7 Brew Coffee, credit union to move in near former Price Chopper on Merle Hay Road

It's out with the old and in with the new at the Haymarket Square shopping center on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines, just east of Urbandale.

A 7 Brew Coffee store and GreenState Credit Union branch will move in where the Price Chopper gas station once stood. Demolition of the gas station began last week — two years after the supermarket's lease at the center expired and it closed permanently . The building has been vacant ever since.

While GreenState won't open until next year, Arkansas-based 7 Brew could have a pre-fab coffee stand built and delivered to the site early this fall. The drive-thru-only cafe, which has locations in Ankeny and Clive , offers Italian sodas, infused energy drinks, smoothies and teas alongside a wide selection of iced and hot espresso-based coffee beverages.

"They're a very fast-growing chain and they have plans to expand further," said Scott Lipovac, managing principal of Score Development.

Score purchased Haymarket Square last December for $16.5 million. The aging shopping center's main strip still houses an Office Depot store and Genesis Health Club's Merle Hay location.

Lipovac said he's currently in negotiations with a couple different retailers to fill the detached Price Chopper building at the south end of the nearly half-mile long center. The space is just over 61,000 square feet.

"A lot of people are interested to see what goes in there," Lipovac said. "But we don't have an announcement to make yet."

Out-of-state groups partnered to spruce up Haymarket Square

Kansas City-based Score acquired the shopping center with plans to modernize its storefronts, similar to the renovation of its other Des Moines metro property, Westowne Shopping Center at 1400-1650 22nd St. in West Des Moines . Score partnered with Block Real Estate Services, another Kansas City-area group, to get the job done.

"What we focus on is bringing life to tired shopping centers that can perform better with capital improvements and new ownership," Lipovac said.

The Polk County Assessor's Office values the collection of parcels that make up the shopping center at over $24.4 million. In addition to the former Price Chopper and strip mall, they include restaurants El Patron Authentic Mexican Cuisine and Buffalo Wild Wings in parking lot outbuildings.

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As Score brings in new tenants for the available portions of the strip near Office Depot, Lipovac said, renovations will take place to the center's outdated exterior and signage. Westowne Center got a similar treatment, and landed a new anchor tenant, Floor & Decor , to replace its closed Gordmans store.

"Asethetically, Westowne looked very similar to what Haymarket looks like today," Lipovac said, referring to the green trim and roofing Haymarket Square still has. "We came in (and) squared up those facades."

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.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 7 Brew Coffee, credit union to move in near former Price Chopper on Merle Hay Road