Business Record Daily PM 11.16.20

Nearly $1.1 million invested in Des Moines neighborhoods through new program

By Kathy A. Bolten | Senior Staff Writer

A block challenge grant program spearheaded by the nonprofit Investment DSM has resulted in nearly $1.1 million of investment in four Des Moines neighborhoods, the City Council learned today.

Specifically, property owners in the Franklin, Drake, Columbus Park and Oak Park/Highland Park neighborhoods this year invested $660,360 in their properties, said Amber Lynch, executive director of Invest DSM, which invested an additional $437,929.

"The block challenge grant has been a wildly successful program," Lynch told the council during a virtual workshop today. The interest in the program "blew us away."

Lynch said her goal this year was to have at least 50 properties included in the grant program. Instead, 240 properties took part. The average investment per property was $4,576, she said.
Invest DSM is a nonprofit group created in 2019 by the city of Des Moines and Polk County to strengthen and revitalize the city’s neighborhoods.

The block challenge grant is one of four programs Invest DSM currently operates or will soon offer. Other programs include homeowner renovation, which is targeted at large projects; developer rehabilitation and new construction; and a commercial grant program that will be operational by late December, Lynch said.

Invest DSM plans to add a renovation program for new homebuyers and a program for rental single-family houses and multifamily, she said.

The challenge grant is for exterior improvements and is a matching grant of up to $2,500. One of the program’s rules is that several neighbors must participate in the program to receive the matching money.

If several property owners at a time make improvements, an entire block is affected, rather than just one parcel, Lynch has said previously.

Part of the grant program’s success can be attributed to property owners spending more time at home this year because of the pandemic, Lynch said. "They looked around at the improvements that they’ve been [waiting to do] for years, and we gave them just that little bit of incentive to get going on them."

The exterior improvements, which included installing new garage doors, replacing crumbling sidewalks and driveways, painting houses and garages, and adding new windows and doors, would likely not have happened without the program, Lynch said.

"I think people would have spent [their money] on a vacation, or a new TV or paying off bills," she said.

A look at investment by neighborhood

Columbus Park
Block challenge grant: 10 participants; total investment of $52,636.
Homeowner renovation program: Six applications; three projects approved.
Development activity: Seven properties acquired; six demolitions completed; one rehab project planned for next year.

Drake
Block challenge grant: 79 participants; total investment of $349,279.
Homeowner renovation program: 15 applications; four projects approved.
Development activity: Three properties acquired; one rehab project in progress and two planned for next year.

Franklin
Block challenge grant: 138 participants; total investment of $642,999.
Homeowner renovation program: 59 applications; 12 projects approved.
Development activity: Two projects underway.

Oak Park/Highland Park
Block challenge grant: 13 participants; total investment of $53,373.
Homeowner renovation program: Four applications.
Development activity: Six properties acquired; two demolitions pending; two rehab projects underway.

U.S. Bank has appointed veteran Des Moines banker Bob Weiss as one of three leaders nationally to head community banking within the company’s Consumer and Business Banking team. Weiss has been named regional executive for U.S. Bank’s Community Central Division, which covers the Upper Midwest and Great Plains. He will be responsible for driving growth and creating strategies to bring "one U.S. Bank experience to all customers," the Minneapolis-based bank said in a press release. Weiss, who has worked for the bank 31 years, was division president for Iowa and will continue to be based out of Des Moines. The new regional division he will oversee includes Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and a limited number of locations in border communities in Wyoming and Illinois. He will lead community banking for U.S. Bank with regional executives Liesl Schmidt in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Bill Jones in Paducah, Ky., who will head the West and East divisions, respectively. Together, they will lead 1,000 branch offices and 8,600 employees located in nonmetropolitan communities throughout U.S. Bank’s 26-state footprint. The new leadership structure follows the previously announced retirement of the current head of community banking, Mark Jorgenson, who will retire in December. The new division managers will report directly to Tim Welsh, vice chair of Consumer and Business Banking.

DART adds route to Amazon fulfillment center
The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority has changed several of its routes, including extending Local Route 17 to the Amazon fulfillment center in Bondurant. The agency, referred to as DART, also announced it was adjusting schedules to Local Route 4 and Express Route 98. The changes went into effect Sunday, according to a news release. As part of the changes, Local Route 17 will continue on Adventureland Drive to Northeast 72nd Street, where buses will turn onto Northeast 62nd Street and continue to the Amazon facility. Several stops are included along the route. Although a date for the center to open has not been announced, hiring began last month. DART also changed schedules for Local Route 4, with a bus leaving from the DART Central Station to Ankeny at 5:25 a.m. Previously the first bus leaving downtown to Ankeny was Route 9, which would board at 5:57 a.m. at Locust Avenue and Seventh Street. Schedule information can be found here.

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This time I made it home before the storm hit. Living with two years of motherly guilt for being at work and not by my son’s side during an EF-3 tornado, I was relieved to delegate office safety during the August derecho.

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Watch the video and hear for yourself the insights into Greater Des Moines recently offered by James Chung, a data analyst who advises cities on their strengths, weaknesses, and challenges. The takeaways will be discussed by leaders for months to come as the region seeks to become more resilient, including his challenge to continue investing in the region coming out of a recession and to focus on diversifying the population. FULL ARTICLE >

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