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Commercial Real Estate Weekly | February 7, 2018
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Craig Fritzjunker in the offices of JTH Lighting Alliance, located in a warehouse he is renovating at 319 S.W. Fifth St. in Des Moines.
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A three-story warehouse is being renovated with little fanfare and no tax incentives along Southwest Fifth Street in Des Moines and, at least for now, that’s just the way owner and rehabber Craig Fritzjunker likes it.
Fritzjunker is creating a unique blend of office space, maybe with some room for restaurants and
other retail in a building that for years was known as a space for bands to practice.
“I would like to keep them just because it would be fun,” said Fritzjunker, an industrial designer who has had an ownership interest in the 97-year-old building since 2011 and became the sole owner in 2014 after buying out partner Andre DeLong, who at one time operated a furniture-building operation on the first floor.
As an industrial designer, Fritzjunker, whose own business is called the Junker Group, has designed a range of projects in Greater Des Moines, including the famed Meredith Corp. test kitchens.
His other works include exhibits, museum displays and retail shops. He is carrying on a family tradition, of sorts. Fritzjunker’s first experience with renovations was helping his parents rehab apartment buildings in Keokuk.
His labor of love is the warehouse. His sons help out on the project, but other than specialized help or mechanical replacements and repairs, this is Fritzjunker’s project.
To further the family connection, Fritzjunker’s wife would like him to design a condominium for the third floor.
Adding a residential unit would add too many complications to the project, he said.
The operation is being financed with a bank loan — secured after he was able to get tenants into finished spaces — and sweat equity.
If he had sought incentives from the city, he might not have been able to make all target dates typically called for in development agreements. He considered seeking a private investor, but decided he wanted to be his own boss.
“Basically, the only way
this happens is thousands of hours of sweat equity,” he said.
Fritzjunker and sons have replaced minuscule, light-limiting warehouse windows throughout the building with much larger windows that measure 5 by 8 feet. Loading docks are becoming entrances. A freight elevator will shuttle tenants to upper floors.
In many offices, hickory flooring covers concrete; drywall goes up in spaces where it is called for; debates ensue over rooms that would benefit from exposed brick.
Fritzjunker can offer potential customers a preview of future configurations via 3-D design programs.
Each floor, including the basement, is 8,000 square feet, ideal for smaller operations that appeal as much to Fritzjunker’s whimsy as to the needs of his business plan.
A second-floor restroom is ornamented with a velvet Elvis.
“I don’t want it to be too serious,” Fritzjunker said. So far as hitting hard deadlines, it can’t be too serious. He tries to
keep the racket, dust and general chaos of demolition to a minimum so he doesn’t disrupt other tenants.
One of those tenants is JTH Lighting Alliance, which has an office, showroom and demonstration space on the second floor. All of the furniture for the office was built in a first-floor shop where the entire space with its exposed beams and heating and ventilation systems recalls the building’s warehouse days. As further proof that the rehab is a work in progress, the JTH crew waited two years for windows to be replaced.
Fritzjunker is finishing space for a law firm. Other tenants include Garman Partners, a placement company in the
construction industry. Griffin Lander’s recording studio, the Establishment, has been in the building about seven years.
Exterior work has included moving power lines underground and construction of planters.
“I want it to fit the neighborhood,” which also includes Harbach Lofts, directly across the street to the west, and AP Lofts, a few industrial doors to the south.
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BY SUZANNE BEHNKE: The Business Record newsroom employs no fashion plates, other than News Operations Manager John Retzlaff (but that's a story for another day).
But we are observant journalists enough to
know that when we recently interviewed four experts on the local retail real estate sector, we were seeing some of the most fashionable ankles to visit the Depot on Fourth.
Well-heeled panelists included: Tim Leach, senior vice president of downtown development for the Greater Des Moines Partnership; Tyler Dingel, senior vice president with CBRE|Hubbell Realty; Christopher Stafford, senior vice president with NAI Optimum; and Jake Christensen, president and founder of Christensen Development.
These four opted for dandy prints of stripes and swirls and blue, artsy bubbles on a gray-blue pattern.
Senior Staff Writer Kent Darr and I showed up in classic brown and black cotton socks.
FYI: Not all journos bear boring foot coverings. Business Record Publisher Chris Conetzkey is known to sport some fine footwear under his shoes.
Another FYI: The sock-sy Annual Real Estate Magazine comes out in late April.
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MORE NOTEBOOK ITEMS: Read more Insider bits and bites of the finer side of Iowa business online.
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MEMBERSHIP EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Water Works Foundation raises $9M, prepares for initial park construction
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The Des Moines Water Works Park Foundation has raised more than $9 million in pledges for the initial phase of the recasting of Water Works Park -- a project that will include a two-sided stage, natural-material play areas, room for food trucks and outdoor classrooms. Read more
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LOCAL NEWS
Lossner a hall of famer
Justin Lossner, executive vice president for JLL’s Iowa office, has been named to the Midwest Real Estate News Hall of Fame. Lossner outlined the personality traits needed to be a successful commercial broker, including “being willing to work hard, having the ability to understand the market better than their peers. And, most importantly, the ability to establish genuine connections with clients.” Read more on Page 58 of the December/January edition of the publication. Lossner recently was named executive vice president and Marcus Pitts managing director of the JLL office. Both joined the international firm in March 2014.
R&R names top performers for 2017
R&R Real Estate Advisors has named Michael Malone, Adam Kaduce and Tom Gayman as the company’s top producing individual brokers of 2017. Senior Vice President Gayman was a top producer for industrial properties, with leases totaling nearly 158,000 square feet of R&R’s industrial portfolio. Vice President Kaduce leased 140,000 square feet of office space to earn the top office producer title. Michael Malone, manager of commercial real estate, received the Rainmaker award after adding 11 companies and 100,000 square feet to the R&R portfolio of office, flex, warehouse and retail space.
Waukee has opening on planning and zoning commission
Waukee residents interested in serving on the city’s planning and zoning commission have until Feb. 16 to apply for an open seat. Members of the commission are appointed by the City Council. The seven-member board considers rezoning, preliminary and final plans, site plans, and certain ordinance changes. The Waukee Public Library Board of Trustees also has an opening, with applications also closing on Feb. 16. Click here to apply for either position.
A new name and location for historic Des Moines architectural and engineering firm
Brooks Borg Skiles Architecture Engineering LLP has changed its name to BBS Architects | Engineers and moved to a building the firm designed for EMC Insurance Cos. at 219 Eighth St. BBS is in Suite 100. The firm has been located in downtown Des Moines for more than 120 years and over that time has changed its name and brand several times. Click here for more.
Bricker-Price open houses set for this weekend
With the $2.1 million restoration of the Bricker-Price Block completed in Earlham, open houses are set for Feb. 10 and 11. Gov. Kim Reynolds will attend an event that begins at 3 p.m. Feb. 10 and includes entertainment by jazz singer Max Wellman. Tickets, the few that remain, are available here. A public open house is set for 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 11. Chef David Baruthio of Baru 66 and Saison restaurants will have a cooking demonstration that includes canapes for sampling. Descendants of C.D. Bricker and W.J. Price, who built the twin buildings in 1900, will attend the dedication of the Bricker-Price Block. The restoration was spearheaded by Sharon Krause, who bought the adjoining buildings two years ago. The work was
financed by private and corporate donations, grants, local and county support, and state and federal historic tax credits. The adjoining buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places in January 2017. Through its 117 years, the site has served as everything from a telephone exchange, a beauty salon, second-story offices and apartments, and most recently as Montross Pharmacy. Plans for the buildings, now unified by large interior openings, include a restaurant on the first floor with an outdoor patio. Efforts to recruit a tenant are currently underway. The second floor is home to the Hadley Family Social Club, which includes some 2,000 square feet of refurbished space available for classes, entertainment, event rentals and other uses.
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SIGNED LEASE TRANSACTIONS
Tometich Inc., doing business as Two Men and a Truck, has leased 12,682 square feet of a 52,000-square-foot building under construction at 2699 104th St., Urbandale. Don Brown of Coldwell Banker represented the tenant and the building owner, DRA Properties LC.
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NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS
Kool Storage LLC paid $2.2 million on Feb. 5 to Des Moines Cold Storage Co. Inc. for nearly 195,000 square feet of warehouse space located on 7 acres at 800 New York Ave. and 2814 Seventh St., Des Moines.
Westown Properties LLC paid $9.4 million on Feb. 1 to Mark Anderson Properties LC for neighborhood shopping centers at 2651 100th St. and 2725 100th St., Urbandale. Westown Properties is managed by California investor Karr Field.
California-based Forselles II Partners LLC paid $1.8 million on Jan. 31 to Kimberley Commercial LLC for a retail and flex development at 6806 S.E. Bellagio Court, Ankeny.
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Have you seen our downtown development map? Click the map to the right to view it on our website, where you can zoom in and out and click the different icons to learn additional information about the projects. We'll be continuing to update the map with projects in the central business district as they
happen.
Have a project or an update that you'd like to see added to the map? Email kentdarr@bpcdm.com with details.
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FINANCIAL UPDATE
Click here for up-to-the-minute stock prices.
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