Midwest City Scoop: Construction Starts in Des Moines

Overall Construction Spending Expected to Jump Almost 29%, Rebounding From 3-Year Skid

Strong growth forecast for the commercial/ manufacturing sector. Institutional work also expected to strengthen.

City Grill

Mike Tousley
Executive Vice President, General Manager
The Weitz Co.

“The thing in Des Moines right now seems to be data centers. There are hundreds of millions of dollars being invested in data centers in Central Iowa and further away in places such as Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is right across the river from Omaha,” Tousley says. “These are monster jobs that take hundreds of craft tradespeople, and they’re fast and furious. That seems to be, in terms of project type, the one that’s, by far, the hottest right now. Apple has bought a couple thousand acres in Waukee, Iowa, and Microsoft is in West Des Moines.”

Firm in Focus

The Weitz Co.
420 Watson Powell Jr. Way, Ste. 1000, Des Moines
CEO: Kevin McClain
Employees: 1,450
Founded: 1855
What’s New: Weitz is building a $27.8-milion, 5,000-sq-ft new headquarters for insurer IMT Group in West Des Moines. The project is expected to be completed in late 2018.