Commission approves redevelopment of 1601 Sixth Avenue, including renovated historic town hall and new residential building

The Des Moines Plan and Zoning Commission approved an amendment for property near 1601 Sixth Avenue that clears the way for renovation of a historic two‑story town hall into ground‑floor retail and a food hall with housing above, and for construction of a new three‑story residential building on the parcel.

Planning staff said the project would retain and renovate the 1890-era town hall at the corner and build a three‑story structure to the north, with parking accessed from College Avenue. "The proposed project is, 2 buildings," Planning staff member Jillian Sommer said during the public hearing. The new building would include a ground‑floor food hall and assembly space, with 24 residential units in the new building and five units in the restored historic structure, according to materials presented to the commission.

The project required a Type 2 design alternative because the site is zoned MX1, which anticipates a single storefront building. Sommer said staff supported the alternative and recommended approval subject to compliance with administrative review comments.

The applicant's team told the commission they had met multiple times with neighbors and neighborhood groups. "We've talked to Sixth Avenue Corridor, which is responsible for economic development. We just had a meeting with a couple of the neighbors just listening to concerns," the applicant's representative said. Doug Saltskaver of CGA Consultants, the project's engineer, told the commission landscaping and buffering concerns could be addressed through species selection and placement. "We don't see any issues with that," he said.

Several neighbors said they backed preserving the historic town hall but asked the developer and staff to put unresolved agreements in writing. Mike Bridal, who lives on College Avenue, said neighbors want assurances on a privacy fence, taller screening trees along a roughly 75‑foot eastern boundary, and clarification on the trash enclosure. "We've got 29 apartments and, and 3 food business, 3 restaurant businesses that will all be putting their trash into that 6 foot container," Bridal said, asking that trash access and placement be resolved.

Applicant representatives said they would continue to work with forestry and neighbors on buffering, install a monitored security camera system for parking, and explore relocation or redesign of the trash enclosure to address access and litter concerns. "If there's a solution or an idea that can be found just through conversations with our neighbors, yes. We will definitely, definitely take that on," the applicant's representative said.

Commissioners weighed the public input and the fact the project was largely allowed by right except for the design alternative. One commissioner noted site plan review and code requirements would address trash enclosure and fencing details at the administrative stage. The commission voted to approve staff's recommendation, with the record reflecting that the site plan review process will include neighborhood input on final landscaping, fence screening and trash enclosure location.

The approval authorizes the developer to proceed with the design alternative and move forward to the administrative site plan and building permit stage, subject to standard administrative review and the conditions noted by staff.

Neighbors and the applicant will continue negotiations on specific mitigation items during the administrative site plan review; the commission recorded the vote as an approval of staff's recommendation.