New Homes Eyed for West Des Moines Human Services, Business Incubator

The West Des Moines Human Services Department could move to a new home in Valley Junction and a business incubator sheltering startups could take its place under plans being kicked around by the city.

The City Council's Finance and Administration committee meets at 7 a.m. Thursday at City Hall. Also on the agenda is whether West Des Moines has grown to the extent that it makes sense for it to have its own Sister Cities organization, City Manager Greg Sparks said.

The West Des Moines position on the Greater Des Moines Sister Cities Board is vacant, but its former representative recommended that the city pull out and form its own organization because “we could get bigger bang focusing on sister city relationships that made strategic sense from a business standpoint,” Sparks said.

Relationships could be developed in countries where some of the community’s largest employers do business, he said, or with the city in China where West Des Moines Community Schools’ sister school is located.

“We certainly are part of Greater Des Moines and a partner on collaborative regional issues, but as a community of 60,000, it makes sense for us to deal with some things individually, such as Sister Cities,” Sparks said.

Building Round Robin

The opportunity to relocate West Des Moines Human Services to a larger space that better accommodates its clothing closet and food pantry programs came about when Polk County leaders decided to build a new senior citizen center rather than move into the old Wright Tree Service building in Valley Junction.

Construction on the new Polk County senior center is expected to begin this spring on lots near the former Wright Tree Service building at Sixth and Maple Streets. West Des Moines leaders transferred the property for $1 as part of their contribution for a new senior center.

The city acquired the Wright Tree building for $850,000 last summer and will apply a $280,000 insurance settlement from an April wind storm to building repairs and updates, Sparks said.

That would put West Des Moines Human Services and the Polk County Senior Citizen Center conveniently across the street from one another, Sparks said. Many residents who go to senior citizens center for meals – currently served at the West Des Moines Community Center – also are clients of the city human services agency.

If Human Services moves, the West Des Moines Business Incubator could move from its current location in a commercial office building on Westown Parkway to the more pedestrian friendly Valley Junction area.

The Business Incubator’s lease expires in 2015 and won’t be renewed, so it will have to relocate. Sparks said city leaders think it makes longterm sense to move it into space the city already owns in a bustling district.

“There has been some interest from startups in the Valley Junction area, and this could be a nice mix,” Sparks said. “It also makes some sense to have West Des Moines Human Services next door to the county’s senior center.”

Decisions of the subcommittee are subject to approval by the full council.