An apartment building on 28th Street between Ingersoll and Grand avenues is being demolished to make room for a 49-stall parking lot.

The city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment gave its approval of the site last fall for use as a parking lot, saying it meets the requirements of the mixed-use zoning that is in place in the neighborhood.

Documents say the parking lot would serve a business across the street at 515 28th St., where parking is “deficient.” Documents don’t identify the business, but an online address search shows that address is home to Chain and Spoke, a bike repair and coffee shop.

Randy Reichardt, owner of RWR Development LLC, acquired the building at 515 28th St. in 2020, and spent about $2.5 million to improve the 12,000-square-foot building, which originally housed a lithograph printing business. It had sat vacant for several years and was on the city’s list of nuisance properties.

Now, Reichardt and RWR Development, operating as Spot 515 LLC, want to create more off-street parking in the neighborhood.

Spot 515 purchased the three-story apartment building in May 2024 for $650,000, according to the Polk County assessor’s website. It was built in 1917. The assessor’s website listed the building in below-normal condition.

In its decision, the zoning board wrote that the parking lot would not increase congestion or flooding in the area, or have a detrimental effect on nearby property values as long as it complies with current city code requirements.

The parking lot must also be available for public parking after regular business hours. It also must have a fence buffer and landscaping in accordance with city code.

According to the board’s order, the parking lot must be completed within two years of the board’s decision.

Cody Christensen, director of development services for the city, said in an email that as long as the parking lot conforms to the zoning requirements that are already in place, it only needed approval by the Zoning Board of Adjustment and no further action by the city, either by the Planning and Zoning Commission or City Council, would be needed.