East Village News

[iowacountyite]

Thank you both for clearing that up for me. I hope the next mixed use/apartments max out that 75' limit

[DMRyan]

Most of the new construction that took place over the past 5 years has. e300, East Village Square, E5W and East Village Place have pretty much all maxed out at the height limit, which does get you between 5 and 6 stories depending on ceiling heights.

[JperryIA]

Went to Baby Boomers last week and overheard staff talking about the owner of Miyabi 9 looking at the space for a possible move.

[DMRyan]

The East Village is further cementing it's reputation as the place to shop for funky vintage items. Hill Vintage Goods and Yarn is moving to the former Aimee location, left empty when they moved to their new larger location. Also, that old wood building on E. 5th Street north of E. Grand Avenue is opening up into Silo, another vintage store of some type. They're doing some minor cosmetic work on the building now.

Also, the former ZZZ Records shop on E. Locust Street has completed renovations and is open for business. Both retail bays are full and word is the nearly 5,000 sq. ft. loft on the 2nd floor is spoken for, to be purchased by a prominent local businessman.

[DMRyan]

A new women's shoe store and boutique clothing shop called "Peep Toes" is taking up the northernmost tenant bay of the E5W Building.

[Ingersoll1978]

Another new restaurant coming to the East Village:

New World Cafe is Des Moines' first vegan restaurant. It's going to be at E 3rd and Walnut.

http://newworldcafedsm.com/

[wildbill]

Another new restaurant coming to the East Village:

New World Cafe is Des Moines' first vegan restaurant. It's going to be at E 3rd and Walnut.

http://newworldcafedsm.com/

Great news! And one of the owners was one of the founders of Best Place Ever.

[DMRyan]

Is it going into this building on E. Walnut Street?

[Ingersoll1978]

That's what I'm assuming when they gave those cross streets (it was on an Historic East Village Facebook post).

[DMRyan]

A look at the building recently renovated at 424 E. Locust Street. Word is that a prominent local businessman may have a lock on the huge condo unit on the upper floor.

[SFO2DSM]

Anyone know about the Power Station Nutrition Club? Just got an email for their grand opening on 6/26 at 311 E 5th St. It looks like they are a smoothie bar/nutrition consultant. Their website looks a bit scammy? They hope to open 20 metro locations?
http://powerstation.nutritionclubpro.com/club/home.html
http://powerstation.nutritionclubpro.com/club/contact.html
http://desmoines.craigslist.org/hea/3076546126.html

[wildbill]

Anyone know about the Power Station Nutrition Club? Just got an email for their grand opening on 6/26 at 311 E 5th St. It looks like they are a smoothie bar/nutrition consultant. Their website looks a bit scammy? They hope to open 20 metro locations?
http://powerstation.nutritionclubpro.com/club/home.html
http://powerstation.nutritionclubpro.com/club/contact.html
http://desmoines.craigslist.org/hea/3076546126.html

Poking around it's a Herbalife brick-and-mortar don't-call-it-a-pyramid "direct sales" program. You watch videos, give them money, sell shake mix, get people under you, make profit!

From their sales videos, people stop in for a shake, they do an "assessment" and lo and behold, if you buy this shake program, you'll achieve fill-in-the-blank.

Their office hours are 7-3, Monday through Friday, so retail doesn't seem their goal.

http://vimeo.com/user5775594

[Ingersoll1978]

Lululemon Athletica is opening a showroom in the East Village. It will be at 521 East Locust, Suite 102. It's being carved out of the Sticks space. Their entrance will actually be on E 6th Street.

http://www.lululemon.com/desmoines/desmoines

[casbern]

Lululemon Athletica is opening a showroom in the East Village. It will be at 521 East Locust, Suite 102. It's being carved out of the Sticks space. Their entrance will actually be on E 6th Street.

http://www.lululemon.com/desmoines/desmoines

That's great news and a great get for the EV... my concern is the placement. The EV hasn't really been able to grow storefront space on E 6th that far south... hopefully this will be enough of an attraction to bring more people over there... Doesn't make sense they didn't shoot for a E Locust facing location... plenty of store front space in the same building there.

[wmjindsm]

Ingersoll1978 wrote:Lululemon Athletica is opening a showroom in the East Village. It will be at 521 East Locust, Suite 102. It's being carved out of the Sticks space. Their entrance will actually be on E 6th Street.

http://www.lululemon.com/desmoines/desmoines



That's great news and a great get for the EV... my concern is the placement. The EV hasn't really been able to grow storefront space on E 6th that far south... hopefully this will be enough of an attraction to bring more people over there... Doesn't make sense they didn't shoot for a E Locust facing location... plenty of store front space in the same building there.

Well from what the website says, this isn't a full store, it's a showroom. They have limited time they are open so I guess they wouldn't want a prime spot. They are only open Thurs-Sat - 10-5. If they decided to open a full store, I'm sure they would look for a better spot (I'm totally guessing on this).

what's a lululemon showroom?

Showrooms are all about spreading the lululemon love in communities that don’t have stores (yet). We open showrooms to share our culture, work with local athletes and provide a retail location that is unique to that area. During the week, we may host private parties, plan community events. Our showrooms act as local experts on where to find great yoga, pilates, fitness, or just plain good times in the neighbourhood.

Showrooms are only open part of the week so that we can be out in the community meeting our neighbours and participating in local yoga and fitness classes.

http://www.lululemon.com/stores/

[DMRyan]

This little gem along E. 6th Street should be getting renovated soon to house additional retail space, which is really at a premium in the East Village right now. It's a small building, but it's got a little character. Not sure of the details on any proposed tenants yet.

[dogbo]

^^ Good to hear. I have often wondered when that buidling would finally get utilized.

More news on this street -- from my understanding (and maybe someone has some solid info), the owner of Alba has scrapped plans to put in another restaurant in the space just north of the building in the photo above and will instead put in a retail shop of some sort.

[DMRyan]

That's what I've heard as well dogbo.

[casbern]

^^ Good to hear. I have often wondered when that buidling would finally get utilized.

I have it on good authority that this building is getting some interesting offers.

[DMRyan]

Lots of great smaller things happening in the East Village right now.

KCCI is reporting that a new "farm to table fine dining" restaurant called HOQ is slated to move into the old Baby Boomer's location. This is addition to the New World Cafe vegan restaurant opening up on E. Walnut Street.

A new shoe boutique called PeepToes is opening in the E5W project's commercial space as well. The always-empty 1st floor commercial space on the East Village Place building is getting filled with a vintage boutique and art gallery.

Lastly, two buildings are under renovation on E. 6th Street, which will create additional and much needed commercial bays (reported above).

Now, if only another large scale project could get traction in this neighborhood again...

[Ingersoll1978]

HOQ is open tonight for dinner. Regular lunch and dinner hours begin Monday. They are located in the old Baby Boomer's location.

http://hoqtable.com/

[Mastermind]

Whats with the name. Is that like HOQ a loogie?

[DMRyan]

It's the owner's last name, only the spelling is shortened/spelled differently for an easier restaurant name. I talked with the owners during the holiday promenade, and that was their explanation.

Doesn't look like many changes to the interior from the Baby Boomer's days, but the seasonaly changing menu looks great. It's definitely pricey, but that is to be somewhat expected based on their 'farm to table' concept.

[Ex-Chicago]

DMRegister article on New World Cafe

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20121127/LIFE/311280012/Everyone-welcome-at-New-World-Cafe?Frontpage&nclick_check=1

[DMRyan]

An article about developer Troy Hansen's vision for the East Village hints of a new mixed-use project at E. 6th Street and E. Walnut Street with 59 apartments and first floor commercial space. The only open corner is on the SE side of the intersection.

I'll wait to create a separate thread for this project when it gets more legs.


http://www.desmoinesregister.com/articl ... ?Frontpage

[Keepgrowingdsm]

I found this article very encouraging. He seems to have control over some very strategic pieces of property and the desire to do some nice projects. Ryan, is there a height restriction in the EV? The fantastic views of both the statehouse and DSM skyline from here would easily help market and lease living units in 10-15 story range buildings. I'm sure a building like the Plaza would be too tall but that would provide for even better views IMO.

[DMRyan]

There is a height restriction in the East Village, and it's called the Capitol Dominance Overlay District. It allows for buildings with residential to go up to 75 ft. in height. There have been a few minor exceptions over the years, but the City really doesn't seem to be interested in buildings tall enough to block views of the Capitol Building in this area.

[Keepgrowingdsm]

That makes sense. Thank you for the clarification.

[dogbo]

Racoon River Trading Co (or whatever the name is) appears to have already moved out of the old post office location on Walnut (were they there even 6 months?) over to where a store called "Silo" was for a short time. (this is just north of "Seed").

[casbern]

Racoon River Trading Co (or whatever the name is) appears to have already moved out of the old post office location on Walnut (were they there even 6 months?) over to where a store called "Silo" was for a short time. (this is just north of "Seed").

Interesting that they moved so quickly.

IMO, Silo didn't really offer anything unique. It felt very kitschy and not in a good way.