After 2 1/2 years of planning and preparation, Nelson Development expects to break ground this fall on a six-story building at 230 E. Grand Ave. that will house 75 market-rate apartments and 12,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Jake Christensen, vice president of business development at Nelson Construction Services, said the project will cost about $12 million. He said the city of Des Moines has committed $1.2 million in tax-increment financing money to the developers over several years.

Christensen said the project was originally intended to add condominium units to the East Village, but was switched to apartments. “We think the East Village is a better apartment market than a condo market,” he said. Downtown condo sales have been slow this year, even as apartments have filled quickly.

Christensen and Mike Nelson plan to lease the building’s retail space to several tenants, and will take advantage of parking space that becomes available when the workday ends at the nearby Iowa Workforce Center. The building site, now used only for surface parking, lies directly north of the East Village Square apartment building developed by the Hatch Development Group. The location will get a new address, 300 E. Grand Ave.

Nelson Development will begin taking reservations from renters in about a month and plans to complete the project in the third quarter of 2008. Nelson is the sole developer at this point, but Christensen said partners might be added.