Hotel Update: Construction on floors 4 through 8 are progressing well and it appears that the hotel is scheduled to open this winter.  The current unoccupied floors of the Liberty Building, floors four through eight, would become the new home to Hyatt Place Hotel. This would create the first condotel in Iowa where a building is part hotel-part condominiums. Personally, having lived in Florida, condotels were quite common and always some of the most desirable places to live. The residents were extremely happy with the news.

With just under 100 new hotel rooms for the downtown market, this would be Hyatt’s first entrance into the downtown Des Moines market and a first for Hyatt Place in Iowa. The hotel would feature a separate entrance than the current resident’s entrance, a first floor lobby, with small bar and food area. Condo residents would enjoy most of the amenities a hotel brings such as morning newspaper delivery, 24-hour concierge service and even a brand new swimming pool in the basement of the building.

Nelson Development would remain the owner of the building and hotel. Nelson currently owns other hotels, residential and commercial buildings both here in Iowa and other cities in the mid-west.

Here are some pictures of what a typical Hyatt Place looks like.

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Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine has named Des Moines among its top 10 cities. Here are some quotes from the article:

The city is working to lure back young Iowans and attracting global talent by developing its downtown and promoting the jobs available in the many industries that flourish there. Other big draws: low-cost housing, plus the city’s long-touted reputation for family-friendliness and a “19-minute commute.”

Full text of the article can be found here: http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/best-cities-2010-des-moines-iowa.html

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Thousands of Dollars Could Slip Through Your Fingers!
The heat is on for those who are out shopping for homes right now – as the Homebuyers Tax Credit is about to come to an end. Last November, the government expanded and extended the new Homebuyers Tax Credit. According to the program, first-time homebuyers are eligible for a tax credit of up to 10% of the purchase price of the home, with a maximum credit of $8,000. And current homeowners are eligible for up to $6,500.

Although military personnel may qualify for a special extension, the vast majority of homeowners must have contracts in effect no later than April 30, 2010 and must close no later than June 30, 2010 to qualify for the credit. This means that homebuyers now have less than one week to get their paperwork going to qualify for this credit, before it goes away!

Here are some important details about this tax credit.
Dollar-for-Dollar Benefit: The benefit of a tax credit is that it’s a dollar-for-dollar benefit, rather than a “tax deduction” or reduction in tax liability that would only reduce $1,000 to $1,500 when all was said and done. So, if a first-time homebuyer who qualified for the entire benefit were to owe $8,000 in income taxes and would qualify for a tax credit of $8,000, she would owe nothing.
Even Better… It’s Refundable!
Remember, because it’s a tax credit, it’s refundable! That means a homebuyer can receive a check for the credit if he or she has little or no income tax liability. For example, if a first-time homebuyer is eligible for a tax credit of $8,000 but is liable for $4,000 in income tax, she can still receive a check for the remaining $4,000!
What are the Income Caps?
Single tax filers with incomes up to $125,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, single filers with incomes of $145,000 and above are ineligible. Joint filers with incomes up to $225,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, joint filers with incomes of $245,000 and above are ineligible.
What’s the Maximum Purchase Price?
Qualifying buyers may purchase a property with a maximum sales price of $800,000

(Taken from “Weekly Mortgage Market Update….Tyler Osby Team)

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These were done by volunteers earlier today on Court Avenue.

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For 12 years, Forbes has been ranking the Best Places for Business and Careers and, at the top of this year’s list, was Des Moines , Iowa . “ Des Moines favorable regulatory environment and well-educated workforce makes it an attractive destination for high-value-added, well-paying industries,” stated Sunayana Mehra, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com.

With a metro area comprised of 562,000 people, Des Moines business and living costs are more than 10% below the national average. In addition, 33 percent of adults are college educated, while 92 percent possess high school diplomas. The economic and housing outlook for Des Moines also looks bright. Employment rates are expected to increase 2.7 percent over the next three years and household incomes are projected to rise 2.9 percent.

Forbes gathered a variety of statistical data from over 200 cities, ranking them based on items such as business and living costs, past and projected job growth, educational attainment, projected economic growth and quality of life. For more information, please read the complete article published on Wednesday, April 14, 2010.

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Editor’s Note: This was originally ran as an April Fools Joke, but what a great concept.

Des Moines is becoming the Art Capital of the Mid-West! This week it was announced that a new school for the arts would be created and moved into the Ruan Center with classes starting Fall of 2011. With Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield moving into their new headquarters this summer/fall, the 2nd tallest building in the city would have had a tremendous amount of office space come open on the market. Problem solved! A newly chartered school for the arts is taking over the space.

Organizers stated that the new school, to be called, the Des Moines School of Art & Design, will be headquartered in downtown Des Moines. The Ruan Center will become the new home for up approximately 1,000 students, with campus housing for 730 of them in the Ruan Center. Previous office space will be converted to dormitories for the students and the remaining floors will become educational classes.

The school will over Bachelors of Arts and Masters of Fine Arts in photography, graphic media, paint, film/video, visual arts, architecture and design. With tuition starting at $30,000 a year for off-campus students and $42,000 a year to

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2010 is starting off with good sales so far, January was pretty good, but February not so much, but it could have been the horrible weather we had last month. Know one in their right mind would get out and look at places in that.

2010 Year-to-Date Downtown Condo Sales:

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The City of Des Moines, Operation Downtown, and Skywalk Association are conducting a survey to gather information about downtown Des Moines’ skywalk system and its users and are currently reviewing possible improvements to the Skywalk System. Your input as a user of the Skywalk System is very important in identifying areas of improvement. Please take a moment to fill out the following brief survey by Wednesday, March 24th:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7XWWVHX
Signage mockups will be displayed in April in the Skywalk System for your feedback as well.

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I found this online and thought readers might be interested in seeing some health stats on Iowa’s most populous county since it’s the home of the City of Des Moines.

Source: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/iowa/polk

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Here are just a few highlights from the article, you can read the full article online at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/realestate/commercial/17desmoines.html.

…recent commercial, residential and retail development in Des Moines, where public and private cooperation has produced a robust urban landscape matched by few cities its size.

…Des Moines was one of a growing number of cities that recognize the potential of downtown development, as well as the urgency of changing economic and political strategies to encourage it.

Des Moines was able to find a nonpartisan formula for making decisions on taxes, infrastructure, parks and housing that support downtown construction. “Des Moines is one of those places that recognized that to pull off being a special place they can be proud of, people have to work together”

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It’s hard to believe, but with a lot of downtown developments, developers are not maximizing a huge area of square footage that they have. I’m talking about the roof. Developments that have planned for and provide the rooftop terrace amenity generally sell faster than developments that don’t have a rooftop terrace. Buyers moving from the burbs miss their outdoor spaces. If you are downtown, you may be lucky to get a small balcony, but no true socializing and entertaining outdoor space.

A rooftop terrace should be contemporary in style, and be the ultimate extension of a modern interior. To fit into its urban environment, low-maintenance plants are ideal. I’m personally fan of light colored pavers, large planters, and nice modern loungers and tables, also there’s nothing like a water feature to help drown out noise and provide a beautiful backdrop at night. Here’s some examples of other properties around the country and what they have done.

There’s lots more examples inside… Read the rest of this entry »

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2010 is starting off with good sales so far. Let’s hope our housing market turns around this year, last year was pretty dismal, only 33 units sold downtown. Our city leaders should be doing whatever possible to help recruit people to move downtown.

2010 Year-to-Date Downtown Condo Sales:

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The Downtown Community Alliance (DCA) once again put their mind to an easy way to make something ugly beautiful. For the last few years, since Younkers moved out of the previous flagship store downtown, this skywalk area has been pretty dismal. Walkers were always greeted by a wall of black plastic covering the insides of the old main Younkers skywalk entrance, but as of last week, walkers now see a nice image of the city at night. Thanks again to the DCA!.

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