Two Des Moines developers, East Village LLC and Knapp Properties/Neighborhood Investment Corp./Hatch Development Group, are competing for the chance to build more housing and space for stores in downtown Des Moines’ East Village.

Last week, developers submitted proposals in response to calls from the city for plans to develop the former site of Dewey Ford, a nearly one-acre parcel of land on East Fourth Street between Grand Avenue and Locust Street.

The city plans to spend $1 million to buy the land and its Urban Design Review Board will review the plans before making a recommendation to the Des Moines City Council at the council’s Sept. 2 meeting. The 11-member review board will hold a work session on Aug. 26.

The proposals come as momentum builds in efforts to create more places to live in downtown Des Moines. Before succumbing to fire earlier this year, sales of condominium units at the Waterstreet Brownstones were running ahead of expectations. The developer, Lander Sherman, is rebuilding. The East Village’s Capital Lofts project has been a success and area business owners said more housing is welcome.

“It would make an immediate impact on everybody,” said Zzz Records owner Nate Niceswanger, whose business is located about a block from the Dewey Ford site,. “Some of the people who have moved into Capitol Lofts have become customers already. That’s the reason we moved down here, because it’s an up-and-coming area.”

A proposal from Knapp Properties Inc. and Hatch Development would spend $23 million to construct two buildings on the site. The first structure would include 105 apartment units, with 42 that would qualify as affordable. The second would consist of 28 condominium units that would range in price from $165,000 to $180,000. There would be commercial spaces on the first floors of the buildings, 84 underground parking spots and a courtyard.

If his group’s plan is chosen, Knapp Properties President Gerry Neugent said construction could begin next spring, provided that the project wins tax credits from the state. Hatch said it would take 18 months to build and that Weitz Co. and Kester Construction are putting together construction estimates now.

A competing plan by East Village LLC’s Douglas Wells, president of the Wells Kastner Schipper architecture firm, and John Burgeson, chairman of Iowa State Bank, calls for eight two-story apartment units and 38 one-story units. It also includes 30,225 square feet of office and retail space on the first floor; 93 parking spots on the second floor; and a courtyard that could include a restaurant.

Burgeson and Wells declined to comment on their plan. A summary of their proposal said construction could start in February and be complete by Jan. 1, 2005.

“There is a need for downtown housing and a thirst for downtown living that we’re witnessing at the Brickstone,” Hatch said.