'Not another storage unit': Hundreds of east-siders petitioning Des Moines to stop former Gordmans' conversion to self-storage
Melody MercadoAn old Gordmans on Des Moines' east side is slated to become a storage unit, but residents say they'd prefer something else.
Heather Chamberlain, a long-time east Des Moines resident, has been leading a petition both online and door to door to stop the development, saying it isn't what east siders deserve. In total, she's collected nearly 1,400 signatures.
"We need a Fareway or a Price Chopper over there," Chamberlain said. "Not another storage unit."
The old Gordmans, located at 2590 Hubbell Ave., closed early last year and has remained vacant ever since. It wasn't until March that the building was approved to be converted into a storage unit by the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
But Chamberlain believes the neighborhood already has plenty of storage units.
Currently, a U-Haul storage unit sits right across the street from the old Gordmans, where a K-Mart once was.
When Dahl's Foods went out of business in 2015, the company's east side location, located just two miles east of the former Gordmans, was also converted into a storage unit — unlike seven other Dahl's in the metro that remained grocery stores under a different company name.
Although city councilwoman Linda Westergaard, who represents the east side, said several neighborhood associations posted the information, no one from the public came before the Zoning Board of Adjustment to object to the conversion.
"I drive to all the different suburbs and everybody has self-storage units. They're popular, they contribute to the tax base; it's a win-win for the city," Westergaard said.
"If somebody came to me and said, 'Hey, I'm interested in building a grocery store,' I would go with them to City Hall and we would sit down with economic development and we do everything to make it happen," Westergaard continued.
But as many residents hear about the storage unit for the first time when Chamberlain comes knocking at their door, she says it's been her experience that many can't sign fast enough.
"I'm disappointed it's going to be a storage unit; we don't need that here," resident Bobbi Lovan said on one of CHamberlain's recent outings. "I'd love to see a store of some kind ... like either a clothing or grocery store. That would be nice for the neighborhood."
Lovan, 52, has lived on the east side her entire life and told the Register that the neighborhood could use some revitalization.
"I grew up around this area and it used to be a hot, happening place back in the day ... but right now ... we have Jordan Creek, and it's hard to compete," Lovan said.
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Large, vacant buildings in older neighborhoods hard to fill
With many large retailers closing in the last decade, there aren't many companies looking to fill those vacant buildings.
In fact, according to a 2019 report from USA Today, the brick-and-mortar downturn is only expected to continue, with analysts expecting 75,000 more stores would be shutter by 2026 as a result of e-commerce.
Unfortunately, that means those looking for commercial space will be more selective, looking for more newly developed communities to put down roots in.
"What you're dealing with on a higher level is that, unfortunately, some areas mature differently than others, and the cycle of commercial development slows down, and that's certainly been the case on the Hubbell corridor," said Mike Smith, the vice president of CBRE.
Generally speaking, Smith said developers and investors tend to look to invest in areas with high residential growth, new rooftops, high traffic counts and hubs of commercial activity. Examples include downtown Des Moines, the East Village and metro suburbs like the West Glen in West Des Moines and The District in Ankeny.
"Unfortunately, when we talk about the northeast side, some of those things just don't exist," Smith said.
On top of those contributing factors, Smith said it's extremely difficult to find tenants to fill such large spaces. And converting those spaces into something like a grocery is so expensive that most companies prefer to just build something new.
"Grocery stores have a lot of infrastructure for refrigeration systems. All that would have to be installed ... by and large that building would have to be gutted," Smith said.
Although some parallels could be drawn between Beaverdale and the northeast side — both being older and more established neighborhoods — Beaverdale has been able to attract Fareway to build in its neighborhood thanks to its higher vehicle traffic, greater expendable income among its residents and an infill of development of senior and multi-family units in recent years.
The market for self-storage is high
Despite the pushback from residents, developers have been to invest in self-storage and there are several reasons why.
Self-storage is not only in high demand, Smith said, but it tends to regulate itself and can be a safer bet for investors.
The demand for self-storage lies with businesses that, as a result of the pandemic, are trying to shrink their footprint and downsize.
"A lot of people are asking if this is really necessary, and the answer is, right now, the demand is there and the market responds to demand," Smith said.
Still, Chamberlain and her petitioners want something more for their neighborhood.
"This is my home and they're not listening to us, and it frustrates me because we are good people; we're hard-working people with good work ethic and we do our best to get by and we are being ignored," Chamberlain said.
According to a city spokesperson, in order to stop the conversion, an appeal would have needed to be filed in District Court within 30 days of the Board of Adjustment's decision in March.
Melody Mercado covers the eastern Des Moines metro for the Register. Reach her at mmercado@registermedia.com or Twitter @melodymercadotv.