Plans to install a new type of flooring system in a proposed mixed-use office building at 2925 Ingersoll Ave. have delayed issuance of a building permit for the project, a city official confirmed.

Construction details for the proposed 12,400-square-foot building include the installation of Speed Floors, a suspended concrete flooring system manufactured in Australia and New Zealand.

And though the product “meets or exceeds” fire-rating standards in the United States, said Nick Ruebel, managing partner for Ohio-based Speed Floor USA LLC, the U.S. distributor of the product, it has yet to be tested for fire rating here.

“It’s definitely a fire-rating issue,” said Jeff Stickel, owner of Stickel Enterprises LLC, the developer of the project, adding that his commercial building will be the first in Iowa to use the new flooring system.

The primary concern, said Cody Christensen, a Des Moines plans examiner, is the close proximity of the proposed structure to the Moberg Gallery, adjacent to the east. Because the floor and roof system supporting the east wall of the new building must have a one-hour fire rating for the building permit to be approved, the city is requiring the developer to hire a fireproofing contractor to design a system that will provide the acceptable rating. The city, in turn, will determine the design’s acceptability. “I have to have that in hand before I let them go forward with the project,” Christensen said, adding that the city has received everything else it needs to approve the permit.

As part of an easement agreement with adjacent properties, Stickel has also agreed to increase overall access and parking for the project.

He is considering taking advantage of a $165,000 loan from the city’s economic development enterprise account to make up for a shortfall in financing stemming from the improvements, as well as sustainable building practices being incorporated into the project.

“There was a lot of unforeseen stuff,” Stickel said.

The City Council granted preliminary approval for the funding on Dec. 22. The remaining financing of the estimated $2.1 million project has been obtained through a mortgage from Freedom Financial Bank.

Stickel Chiropractic Clinic P.C. will occupy the second floor of the three-story building and Café Su has signed a lease for the ground level. Stickel said once construction gets under way, the flooring and walls should be installed within six weeks. He expects tenant improvements of the space to begin by March 31 and Café Su to open in June. He plans to rent, lease or sell 4,200 square feet of space on the third floor.