Commission approves 78‑unit Market District condo with design exceptions; neighbors and at least one commissioner press on surface parking

The Des Moines City Plan and Zoning Commission on April 17 voted to approve multiple expedited type 2 design alternatives for a proposed six‑story, 78‑unit condominium/cooperative in the Market District at the intersection of East Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and Southeast Fourth Street.

Planning staff told the commission the project would add 78 residential units and one guest suite with enclosed basement parking and street‑facing elements. Jasmine Kamani, planning staff, described the request as a package of exceptions to apply to a large‑scale Market District development plan and enumerated the specific waivers sought: occupied‑space relief along the East MLK frontage, enclosed parking within the principal building where occupied space is normally required, allowances for surface service parking, lowered transparency on primary frontages and relief from the district’s build‑to requirements on two faces of the building.

Tim Ritmont, principal for District Developers LLC, and Ben Leithauser of Lifestyle Communities said the…