Des Moines lifts renovation roadblock
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Des Moines has eliminated a longstanding rule that often required building owners to undertake additional site improvements during significant renovation projects.
Why it matters: The requirement sometimes added millions of dollars to project costs, stifling redevelopment and discouraging investment, council members tell Axios.
- Lifting the rule encourages new growth and may increase the city's tax revenue, they say.
Catch up quick: The rule was adopted in 2004 when the city introduced formal landscape standards.
- It required building owners who spent more than $500,000 on interior renovations — or whose upgrades exceeded 50% of the property's value — to submit a formal site plan.
- That prompted older properties to meet new construction standards, such as planting trees in parking lots, widening sidewalks, adding decorative fencing or burying power lines.
Zoom in: The rule was designed to promote more consistent aesthetics and improve public spaces throughout the city.
Yes, but: It increased project costs and often caused businesses to cancel plans to relocate to or expand in the city, Council Members Carl Voss and Mike Simonson — who participated in recent talks with developers — tell Axios.
Context: When she successfully ran for mayor in 2023, then-Council Member Connie Boesen said a main campaign goal was making doing business in DSM easier and more efficient, including gathering developer feedback to better understand obstacles.
The fine print: Site plans are still necessary for alterations like additions that change the building's footprint, height or use.
- The changes do not affect the city's building and maintenance codes that maintain safety standards, DSM planning and urban design administrator Jason Van Essen tells Axios.
The intrigue: City staffers are unaware of any Iowa community that requires site improvements based on the value of building renovations, as DSM did previously, Van Essen says.
Inside the room: Last month's changes were made during what seemed to be a routine ordinance update and without council members highlighting its importance.
- Yet, Simonson later told Axios it was "one of the most impactful" development decisions the city has made in decades.
What they're saying: Local businessman Rich Eychaner— who clashed with the city in 2023 over driveway and site standards during renovations across from Merle Hay Mall — tells Axios he's encouraged.
- "You need some level of oversight and basic standards, but you don't want to be in a situation where you're needlessly killing deals where people want to invest in your city," he says.