The Des Moines City Council tonight awarded a contract to OPN Architects, Inc for a feasibility study of the former Nationwide building at 1200 Locust Street. The Council’s action is the latest effort to consolidate government operations, upgrade facilities and enhance services. Council unanimously approved the OPN agreement which is not to exceed $528,000.
OPN Architects will conduct a workspace utilization study to determine departmental needs, develop a master use plan and estimate the costs of office design and renovations. The first phase of the feasibility study is expected to be completed in mid-2023.
City officials have said relocating government operations from five locations to the former Nationwide building would result in substantive benefits that include improved government efficiency, an upgrade of outdated and overcrowded facilities, a reduction in surplus downtown office space and the future economic development of two City buildings and vacant parcels located along the Des Moines River.
The agreed upon purchase price for the five-story, 360,000-square-foot office building is $30 million and represents a cost per square-foot of less than $90. Construction of new commercial office space in the Des Moines market is currently estimated at $300-$400 per square-foot. The City would also acquire a six-story 1,690-space parking ramp south of the former Nationwide building for $10.6 million, well below new construction costs in the metro.
The two City buildings targeted for closure include the headquarters of the Des Moines Police Department (constructed in 1918), and the Argonne Armory (built in 1934) which houses Development Services, Neighborhood Services, portions of Legal and Information Technology. Each building is located on the east side of the Des Moines River.
Personnel from the Human Resources Department in the Municipal Services Center and several undetermined departments located in City Hall could also be transferred.
For the past several years, City leadership has worked to address the needs for a larger, upgraded law enforcement center as well as a new administrative building for those departments crowded into the Argonne Armory and assigned off-site office space at Polk County River Place. The acquisition of the former Nationwide building would replace plans to build a $40 million administration annex east of City Hall along Robert D. Ray Drive while the estimate for a new DMPD headquarters was $160 million.
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