A 7,500-sqiare-foot medical office building is proposed on a portion of the former Eastgate Plaza shopping center site in northeast Des Moines. Conceptual rendering by GallowayUS

For more than two decades, a large portion of the former Eastgate Plaza site has sat vacant as weeds grew through cracked pavement and water accumulated in low-lying areas.

New life – and uses – for the northeast Des Moines site, though, may be near.

At its Feb. 3 meeting, the Des Moines Plan and Zoning Commission is scheduled to consider a request to change the zoning on a portion of the site to allow construction of a medical office building.

In addition, the city is reviewing plans for a Burger King that would be located at 1500 E. Euclid Ave., according to a city official.

In a related matter, the 1-acre parcel at 1500 E. Euclid Ave. was purchased by an entity doing business as 1500 E Euclid LLC. The Fort Worth, Texas-based group paid Eastgate Plaza LLC $525,000 for the property, Polk County real estate records show. Efforts to reach entities related to the limited liability corporation were unsuccessful.

The property on the northeast corner of Northeast 14th Street and East Euclid Avenue was once home to Eastgate Plaza, which opened in the late 1960s and was home to several now defunct department stores including Younkers, Sears and Ardan’s. Over the years, movie theaters, bowling lanes, a grocery store and night clubs were also located on what was originally a more than 40-acre site.

The open-air center was thriving until the late 1970s. Over the years, retailers shuttered their store fronts at Eastgate and retailers new to the area looked past the east side center, opening shops instead in Ankeny to the north, Altoona to the east and Valley West Mall in West Des Moines.

Florida developer Norman Weinstein, manager of Eastgate Plaza LLC, bought most of the Eastgate property in 1998 with hopes of reviving the dying retail center.

Weinstein’s efforts to attract big-name-retailers to a redeveloped site were unsuccessful. Over the years, numerous discussions took place about what could be located on the property including offices, apartments and condominiums. None of the ideas materialized.

Eventually, a Quick Trip convenience store with fuel pumps was built at East 14th Street and East Euclid Avenue; a strip retail center that fronts East 14th Street was also constructed.
The remainder of the property has sat undeveloped.

Weinstein is asking the city to amend a Planned Unit Conceptual Plan to allow the construction of a 7,500-square-foot, one-story medical office building, according to the Plan and Zoning Commission’s preliminary agenda. The building would be constructed on 1.28 acres located “directly behind the existing Quick Trip,” according to documents provided the city.

The medical office building would be occupied by Davita Kidney Care, according to plans provided the city. Davita, whose headquarters are in Denver, Colo., is one of the largest providers of kidney care services in the U.S.

Additional details about the company’s construction plans were not immediately available.