4th & Court Condominiums

119 4th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Phone: 515-453-6604
Sales Agent: Jill Creveling, Iowa Realty

Website: www.desmoinesdowntownliving.com/projects-courtavecondos.html

Open House: Saturdays 1:00 – 4:00 PM, Sundays 1:00 – 4:00 PM.

Pricing: $178,000 to $330,000

Units in Project: 48 / 9 sold
Floors in Building: 5

Property Features:
• one and two bedroom condos
• 12-16 foot high ceilings
• unit areas from 985 sq. ft. to 1,606 sq. ft.
• balconies
• underground parking

Right in the middle of the Court Avenue Entertainment District, 4th & Court Condominiums provides easy access to restaurants, bars, festivals, even the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market can be viewed from your window. What a great location to be in.

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: 4th Street Condos | Condos | Lofts | Property Spotlight

The Plaza

300 Walnut Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Neighborhood: Downtown Core
Website: www.theplazadsm.com

Pricing: $99,500+

Units in Project: 192
Floors in Building: 25

Property Features:
• Built in 1984/1985
• Association dues are based on square footage
• 24-hour gym
• On-site tennis and basketball courts
• On-site sauna, jacuzzi, and tanning 
• Heated roof-top pool
• Community party-room
• Underground parking

The Plaza was one of the first downtown condo offerings and offers the ultimate urban lifestyle conveniently located in the heart of downtown with premier skywalk access. Balconies on most units offer supreme city skyline views, Nollen Plaza Park and its beautiful mature trees, the river, Wells Fargo Arena & much more. The Plaza offers a convenient living style with all the amenities.

The reason this property is being featured right now, is because so far this year, it’s been one of the most sought after downtown condo buildings, just look at the sales results below.

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Condos | Downtown Core | Property Spotlight

Gateway Lofts

1719 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Phone: 515-280-1962
Property Manager: Tina Braafhart
Website: www.gatewayloftsdm.com

Open House: Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm; Sat. 10am-2pm;
Sundays & Evenings by Appointment

Pricing: starts at $950 a month

Units in Project: 80
Floors in Building: 3

Property Features:
• one bath loft flats with 850 to 1,311 square feet, starts at $950
• two bath lofts flats with mezzanine, 1,212 to 1,960 square feet, starts at $1,250
• true urban lofts with large windows and spacious open floor plans, and concrete flooring
• indoor first floor climate controlled parking and outdoor parking available for guests
• stainless steel appliances, gas ranges and microwaves
• true urban style concrete kitchen and bathroom countertops
• brazilian black slate tub/shower surrounds with true overhead rainfall-style showerheads
• in-unit washer and dryer
• limited, controlled access for your safety

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Posted under Featured, Living Downtown
Tags: Gateway Lofts | Gateway West | Lofts | Property Spotlight | Video

For those traveling to Des Moines that need a place to stay overnight, downtown Des Moines has seven hotels for them to choose from. Those seven are:

• Downtown Marriott
• Embassy Suites
• Holiday Inn Downtown
• Hotel Fort Des Moines
• Quality Inn & Suites Event Center
• Renaissance Savery Hotel
• Suites of 800 Locust Street

Now I’m not in the hotel business but the number of hotels we have downtown seems a little limited. Not only in choices (i.e. no five star hotels) but also in the number of rooms for the size of the city (1,745 rooms by my count) and the events that we are currently drawing. There have long been talks of a new hotel near the Iowa Events Center as well as turing one of the older buildings downtown into a boutique-style hotel, but to-date nothing concrete has appeared. I think we could use a hotel in the Court Avenue neighborhood, and one towards the west-end of the Western Gateway Park as well as a another near the Iowa Events Center that is connected via the skywalk.

I did some research on a lot of different travel sites and complied together in one place some information on our six downtown hotels. Hopefully this will help you or your visitors decide where to stay based on their needs when visiting downtown Des Moines. I think first you should be aware of the “star rating” system that is being used:

These are hotels that offer only the highest level of accommodations and services. The properties offer a high degree of personal service. Although most five star hotels are large properties, sometimes the small independent (non-chain) property offers an elegant intimacy that can not be achieved in the larger setting. They are generally located in the heart of downtown or in resort locations. The hotel lobbies are sumptuous, the rooms complete with stylish furnishing and quality linens. The amenities often include: DVD players, CD stereos, garden tubs or Jacuzzis, in-room video library, heated pools and more. The hotels feature up to three restaurants all with exquisite menus. Room service is usually available 24 hours a day. Fitness Centers and valet and/or garage parking are typically available. A concierge is also available to assist you. Typical National Chains: Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, W. Downtown Des Moines: None

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Hotels | Maps | Neighborhoods | Property Spotlight | Wi-Fi

Yesterday as part of the Doors of the Past – Sherman Hill Walking Tour, I was able to tour the historic Murillo building. The building is currently located at the corner of 16th Street & High Street in the Sherman Hill’s neighborhood. The building had been originally located at 531 14th Street, just three blocks from it’s current location.

The Murillo building was built in 1905 and is a three story, brick and masonry apartment building with six rental units, two per floor. The building was moved to the new site to help make room for Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shields new headquarters. The building’s move took place on March 1st and 2nd of this year and was even filmed for the History Channel and should debut later this year as part of their National Geographic Monster Moves series. I’ve included a couple of short YouTube videos from local videographers below. The move cost over $1 million and took 17 days to prepare for and took about eight hours to go the three and half blocks to its destination. 

The Murillo buildings is currently on the list for nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. According to it’s nomination details, the building is considered an outstanding example of the “flat building”, a new architectural form that was emerging in Des Moines at the turn of the century. The Murillo Flats was orginally dubbed the “McNamara Flats,” but its owners James McNamara changed the building’s name to Murillo Flats to recognize a favorite Spanish painters, Bartolome Esteban Murillo (c. 1617-1682) who was being featured in a Des Moines art exhibition at the time. The word “flats,” which was used in Britain at the time (and today) to describe an apartment building, enjoyed certain popularity in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, so the building was called the Murillo Flats.

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Architecture | History | Property Spotlight | Sherman Hill

111 City Lofts

111 10th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Phone: 515-710-1331
Sales Agent: Tim Rietz, Burnett Realty
Website: www.111citylofts.com

Open House: Saturday 1:00 – 4:00 PM, Sundays 1:00 – 4:00 PM.

Pricing: $200,000 to $400,000

Units in Project: 60 / 15 sold
Floors in Building: 5

Property Features:
• one and two bedroom lofts
• 12-16 foot high ceilings
• unit areas from 980 sq. ft. to 1,700 sq. ft. plus large terraces
• walk-in closets and dressing areas
• 1 ½ to 2 ½ generously sized bathrooms per unit
• overhead loft storage space
• environmentally sound features and elements:
• individually controlled high performance heating and cooling
• eco-friendly bamboo floors
• ten-year Polk County Real Estate tax abatement

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: 111 City Lofts | Condos | Lofts | Property Spotlight | Video