For several years, Grimes has seen its residential population flourish as new single-family houses, townhomes and apartments were constructed. Now the city is experiencing a boom in commercial growth as well. Large retailers are being drawn to the northwest Polk County community as well as developers willing to take chances on constructing multi-tenant speculative retail and office buildings. Kurt Mumm and Mark Hanrahan, both brokers with Cushman & Wakefield, broke ground during the summer on two speculative buildings east of Iowa Highway 141 on East First Street. Hope Development & Realty plans to build a 19,817-square-foot strip center on the west side of Highway 141 at 1101 E. First St. In addition, work is nearing completion on a nearly 50,000-square-foot multiuse building at 1220 N.E. Station Crossing in the Heritage Town Center development. “Grimes is a young community with stable households,” said Tim Day, director of real estate services for Hope Development & Realty. “It’s on the [Iowa Highway] 141 corridor and it’s the gateway from the northwest into Des Moines. “It just makes sense to want to develop there.” Grimes’ rapid population growth has attracted the interest of bigbox retailers like Walmart, which opened in 2010, and Menards, which opened in July 2019, Mumm said. Both are located in the heavily traveled area in which Highway 141 intersects with East First Street. Aldi grocery opened in the area earlier this year and Hy-Vee plans on opening a store in late 2021. “You’ve got a critical retail node right there at that intersection [of Highway 141 and East First] that you really don’t find many other places,” Mumm said. “It makes other businesses also want to be there.” Development along the corridor is why Mumm and Hanrahan are bullish on constructing the two spec buildings, even in the midst of a pandemic. The two are developing a 15,000-square-foot two-story spec building and a 5,000-square-foot building at 2411 and 2491 E. First St. Both buildings will have grease traps installed, and one will include a drive-thru.
Source: businessrecord.com
