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On the Move

Bang Bang Mongolian Grill replaced with Draught House 50

6/3/2015

Draught House 50 opened May 20 at 6240 Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines, in the building that formerly housed Bang Bang Mongolian Grill. After about five years of service, Bang Bang closed on April 5 for a remodel and opened as Draught House 50 under the same ownership and staff. The new Draught House features seven garage doors, two patios and a party room. Call 440-2264 or find it on Facebook.

 

City Council accepting proposals for East Village development

The parking lot at 101 E. Grand Ave. is prime real estate in Des Moines’ East Village, which is why developers asked the City Council to allow proposals for a project that will take over the space. The Council agreed at a meeting in May, allowing developers until June 22 to submit proposals for the property. Local businessman Jim Cownie is working with a development team that wants to build apartments, offices, retail space and a parking garage on the space, which sits directly east of City Hall. That project includes another apartment complex at 219 E. Grand Ave. owned by Cownie. Early cost estimates are about $60 million. The Council is waiting to hear from other developers, but it will only accept proposals that are “materially different” from Cownie’s project.

 

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Urbandale café moving to West Des Moines

The PerkUp Café located at 7003 Douglas Ave. in Urbandale will move to a larger space in West Des Moines this month. Delores Clouse, the owner of the four-year-old PerkUp, said she wanted to move into a larger space but couldn’t find a location in Urbandale, and the owners of Governor Square in West Des Moines offered her a newly renovated space. The current location seats 40, and the new West Des Moines location will seat about 110. Clouse plans to add pancakes and some fried foods to the menu and eventually open for dinner. PerkUp Café’s current hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday; and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday. It is closed on Mondays. Visit www.perkup-café.com.

 

Domestica will expand in new East Village space

Domestica, the home and accessories shop formerly located at 321 Walnut St. downtown, closed in May and reopened at a larger space in the new Raygun building at 505 E. Grand Ave. Chrissy Jensen owns Domestica and said the new shop is almost twice the size of the former location. The move allows her to add new poster and jewelry lines to the store’s current offerings. Jensen opened Domestica in 2010. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Call 523-0240, visit www.ilovedomestica.com or find it on Facebook.

 

Des Moines bookstore to close

Well Read Books is closing its doors in the Sherman Hill neighborhood on June 19. Owner Dennis Ashby sold the building and does not have plans to relocate the used book store, which also sells vinyl records, VHS tapes and DVDs. Well Read Books has been located on the corner of 17th and High Streets for 14 years, and prior to that it was located for about four years at Merle Hay Road and University Avenue. Ashby is liquidating the store’s inventory, selling books and DVDs for $1 each, records 10 for $1, and VHS two for $1. Well Read Books is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Call 274-0100 or find it on Facebook.

 

Convention hotel receives large incentives

The $100 million convention hotel planned for downtown Des Moines was awarded $36.4 million in incentives from the Iowa Economic Development Authority board on May 22. The incentives are contingent on the selection of the hotel operator, as well as substantial completion of the project’s multi-layered financing by Sept. 1. It will be up to Weitz Co., the general contractor for the project, to choose a hotel operator and hotel brand. About half of the convention hotel’s financing comes from the city, Polk County, state and other public sources. The hotel would be built on the southwest side of the Iowa Events Center, and officials say the facility is needed in order to bring in more events and tournaments to the area. It would feature 330 rooms and full-service amenities. CV

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