Equitable Building celebrates 100 years in Des Moines' skyline, with gnomes, skywalk access

While most 100-year-old office buildings would be considered outdated or near the end of their life cycle, the iconic Equitable Building may be just getting started.

The first high-rise built in Iowa, the Equitable was constructed in 1924 to house the Equitable of Iowa insurance company. It stood as the state’s tallest building for nearly 50 years at 19 stories, topped with an additional four-story tower. Though it began as offices, the Equitable got a new lease on life when Kansas City, Missouri-based developer Foutch Brothers finished converting the building to apartments in 2016.

Now, in a downtown where office vacancies sit at 14%, CBRE data shows, the aging Equitable is bustling with activity as a residential property.

"(The Equitable) should be its own zip code," said assistant building manager Christina Freylack. "It's special. There's so many things that you can't get in new construction here."

Those unique features include the stone gnomes that strain to hold the building up, original terrazzo floors and porthole-like windows. Another factor is skywalk access, making the building a hubbub of activity as early lunchgoers dart between Potbelly sandwich shop and the newly opened Bussin' Eggrolls with to-go bags in hand.

In the eight years since the Equitable's conversion was completed, artists, nurses, interns and entire families have come to call it home.

"It's fantastic. It's right in the core," said Justin Lossner, senior managing director at JLL Brokerage. "There's demand wherever people live, and people live downtown."

The Equitable's unique history: A Gothic Revival landmark

The Equitable Building was constructed in 1923 to house the company, founded in 1867 by a group that included Des Moines business pioneer F.M. Hubbell and Hoyt Sherman, namesake of Sherman Hill. Said to be the first insurance company west of the Mississippi, Equitable was sold in 1997 to a Dutch conglomerate.

The Equitable was designed by signature Des Moines architecture firm Proudfoot Bird & Rawson and built by A.H. Neumann Co. It remained Iowa's tallest until the neighboring 25-story Financial Center's construction in 1973.

These days, the Equitable is more well-known for its Gothic Revival exterior and medieval details. Its white cupola, which houses a water tank, is immediately recognizable in the downtown Des Moines skyline.

More: Des Moines' Financial Center latest office tower slated for apartments. See the others.

While the building wasn't converted from office space into residential units until 2016, the project had been the subject of talks since 2003, when late real estate developer Bob Knapp began renovating the building into condos . Before he could finish, he was accused of illegal asbestos removal and was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison.

Knapp was released in 2014 and died in an apparent suicide a few weeks later .

Foutch Brothers eventually completed the work after selling a portion of the project to Block Real Estate Services, which manages the building to this day. Foutch paid just $460,000 for the structure in 2012.

The Equitable now houses 146 high-end apartment units and a single condo, the only one Knapp completed and sold. It covers much of the 19th floor, with the remainder occupied by an apartment that once served as the floor model for the condo. It's still occupied by its original owner, former Pioneer Hi-Bred Chair Charles "Chuck" Johnson and his wife.

“It’s beautiful,” Foutch Brothers co-owner Shawn Foutch told the Register in 2016 . "That’s why we didn’t buy it back from him — it would cost way more than we paid for the building.”

Tenants stay for the building's charm, not the amenities

When Foutch Brothers embarked on renovating the Equitable, the company decided to build a rooftop patio to help the property stand out in downtown's increasingly crowded rental market .

Since then, the R&T Lofts, Flux and Confluence on 3rd have opened — all with more amenities than the Equitable.

But what it lacks in the form of a game room, pool or gathering space, the Equitable seeks to make up for in hospitality. A single apartment is kept vacant as a short-term rental for residents to reserve for visiting friends or family members. The leasing office doubles as a community room, which can be used for group dinners or parties. Pets are welcome at the Equitable, where dog owners make use of a third-floor pet lawn.

And, due to its former life as an office building, 18 inches of concrete separate each floor. Noise complaints about upstairs or downstairs neighbors are nearly nonexistent, Freylack said.

Another popular perk at the Equitable: Tenants can paint and hang their decor with nails. That was "huge" for Carol Maher, one of the many tenants who have hired designers to decorate their abodes. Maher, a retiree, moved to the 100-year-old building from a 100-year-old house on Polk Boulevard that was getting to be too big for her.

"Those sterile white boxes, gray rooms... oh, no," she said of other apartment buildings. "And I have a lot of art that I've accumulated over the years. I had a designer help me figure out what furniture would fit, and the rest I sold on Facebook Marketplace."

Jordan Locke, the Equitable's service manager, was hired last March. By April, he had moved in and was painting his walls black, red and blue. Locke has since decorated in his own style.

"I call my style ultra-contemporary mid-modern," he said. "The shapes are mid-mod, but then you got the colors which make it more contemporary. I kind of mix everything up."

Freylack believes that one of the reasons the Equitable's residents put so much work into their spaces is that they tend to stick around. Some of them have been there since the building first opened as apartments. There's a family who have lived there for six years and recently moved their grandmother into her own unit. Their son also plans to get an apartment in July. In total, four family members will be living in the building.

"We're competing, sometimes, with District at 6th. District at 6th is adorable, but you have all the noise from Court Avenue. Do they have a pool? Yes, but it can only be used for how many months?" Freylack said. "It's the second stage of adulting. That's what we get here, people that are serious about living."

Commercial space rebounding at the Equitable, broker says

Only one of the Equitable's five ground-level commercial spaces is currently unoccupied. Bussin' Eggroll and Rice Co. opened this month near the building's Locust Street entrance. Lossner said that when Foutch Borthers renovated the building, it gutted the first and second floors, leaving JLL Brokerage a "clean slate" to market to premier, national retailers.

JLL was tasked to find tenants that would be attractive to the Equitable's upstairs residents.

"When we took on the assignment initially, the goal for the ownership team was to really amenitize the first and second floor for the building and for the neighborhood," Lossner said.

Previously: Why didn't Equitable Building burn like Younkers?

Potbelly took over the corner spot at Locust and Sixth, the building's trademark storefront that had long been the home of Joseph Jewelers. DGX, Dollar General's urban neighborhood-market-style shop, moved in, as well as Verizon, though it has since been replaced with Roman Express Cafe.

A 2,400-square-foot space is currently vacant, though Lossner said several groups have expressed interest. He's still hoping to attract something that residents would otherwise have to drive to a strip center to find, like a spa or a nail salon.

"The goal is to provide the standard services you see in a neighborhood," he said. "We've reserved in a little, but keeping our eyes peeled for the next big user."

Staff expect Equitable to stay competitive in downtown rental market

Nearly 1,400 apartment units are expected to be built in downtown Des Moines over the next two years. Two projects will closely neighbor the Equitable, including the Financial Center's 15-floor conversion and Foutch and Block's own project to turn Two Ruan into a residential building .

Despite it all, Freylack expects the Equitable to continue to stay leased. Its pricing is competitive for the spacious one and two-bedroom units it offers, she said, and repairs are done quickly thanks to the Equitable's fully staffed maintenance team.

Or maybe residents come back for the stone dragons they can see watching over the building's exterior — the elements of whimsy they can find only in a 100-year-old building.

"It all depends what your needs are, and what really is feeling special. Everyone who is drawn to this is loving it, and they're happy," Freylack said.

Addison Lathers covers growth and development for the Des Moines metro. Reach her at 608-931-1761 or alathers@registermedia.com, and follow her on X at @addisonlathers.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Equitable Building celebrates 100 years in Des Moines' skyline, with gnomes, skywalk access