University of Phoenix Moves Downtown

[dsmspence]

GREAT NEWS! This will look great on street level next door to BNIM's awesome space... Man, the BOfA Building is taking names...

http://www.rejournals.com/2012/06/21/te ... occupancy/

Terrus Real Estate Group, LLC/TCN Worldwide in Des Moines, Iowa, recently closed several leases on behalf of Chicago-based Bridge Investments, owner of the Bank of America Building in downtown Des Moines.
Bill Wright and TJ Jacobs represented the owner in the lease negotiations at the building.
The latest lease was one for more than 9,000 square feet on street level to the University of Phoenix. The University of Phoenix plans to use the new office for classroom and administrative office space.

[DMRyan]

Great, now we finally have that long sought-after major university for downtown!

I tell you, things with development are really starting to move again. Perhaps we will have more to talk about on here over the coming months.

[dogbo]

^^maybe I missed it, but where are they moving from? Somewhere on Westown Pkway?

[DMRyan]

I think this is a secondary location and not a replacement of their Westown Parkway space. I would've rather have seen a few notable restaurants or a pub on the first floor, but any additional activity that we can get in the core is something to take.

This building flies under the radar so much, it's amazing that it's 90 percent occupied, and that's without BOA really having much of a presence in DSM.

[dsmspence]

That's true, it is very under the radar. Has BOfA always been the main tenant of it? Is that it's original name?

[DMRyan]

According to Emporis.com, this building was originally built for Central National Bank. It's 280 ft. tall and was built in 1966. I remember seeing pictures of the building from the 80's and 90's with a rooftop sign for Interstate Bank and Boatman's Bank--both I believe were merged with BOA.

[wmjindsm]

Boatman's was purchase by NationsBank which then merged with BankAmerica which became Bank of America.

[dogbo]

I think this is a secondary location and not a replacement of their Westown Parkway space. I would've rather have seen a few notable restaurants or a pub on the first floor, but any additional activity that we can get in the core is something to take.

This building flies under the radar so much, it's amazing that it's 90 percent occupied, and that's without BOA really having much of a presence in DSM.

Actually, according to Register article, this is a move (rather then second location):

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/ ... us/article

[DMRyan]

Excerpts from an article on the opening of the University of Phoenix from the DSM Business Record:

New location: University of Phoenix

The University of Phoenix downtown campus is housed on the ground floor in the Bank of America Building.

Moving downtown was a no-brainer for the University of Phoenix’s Greater Des Moines campus.

The for-profit university recently opened its new location on the first floor of the Bank of America Building, 317 Sixth Ave., replacing its old campus at 6600 Westown Parkway in West Des Moines.

“We’re so excited about the move downtown because we have over 70,000 professionals in the downtown area,” said Christine Williams, the school’s Iowa campus director. “And of those 70,000 professionals, they’re really our targeted audience.”

The campus now serves about 100 students who take a class one night a week, and the facility is open to students taking online-only classes. All on-campus degrees offered are in business and management.

A student resource center provides access to computers and offices for students to meet and work in. The campus also has three classrooms, which are designed to be “light, bright and open,” Williams said.

She hopes to grow the number of students enrolled in classes downtown, although she wouldn’t put an exact figure on the goal. However, if the university outgrows the 8,300-square-foot space, there is room to expand on the second floor of the building.

“We are definitely ingrained in the fabric of the revitalization of the downtown area,” Williams said.

http://www.businessrecord.com/Content/H ... /799/56947