The first tenants of the newly reimagined Atlas Building were recently announced, taking the first steps in turning the former Wells Fargo office building in West Des Moines into a multi-tenant building that will feature a restaurant, event space and spa and salon.

WB Realty Co. hosted an open house at the building on Oct. 17 at 7001 Westown Parkway, giving tours of the redesigned space and introducing the first tenants who will occupy space in the six-story, 415,636-square-foot building. WB purchased the building from Wells Fargo for $16.5 million and began redesigning the space earlier this year, said Ryan Wiederstein, WB Realty owner.

“We just thought it was a good investment and there was only upside,” he told the Business Record during a tour of the building.

He said the Atlas Building is special because it provides quality Class A space for companies that are ready to “level up” their space.

“Value is there for tenants that want to get a fresh perspective on their office space,”  Wiederstein said. “This building will also feel like a community when people come in here.”

He said turning the building from single tenant to multi-tenant will cost “multimillions of dollars.”

While the newly designed space of the Atlas was on full display, the announcement of the new tenants was elevated during a presentation at the open house.

The restaurant and a 500-guest event center on the first floor will be operated by LaValle Hospitality Group, with Jana and Doug Van Polen opening a day spa and salon on the west end of the first floor. LaValle will also operate the lobby cafe.

The building will also feature a commercial-level fitness center, and is close to other amenities in the area, Wiederstein said.

“The location is second to none,” he said.

The second floor of the building, which is the ground floor, features a newly laid office space corridor with space on either side. Proposals are out for those spaces.

The east wing of the floor can accommodate spaces ranging from 3,500 square feet up to 14,000 square feet, while the west wing offers 31,000 square feet of office space.

Wiederstein said once leases for the second floor are signed, WB will move forward and duplicate the design on the third floor. The upper three stories will be left open to accommodate larger users, he said.

“This corridor [on the second floor] took us a couple of months to build out so we can accommodate something reasonable on time,” Wiederstein said. “I’m not going to take it out of play in case there’s a user that needs 30,000 square feet not divided. We can move as quickly as we need to, but there’s a method to the way this building needs to be brought back and make it multi-tenanted and not doing it all at once.”

Floor options include 72,000 square feet, or about 31,000 square feet for half floor designs. WB will remain flexible to accommodate users who need less space, with options ranging from 2,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet.

The building was built in 2000 and renovated in 2020 and 2021, when it received a new roof and had solar panels installed. It also has 100% generator backup, as well as a data center underground that Wiederstein said some users are looking at.

He said the building’s floor plate makes it ideal to convert to multi-tenant.

The building also has a lot of parking, four restrooms on each floor, five elevators and a freight elevator.

“There is a lot of nice infrastructure, and Wells Fargo did a great job taking care of this building,” Wiederstein said.

WB Realty worked with Bank Iowa on the project, which he said was important to him.

“We thought that was important to have a local lender that understands this market,” Wiederstein said.