentonville and Cincinnati hotels in its list of Best Hotels in Every State.

Jeff Fleming, director of the Des Moines Arts Center, is familiar with the brand and excited that it is coming to town.

“They are lively, engaging,” he said. “This is quite exciting for Des Moines. It’s a unique and wonderful hotel experience. Visitors will enjoy it, but I think the community will as well.”

Mandelbaum said, “The 21c team has been very impressed with downtown, and having 21c choose Des Moines is a major endorsement of all the progress the city has made over the years.” 

Mandelbaum said he learned of the operation from his parents, John and Cyril Mandelbaum, who stayed at the Bentonville hotel while on their way to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which is located in the city.