Lou Rizzuti, owner of Artistic Iron Works, is selling land he owns in an area local residents call the east bottoms, along the confluence of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers near the Market District redevelopment area.

He said he hopes to not only open opportunities for further economic development in downtown Des Moines but also leave a piece of his family’s legacy behind.

Rizzuti said the time is right for him to sell the property as he begins plans for retirement.

“It will be an emotional thing for me, but I know it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “I don’t want to stifle development.”

Rizzuti, 68, is working with brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield to sell the nearly 10 acres of land he has accumulated over the years. Two of the parcels are bordered by East Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway to the north and East Fifth Street on the east, with the river being the western border and Scott Avenue to the south. The third parcel is south of Scott Avenue between East Fourth and Fifth streets.

Rizzuti’s family business, which does custom commercial and residential iron work, sits among the parcels at 519 S.E. Fourth St. It was founded by his father, Dominic, who passed away in 2011, and his uncle, Sam, who passed away in 2023.

The original business was located in a small shop on Hartford Avenue near Indianola Road and later moved to its current location in the early 1980s.

As the years passed, they continued to acquire neighboring property with thoughts of future expansion.

“As property became available, I just started buying it, and it took me 35 to 40 years to assemble it all,” Rizzuti said.

A lot of old houses that were built in the mid-late 1800s that were located on the land have been torn down. An old church remains, which Rizzuti said he has continued to rent to various congregations over the years.

“That was an unusual purchase for me to own a church,” Rizzuti said with a laugh. “But it’s been a church ever since.”

There have also been a variety of other service and manufacturing businesses in the area over the years.

There are approximately 20 individual parcels included in the property that is being sold. Lot sizes range from 1 to 9 acres.

According to Rizzuti, the two northern parcels have already been rezoned by the city as downtown riverfront development, which would allow mixed-used development. The third, southern parcel is zoned industrial.

Its proximity to the Market District redevelopment project and the ICON Water Trails projects along the river makes it prime for redevelopment, said Christopher Stafford, senior vice president at Cushman & Wakefield.

“It’s a strategic piece in the growth of that area, there are a ton of amenities, the views are spectacular, you have some of these ICON Water Trails and this new activation of the rivers,” Stafford said.

Projects adjacent to the site that are underway are the Two Rivers Park, a 9-acre park being developed by MidAmerican Energy Co., and the Scott Avenue site of ICON Water Trails.

“These two amenities are game changers for the district and will become instant metro attractions,” Stafford said.

He said there has been interest in the properties, so a call for offers has been issued with a July 25 deadline.

The preference would be to sell all of the land to one buyer, but Rizzuti is open to offers, Stafford said.

“I think there’s flexibility,” he said. “We’re going to entertain all offers coming on July 25. We know groups are looking at all of it. We know groups are looking at individual pieces of it. But all things said, I think the preference would be to sell it all given the right terms and conditions.”

Although the initial thought behind acquiring the land was possible expansion of the family’s business, it became clear as the East Village grew and other developments in the area sprouted up, that the area was no longer the place for the business to grow, Rizzuti said.

Rizzuti, whose wife died five years ago, has a son and daughter, neither of whom are involved in the business. He does have nephews who work in the company and who will continue ownership after Rizzuti eventually steps away. He said he plans to retire after the company turns 75 in 2026.

With the sale of the property, he will have to find a new location for his business. He’s looking for a site but hasn’t settled on a location.

Rizzuti said he supports the vision that the city has for the area that includes his property and doesn’t feel the need to get involved in its redevelopment.

“I’m not a developer, I don’t talk like a developer and I don’t think like a developer, and that’s why I’m not doing this,” he said. “How much influence will I have in it? I don’t think I need to have any. I think the city has already determined what they’re going to allow. And I think that will be a perfect complement to what they’re doing [in the Market District]. I think they have the right plan in place. I’m just lucky enough to have assembled some land.”

As he prepares to sell the land he began acquiring with his father, Rizzuti said he’s having conversations about how he and his family can leave something behind that will tell their story and the story that depicts the history of the land.

“It’s important to me,” he said. “I don’t know how it will be received by a potential developer, but I would like to do it. I would like to leave my mark somewhere on there so the grandkids go driving by some day and say my grandpa, my great-grandpa and my uncles did that.”