The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • A4

4A WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2020 THE DES MOINES REGISTER More online Get top news, top videos online at DesMoines Regis- ter.com and on your phone or tablet with the Register iPhone, iPad and Android apps. Go to DesMoi- nesRegister.com/Download for details. Actress Paula Prentiss Stepford is 82. Movie director Adrian Lyne is 79. Singer Chris Rea is 69.

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Describe the error, where you saw it, the date, page number, or the URL. Contact us Customer Service Newsroom Advertising Shannon Welch 515-284-8060 Obituaries 515-284-8141, option 2 Postal information The Des Moines Register, USPS is published Monday through Sunday at 400 Locust Street, Suite 500 Des Moines, IA 50309. Periodicals postage paid at Des Moines, IA 50309. Postmaster: Send address changes to Customer Service, PO Box 62670, San Angelo, TX 76906. Witte spoke at a recent Des Moines Planning and Zoning Commis- sion meeting in opposition of a proposed homeless shelter on East Euclid Avenue.

He shared concerns about privacy, safety and the loss of taxable property. is a he said of the group proposing the shelter. this gets on, guess what? Taxes are The shelter would be exempt from property taxes, meaning Des Moines and other local governments would miss out on the revenue. a microcosm of a greater issue fac- ing Des Moines: of the land is tax-exempt, putting a larger cost burden on the property owners who do pay tax- es. (Des Moines currently imposes the highest property tax rate in the metro.) A potential solution emerged ahead of last city elections: Des Moines could negotiate more payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) with the universities and churches.

Under the voluntary payments, would contribute a semi-substitute for their property taxes. During their campaigns, incumbent mayor Frank Cownie and challenger Jack Hatch said they would support the program. The extra money could help fund city initiatives and allow Des Moines to re- duce its property tax rate. think it seems right to have a con- versation, a community conversation, about said newly elected at-large Councilman Carl Voss, who supports looking into a larger PILOT program. The payments, however, are volun- tary.

None of Des are required to make them, and some of them often remind people around here: Over 90 cents of every dollar I spend is coming from students who are borrow- ing too much money and working too many part-time jobs to earn their de- said Kent Henning, president of Grand View University. the public discourse, there is this Could PILOTs ease local tax burden? would have option to pay Austin Cannon Des Moines Register USA TODAY NETWORK See NONPROFITS, Page 6A The former Reliable Rug Co. on Des Keosauqua Way may soon have new life as a retail and building under a planned $4.8 million historic renovation. West Des Moines-based Aust Real Estate hopes to start a rehabilitation of the diagonal structure this spring, re- opening it as commercial and retail space in 2021. The building, with its boarded-up windows and store- fronts and crumbling brick, is part of the gateway into downtown Des Moines one of the most traveled streets downtown and an area where development have focused over the last seven years.

Built between 1910 and 1928, the building at 1201 Keo Way actually a grouping of three connected struc- tures known as the Ferrington Block has been vacant for decades. Several developers have proposed projects there but none have gone as far as Aust Real plans, said Ryan the economic development coor- dinator. personally think of a better candidate for historic renovation said. thrilled with the continued interest in the reuse of this The building sits at a diagonal, in 1920 when Keosauqua Way was constructed directly through it. A portion of the building was removed to accommodate the street.

It was home to the Reliable Rug and Carpet Cleaning Co. until the company closed in the mid-1980s. Ferrington Block is named after the longtime owner, Emma Owens Ferring- ton, who was widely known as one of the most accomplished business- women. She took over ownership of the rug business when her husband died in 1899. Ferrington moved the business from Fort Des Moines on the south side to Keo Way when the building was constructed.

generations of women ran this thing and grew it at time when it was not the best time to be a female business said Matt Aust, who owns Aust Real Estate with his wife, Mindy Aust, the architect. a fascinating The Austs plan to restore the boarded-up windows and storefronts along Keo Way and 12th Street, put back an original skylight and install histori- cally relevant carriage doors. A land- scaped terrace will occupy the corner of Keo Way and Crocker Street, where the team is considering an outdoor cafe. They envision leasing the space for or retail, and could accommo- date restaurants, too. An apartment is planned for the southernmost corner of the second where the space had been used as living quarters since the building opened.

The renovation will include an up- grade of the mechanical and HVAC systems, all-new windows, con- struction of a new elevator and asbestos removal. super excited to bring it back to its creative Mindy Aust said. Aust Real Estate is working with the State Historic Preservation for historic state and federal tax credits. Des Moines has agreed to give the de- velopers a tax increment package equal to about $505,000 of the costs. Given the the city believes it would be nearly impossible to build something new there, making a historic rehabilitation with as- sistance the best option.

site is located on a highly visible and prominent gateway into down- wrote in a memo to the Urban Design Review Board, which ap- proved the project on Tuesday. the building rehabilitated and put back into productive use will make cant progress with cleaning up the Keo Way corridor, and will help stabilize a corner that would otherwise be very dif- to redevelop due to the unique shape and limited lot land area of the The building is assessed at $90,700 and is expected to increase to about $1.3 million when the project is complete. Kim Norvell covers growth and devel- opment for the Register. Reach her at or 515-284-8259. Follow her on Twitter DMR.

The former Reliable Rug Co. on Des Keosauqua Way may soon have new life as a retail and office building under a planned $4.8 million historic renovation. RENDERING COURTESY OF MA ARCHITECTURE $4.8 million renovation planned for former Reliable Rug Co. site Kim Norvell Des Moines Register USA TODAY NETWORK A single word is at the center of an argument over the future of a historic Valley Junction building. The West Des Moines Business In- cubator really an Gravitate Coworking CEO Wood told West Des Moines city at a workshop following council meeting.

The name the original mission to launch and grow small busi- nesses, but the model has changed in the last decade and is now focused on educating and connecting local entre- preneurs, he said. one is a tenant of the incubator as it was in he said. it is more active and helps more small busi- nesses grow than it ever did before. That word, has caused a lot of consternation around a really good The distinction is important be- cause West Des Moines taxpayers sub- sidize the rent at 318 5th St. in Valley Junction for the incubator, which is and managed by Grav- itate Coworking, a company where freelancers, remote workers or startups pay memberships in exchange for space, community, and collaboration.

Gravitate has another location at 500 Locust St. in downtown Des Moines. The current lease will expire at the end of June and the West Des Moines chief wants to move his ad- ministrations into the city-owned building, which previously operated as the city hall from 1954 until the 1993 Fire Chief Craig Leu noted at Mon- workshop that at least one station needs major renovations and said it would cost about $500,000 to move and emergency management Future of business incubator is at risk lease up soon; taxpayers subsidize rent Shelby Fleig Des Moines Register USA TODAY NETWORK See INCUBATOR, Page 6A A story headlined Boy burned by on 2A in the Feb. 29 Des Moines Register should have stated that Kristina Jennex is 28 years old. CORRECTION.