The future of Court Avenue. Historic buildings recognized. Hy-Vee grows in Nebraska but ponders future of downtown store.
7/5/2023What is the future of the Court Avenue District? On May 8, The Responsible Hospitality Institute (RHI) presented a study completed on behalf of the Polk County Board of Supervisors detailing the social, economic and growth opportunities of the Court Avenue District. RHI offered suggestions for improvement and provided an action plan, which was separated into four categories: lay a foundation, assure safety, plan for people and enhance vibrancy.
When asked by CITYVIEW about the progress the City had made in relation to the report, and if there were plans on implementing any of the suggestions, Deputy City Manager Matthew Anderson said, “Not yet.”
“We’re currently working with the Greater Des Moines Partnership, Polk County, and all the Court Avenue stakeholders to identify low-hanging fruit to implement right away, mid-range goals, and those that will take longer to implement,” he said. “We won’t likely pursue every recommendation, and the work won’t all fall on the City. So, we’re identifying which entities are best suited to spearhead specific recommendations. We’ll plug some of the ideas into our budget discussions this fall and winter and determine where the recommendations fall within the City Council’s many priorities.”
Some of the more easily implemented suggestions have been identified.
“The low-hanging fruit will be better coordination with Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, creation of a sexual violence prevention campaign, and a consolidated taxi/ride share pickup location,” said Anderson.
With these early goals established, the participating groups will now determine who will take responsibility for each task.
“We’ve only loosely discussed responsible parties, but we’ll be assigning tasks and setting goals shortly,” said Anderson. …
On to news of projects that have made measurable progress. The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs announced that 17 projects and individuals in 10 Iowa communities received the state’s highest historic preservation honors at the 2023 Preserve Iowa Summit. Seven of those were awarded to sites in Des Moines, including the Hippee Building, located at 206 Sixth Ave.; the Varsity Cinema building at 1207 25th St.; the building at 217 E. Second St., which was formerly a nightclub; the Hotel Fort Des Moines at 1000 Walnut St.; the Polk County Historic Courthouse at 500 Mulberry; and the Charlotte E. Maish House, located in the Kingman Place Historic District. …
What are the grocery stores of the future? Hy-Vee may be showing us. The employee-owned Iowa corporation now operates more than 285 retail stores in eight Midwestern states with sales of more than $13 billion annually. The company opened its largest store to date, a 135,000-square-foot grocery store — in Gretna, Nebraska. Yes, Nebraska.
Prior to this store’s launch, Hy-Vee’s largest locations were in Cedar Falls, Urbandale and Grimes. These stores seem to be a sign of what is to come in metro areas with Hy-Vee. The store in Gretna, a growing southwest suburb of Omaha, is accompanied by a 6,300-square-foot grocery delivery and pickup service and an adjacent 4,250-square-foot convenience store. The open food hall dining area includes a pub with a full sit-down bar, 32 taps and an outdoor patio. Additionally, the store offers an eyewear kiosk, a beauty department, an expanded candy shoppe department, a walk-in beer cooler, a walk-in humidor and a walk-in wine room.
Overall, the store will carry about 120,000 items. Hy-Vee says it has invested more than $37 million in the Gretna community to “build, furnish and stock the grocery store” and that the new store created more than 628 local jobs, including 128 full-time positions. …
Plans for a major change to Hy-Vee’s downtown location at 420 Court Ave. have been put on hold. The store was built to serve the booming downtown population of more than 8,000 residents, which, according to the 2020 census, was an 82% increase from 2010.
Announced in 2021, Hy-Vee planned on changing the store’s focus to become a “HealthMarket.” The proposal would have made several alterations to the store, including the food court becoming solely focused on its Hy-Chi Asian food concept and the store’s grocery, deli, beer, wine and liquor aisles all would become the HealthMarket.
If these changes occur, the downtown area will lose its only dedicated full-service grocery store, something that was predicted by multiple bar and restaurant owners in the district.
Formerly a parking lot, the 420 Court Ave. location valued at $3.57 million was sold to Hy-Vee and Knapp Properties LLC for $270,000, with the rest awarded as an economic development grant. Des Moines also agreed to provide tax increment funding for the next 15 years, starting in 2016. The development agreement does give Des Moines the ability to terminate the payments if Hy-Vee chooses to not provide a full-service grocery store. …
A reliable source tells CITYVIEW that Jim Ward has been discussing with friends a run for the County Supervisor seat being vacated by Robert Brownell. Ward is a former assistant Polk County attorney and top assistant to former County Attorney John Sarcone. …
On Wednesday, June 14, the Iowa Board of Regents unanimously approved a 3.5% tuition increase for the three state universities. This came directly after student leaders from Iowa State University, The University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa spoke at the meeting against the hike, suggesting the Board instead collaborate with the students, universities and the Legislature to “lower the burden” for students.
According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics on a report by the Education Data Initiative, the cost of tuition at four-year universities has gone up by 31.4% since 2010. After being adjusted for inflation, college tuition has increased by 747.8% since 1963.
During the same week’s Monday meeting of the Board of Regents, two of the state’s university’s presidents were approved for bonuses.
University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson received a $50,000 raise that will go into effect on July 1, bringing her yearly salary up to $700,000. This time last year, Wilson received an original $50,000 raise.
University of Northern Iowa’s President Mark Nook also received a raise during the meeting. Nook was given a $15,000 increase that also goes into effect on July 1. This raise will bring Nook’s salary up to a total of $372,110 based on a report from the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. ♦
