Beal | Derkenne at work on Iowa City high-rises

/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/BR_web_311x311.jpeg
Beal | Derkenne Construction has started work on the $100 million Rise apartment and hotel project in Iowa City.
 
Andy Beal, co-owner of the six-year-old Des Moines-based general contractor, estimated that, at 572,000 square feet, the high-rise project is “one of the largest, if not the largest (in terms of square footage) multi-family mixed-use projects currently under construction throughout the state of Iowa.”
 
It might be the biggest project under construction in the state, but Beal noted that in Arizona, where the company also has an office, “this is what we do all day long; this is our bailiwick.”
 
The near downtown Iowa City project consists of two towers, one 14 stories, the other 15 stories, one a 320-unit residential building and the other a 152-room hotel that will carry the Hyatt Place flag. The project includes 6,000 square feet of retail space and 25,000 square feet of Class A office space.
 
Chicago-based CA Ventures is the developer, selected after Iowa City issued a request for proposals for a site it acquired in 2008.
 
CA Ventures paid $5.5 million for the property and agreed to provide another $1 million to the city for the construction of affordable housing elsewhere in the city, while also setting aside 10 percent of the residential units at the Rise for low-income housing. There were no city incentives for the project, which is expected to be completed in July 2018.
 
CA Ventures will seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification for the residential tower and LEED Silver for the hotel.
 
Beal | Derkenne is no stranger to CA Ventures, which has piqued some interest and raised some hackles in Des Moines development circles after making what it said was a backup offer for development of the former Riverfront YMCA site in downtown Des Moines. City officials currently are negotiating a development plan for the site with Hubbell Realty Co.
 
JJ Smith, chief marketing officer for CA Ventures affiliate CA Student Living, said the Rise is the sixth project on which the two companies have collaborated, representing $300 million in development projects in Tucson and Tempe, Ariz., Lincoln, Neb., Gainesville, Fla., and Iowa City.