Three Des Moines neighborhoods – Union Park, North of Grand and Woodland Heights – will join Invest DSM as Special Investment Districts in 2025, a move that will allow the neighborhoods to access revitalization grants.

The Des Moines City Council last week approved a recommendation to adopt the districts.

“We are excited to expand our geographic footprint to serve more of Des Moines,” Amber Lynch, Invest DSM’s executive director, said in a prepared statement.

Invest DSM, which was launched in mid-2019, is a joint effort between the city of Des Moines and Polk County to expand revitalization efforts in the city’s neighborhoods. The program began in four neighborhoods – Columbus Park, Drake, Franklin and Highland Park/Oak Park.

Since the start of the program, more than 825 residential and commercial projects have been completed, according to Invest DSM. The projects included renovations and new construction. In addition, more than $24.5 million has been invested in the neighborhoods through grant programs and $18.6 million in investments have been made by the private sector.

Neighborhoods that are part of Invest DSM can access resources for 10 years.

Development of revitalization plans for the new special investment districts is expected to begin this spring, according to information provided to the council. Approval of the plans is expected to occur in spring 2025.

The Union Park invest district, roughly between Arthur and Washington avenues and Saylor Road/Pennsylvania Avenue and East 14th Street, includes 885 parcels. Eleven percent of the properties are rentals, city documents show. Just 7% of the area’s properties are in good or excellent condition; 30% are in poor or very poor condition. The rest – 63% – are in average condition.

The North of Grand and Woodland Heights investment district is roughly between Interstate Highway 235 and Ingersoll Avenue and 42nd Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. The area includes 1,437 parcels. Ten percent of the parcels are vacant and 13% are rentals. City documents show that 24% of the area’s residential properties are in good or excellent condition and 14% are in poor or very poor condition. The remaining 62% are in average condition.

Related articles:
Hundreds of Des Moines properties aided by Invest DSM programs
Invest DSM is helping to stabilize neighborhoods by buying rentals