NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS: Des Moines pays $41.9 million for Fifth and Walnut parking garage
BY SARAH BOGAARDS | News Intern Wednesday, March 17, 2021 7:00 AM The sale of the troubled parking garage at Fifth Avenue and Walnut Street has been finalized.
The city of Des Moines paid Bankers Trust $41.9 million for the property, Polk County records show. The property includes the parking garage as well as three other commercial units.
Bankers Trust originally filed a foreclosure petition on the garage in September 2020 claiming 5th and Walnut Parking LLC and developers Justin and Sean Mandelbaum were in default on payments on a $48 million loan. Prior to foreclosure, the garage was set to be part of a $200 million multipiece development called the Fifth.
The city of Des Moines now officially owns an 11-story parking garage that s part of embattled project The Fifth, which was in foreclosure after the developers failed to pay a construction loan.
A $42 million purchase agreement was finalized last week, according to documents filed with the Polk County Recorder s Office. With this action, the foreclosure petition against the developers, brothers Justin and Sean Mandelbaum and their company, Mandelbaum Properties, has been dropped though legal wrangling over other, undeveloped land on the site continues.
The 751-stall garage, located on Fifth Avenue between Court Avenue and Walnut Street, was the first of three buildings, including a 40-story skyscraper and a three-story movie theater, planned for the landmark development.
Des Moines to buy garage at the Fifth, but legal battle with developers continues Thursday, February 4, 2021 11:13 AM
Des Moines Register: Des Moines will soon own an 11-story parking garage that is part of the embattled project the Fifth. A purchase agreement approved Wednesday by the City Council will free the city to enter into a new partnership for development of the landmark site, City Manager Scott Sanders said. What the agreement does not do, however, is end the legal battle between the city and the former developers, brothers Justin and Sean Mandelbaum.
Judge: City can buy downtown Des Moines parking garage Thursday, January 21, 2021 11:20 AM The city of Des Moines can purchase a beleaguered downtown parking garage located at Walnut Street and Fifth Avenue, a Polk County District Court judge has ruled.
The structure has been at the center of two court proceedings: a foreclosure petition and a claim by the parking garage’s original developers that the city reneged on its development agreement with them.
Earlier this month, the city offered to buy the 751-space garage for about $40.6 million. The purchase price is dependent on the final tabulation of interest and fees.
2020 CRE stories most popular with Business Record readers Wednesday, December 23, 2020 8:00 AM
The Greater Des Moines area was abuzz with activity related to commercial real estate in 2020, from the redevelopment of the Financial Center and opening of the Surety Hotel in what once was known as the Midland Building to an enclosed driving range planned for Copper Creek Golf Course to the purchase by Merle Hay Mall owners of the former Sears property.
Those however, weren’t the10 commercial real estate-related stories that were clicked the most online by Business Record readers.
Those stories, in descending order, were:
10. Construction begins on Zora, new Ingersoll Avenue establishment: The new bar and restaurant at 2120 Ingersoll Ave. is being developed by Ed Allen of Des Moines. He expects the establishment to open in March 2021.