The Lab apartments, which will be among tallest buildings in East Village, OK'd by Des Moines council

Philip Joens, Des Moines Register
·2 min read
Heart of America Group plans a seven-story mixed-use building at the northeast corner of East Sixth and East Walnut streets. It will be called The Lab.
Heart of America Group plans a seven-story mixed-use building at the northeast corner of East Sixth and East Walnut streets. It will be called The Lab.

The Des Moines City Council approved a plan Monday for a 75-foot-tall  apartment complex that will be one of the tallest buildings in the East Village.

Des Moines developer Heart of America Group proposed the $21.26 million apartment building known as The Lab after it purchased the 0.82 acre site at 317 E. 6th St. in 2017. The height of the building is the maximum allowed under the East Village's zoning code and will still allow views of the Iowa Capitol.

"We've been fantasizing about what great views you'd have on those upper floors — of both the downtown and the Capitol,"  Mike Whalen, Heart of America Group president and CEO, said previously. "We're just real fans of the whole East Village and the continued demand for people wanting to live there because it's cool."

Heart of America Group owns five office buildings in the East Village and built the AC Hotel at 401 E. Grand Ave., where it also owns and operates the top floor restaurant. The Lab will be its first multifamily development in downtown Des Moines.

More: Mixed-use building The Lab will be one of the tallest in Des Moines' East Village

There will be 110 units, with an average of 19 units on its residential floors. Each apartment will have a washer and dryer, 9-foot-tall ceilings and its own outdoor space. The seventh floor will have fewer, but larger, premium units. Heart of America Group committed to making 11 units eligible for an affordable housing program, according to a memo sent to council members.

A pool on the second floor will be visible from Walnut Street. About 4,000 square feet of commercial space will be on the ground level, primarily along East 6th Street.

"We want it to be something that the folks living in The Lab would say, 'Hey, that's a nice thing to have down there,'" Whalen said previously.

Heart of America Group plans a seven-story mixed-use building at the northeast corner of East Sixth and East Walnut streets. It will be called The Lab.
Heart of America Group plans a seven-story mixed-use building at the northeast corner of East Sixth and East Walnut streets. It will be called The Lab.

Construction is expected to begin this summer and be complete in late 2023.

Philip Joens covers public safety, city government and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-443-3347 at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens. 

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 75-foot-tall apartment building OK'd for Des Moines' East Village