Demolition of the HighlandApartments is expected to begin in mid-July after items worth saving from the building are salvaged, an official said.

The Des Moines City Council this month approved a request to demolish the 108-year-old, three-story brick building at 3524 Sixth Ave. Local historical preservationists explored the economic feasibility of renovating the structure but concluded it would be too expensive.

Invest DSM, the owner of the property on which Highland Apartments is located, requested permission to raze the structure. The nonprofit group has proposed building a mixed-use project on the site that would include residential rental units and street-level commercial space.

Items being salvaged from the building include Murphy bed cabinets, trim, windows, doors and door hardware, newel posts, and possibly wood bookcases, said Amber Lynch, executive director of Invest DSM, a joint effort between the city of Des Moines and Polk County to expand revitalization efforts in the city’s neighborhoods.

The items will be stored until the proposed project’s developer can determine whether they can be used in the new building, Lynch said.

“If there’s items that can be incorporated, that’s great,” Lynch said. “If not, we’ll look to neighbors in the [Highland Park] area to see if they want any of the items.”

A developer for the proposed mixed-use project has not yet been selected. Invest DSM is working with Slingshot Architecture to put together a request for proposal that will be publicized later this summer, Lynch said. The deadline to submit proposals will be in midfall; a developer will likely be selected by the end of the year, she said.

In the meantime, the building will be demolished and the site cleared of debris. DeCarlo Demolition Co., located in Des Moines, has been selected to tear down the apartment building, remove bricks and other debris, and grade and seed the site, Lynch said. The cost to do that work is a little less than $200,000, she said.

Construction of the mixed-use project likely would not begin until late 2024 or early 2025, Lynch said. “Right now, we’re in the standard operating process. The excitement will come once we have proposals back and a developer selected.”

Related article: Highland Apartments ‘too expensive to renovate’