Hampton Inn, South of Court

[iowacountyite]

How many levels will the garage be?

[DMRyan]

Breaking the Des Moines tradition of having the parking garage be taller than the building it serves, the parking garage here is only expected to be 3-4 stories.

[casbern]

Breaking the Des Moines tradition of having the parking garage be taller than the building it serves, the parking garage here is only expected to be 3-4 stories.

I assume it wasn't feasible to put the parking below ground?

Any talk of the garage level on the 2nd street side allowing businesses? Or is that idea completely shot?

[DMRyan]

In this configuration, there just isn't enough land area to get the parking garage to ramp up if the first floor is utilized for retail. This garage is really pretty small and will need to ramp up and around in a hurry to get to three and a half levels.

Not an acceptable excuse I know, but this garage facing 2nd Ave was deemed to be the best option to not intrude towards the residential neighbors to the north and south.

Ben, just to clarify, the parking ramp to the north of the Water Street Brownstones/Vine Street Lofts is actually for the office users of the Saddlery Building on Court Avenue. While I wouldn't surprised if a few parking spaces in this garage were leased to residents or tenants, the Water Street Brownstones has a very large parking garage underground. Point well taken though, that the north facing residential units look out to an ugly cinder block parking garage wall.

[dogbo]

From DSM Business Record:

8/15/2012 12:05:00 PM
Back to the brick at downtown hotel development

Waterfront Lodging Inc., developer of two hotels in downtown Des Moines, has settled on the use of full-dimension brick, ending a debate on original design plans that called for the use of architectural thin brick.

Waterfront is building a Hampton Inn & Suites and Residence Inn in a former industrial area at Southwest Second and Water streets. Excavation is under way.

At a meeting earlier this month of the city's Urban Design Review Board, revised plans for the development were presented that included adoption of the larger brick. Use of the inch-thick architectural brick had been approved by the city.

Read more: http://www.businessrecord.com/main.asp? ... z23j94QIGW

[casbern]

I wonder why they switched to full dimensional brick.. increased costs, and they are running behind schedule.

[DMRyan]

While the full brick may be more expensive than thin brick, it's cheaper to install than the thin brick methods the city was requiring to be placed on this hotel.

[DMRyan]

The full renderings for the entire hotel block have finally been released.



From the river (Water Street)


From the south (Market Street)


From the north (Vine Street)


From the west (2nd Avenue)

[Mastermind]

Is the Residence Inn confirmed?

[dogbo]

This is just an initial reaction, but the colors, design, overall look seem very similar looking to nearby completed projects (4th St condos, Metro Lofts, Waterstreet Brownstones). Maybe that is a good thing? I'm not sure.

[DMRyan]

Yeah, it's a safe play that I'm sure was an intentional part of the design.

At some point, the new residential construction might need to make the leap to the next era of architecture since DSM may have it's fill of multi-colored panels on projects (4th and Court Condos, Metro Lofts, e300). Of course, there's still something timeless about a mostly brick building that would fit in nicely with the existing building stock around Court Avenue.

[Cook4Fun]

Is the Residence Inn confirmed?

That brand is confirmed as of last evening and the anticipated completion date of at least two of the three buildings is.... wait for it....July 1st, 2013. Unbelievable but the developer and the builder believe it which counts more than my guess.

[DMRyan]

This project has finally started...at least the Residence Inn portion of the project on the north side of the site anyway.

[Ingersoll1978]

Are they now building both hotels at the same time?

[casbern]

The full renderings for the entire hotel block have finally been released.

I hope this picture doesn't do justice for the real density...

[econboy]

The full renderings for the entire hotel block have finally been released.

I hope this picture doesn't do justice for the real density...

Don't get too picky. Heck of a lot better than what is there now.

[DMRyan]

Are they now building both hotels at the same time?

They are supposed to build both hotels at once now, although who really knows with this development. The Residence Inn has gotten started first though.

Casbern, the rendering does look a little off, especially on the north. The narrow Vine Street right-of-way with the railroad tracks through it really isn't all that wide. These hotels are built out to property line and occupy nearly the whole block, minus some center courtyard space. I think many will be pleased with the scale of the buildings once they go up, in comparison to their surroundings. Many will not be pleased with the view of the parking garage from 2nd Avenue, but that was the political process influencing the development process...

[casbern]

Many will not be pleased with the view of the parking garage from 2nd Avenue, but that was the political process influencing the development process...

Somehow I don't think this'll be much of a sticking point... look at Court, Grand on the 300 and 400 block... apparently some in the metro find these garages ascetically appealing...

[BenRoethig]

Do realize this is a former industrial area with a very active Iowa Interstate Railroad line splitting vine. That effects the density a bit.

[casbern]

Do realize this is a former industrial area with a very active Iowa Interstate Railroad line splitting vine. That effects the density a bit.

Yes, I do realize this, I walk over it every day to go to work.

[DMRyan]

I noticed the elevator shaft for the Residence Inn rising out from the ground today. The work on the parking garage should start soon as well. Construction of the Hampton Inn will begin next year now.

[hawk61401]

Ravi Patel, the developer of the Hampton Inn is being promoted by friends to be the Press-Citizen’s Person of the Year for 2012.

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20 ... 311280007/

[DMRyan]

Christine Hensley bragged about how wonderful and cooperative Ravi Patel was about the Hampton Hotel. Sure, it's better than a weed patch along the riverfront. But, the hotel side facing the riverfront and riverwalk doesn't even have a common area to pluck one's butt down on a bench.Instead of optimizing, let's lower the bar. It's only Des Moines.

Wouldn't it be nice if Des Moines had Iowa City's problem. It's called "optimize." "We have five compelling choices before us, I think this will be a very difficult decision,” said Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek. http://tinyurl.com/ajjmynv

Do you really think the Hampton Inn and Residence Inn is any worse-off than these two hotels built or planned for Iowa City, our poster child for quality development...? I won't minimize what's happening in Iowa City. The Hotel Vetro is sexy. The new highrise proposal is top notch, but Iowa City's standards for new hotel projects make it seem like they're taking some cues from Campustown Ames. I would say the design for the DSM hotels is on par (Residence Inn) or exceeding (Hampton Inn) the IC hotels in terms of aesthetics. Is it the context of being on the riverfront and not integrating better with it? FWIW, there are plans for an outdoor patio on the river side of the project.

New Iowa City Hampton Inn (near downtown in all fairness)


New Kinseth Hospitality "Dual" hotel

[Ingersoll1978]

Also, the hotels on the riverfront are similar to what has been built to the north and to the NW of the site. Not really too concerned, as they are about as dense as could be on this site. It sure beats a suburban hotel with a parking lot.

[hawk61401]

I'm glad that the best kept secret is out. Please, full disclosure!

My objection wasn't the design of the Hampton Inn. My concern was the riverwalk side of the hotel being an asphalt slab. I never seen/heard anything about a patio. I thought I made that clear in my post ..

the hotel side facing the riverfront and riverwalk doesn't even have a common area to pluck one's butt down on a bench.

[DMRyan]

The Residence Inn is framed up to the 3rd floor already, and footing/foundation work has started on the garage and Hampton Inn.

[dogbo]

Now that the Residence Inn is topped off and enclosed, the scale of it is much bigger than I imagined. Looks pretty nice as you come up the riverwalk heading south. Looking forward to seeing the Hampton Inn as according to the renderings, it wil be larger still.

They're really going to town on the parking structure. I'd say it is 3/4's complete.

[RDCFIC]

Photos, please.

[DMRyan]

Here is the progress on the Residence Inn and parking garage. The Hampton Inn should start going vertical soon as well.

[urbanlawyer]

Man, that parking garage looks awful along 2nd. Are they going to put lipstick on that pig?