Two new development projects are being considered for the block bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and 19th Street, and Ingersoll Avenue and High Street.

Veridian Credit Union has proposed building a branch bank with a separate pedestrian-friendly commercial building at the intersection of MLK and Ingersoll, and Ingersoll Square LLC and Robert Caluzzi will present a proposal at Thursday’s Des Moines Plan and Zoning Commission to build a 63-unit apartment building at 2000 High St., which would complete the development of the Ingersoll Square apartments at 1900 High St. in the northeast corner of the block.   

Caluzzi’s proposal calls for a three-story building with 21,441 square feet of space, 54 underground parking spaces and 38 surface parking spaces. The apartments would be just west of the existing apartment building, which was originally developed by High Land Co. LC, whose principals included Craig Mettille and Bob Caluzzi of Grand Avenue Developers. 

Veridian’s proposal for the meeting Thursday was withdrawn because city planners had earlier recommended denial, unless the company built commercial space along with its branch bank. Veridian asked for the item to be postponed until the October commission meeting.

Erik Lundy, senior city planner and key staff member to the Plan and Zoning Commission, said the branch bank, with an semi-enclosed drive-up window, did not meet the criteria of pedestrian-friendly development.

“We weren’t opposed to the use, necessarily. We just wanted more use. We want the pedestrian-oriented features to be to the street; the drive-through and parking would be concealed,” Lundy said.

Lundy said the east end of the block was developed first and the 14,440-square-foot commercial building at 1905 Ingersoll Ave., which houses Gusto Pizza, Orange Leaf and Kosama, is a good model for the kind of rental property Veridian could build.

“It should look like the other building in scale and proportion. I think that will be ideal,” Lundy said.

In keeping with the pedestrian-focused zoning and downtown-area required design, the business entrances of the building at 1905 Ingersoll are accessible from the sidewalk, and the building has little or no setback and parking is in the rear, said Lundy. 
William Lillis, the attorney working with Veridian, said the company’s plan for the site is “a work in progress” and Veridian isn’t ready to discuss how it will revise it. However, he said the site, mostly because of its traffic volume, is a great location for the credit union.

“There’s definitely a market in this area, and obviously Veridian sees it as a good area to get into in the Des Moines market,” said Jason Van Essen, senior city planner.

The development of the block was slowed somewhat by the recession, but development along the Ingersoll corridor has been accelerating, Lundy said.

Further to the west on Ingersoll Avenue, the recently built 9,289-square-foot building at 2105 Ingersoll Ave. being developed by lead developer Jake Christensen, is close to fully leased. That building will house Noodle’s & Co. Inc., Qdoba Mexican Grill, T-Mobile USA Inc., and Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, and, it has one 1,347-square-foot bay still available.

Lundy said the city recently created a tax increment financing (TIF) district for the Ingersoll corridor, which should encourage more development.

“We’ve always wanted to encourage it; it’s just kind of picked back up lately,” Lundy said.