A building permit valued at $265.4 million was issued in 2022 for the construction of a Microsoft Inc. data center at 3655 S.E. Soteria Ave. in West Des Moines. The value of the permit was the largest in the metro area in 2022. Photo by Duane Tinkey

2022 commercial building permits

Permits valued at over $1.9 billion issued for new projects

The valuation in 2022 of commercial building permits issued for new projects exceeded $1.9 billion, a total boosted by the construction of data centers in Altoona, Waukee and West Des Moines, a review of communities’ permit data shows.

Microsoft Corp., Facebook (now called Meta Platforms Inc.), and Apple Inc. all added on to their data center farms in 2022, accounting for 31%, or $617.2 million, of the value of commercial building permits issued for new projects. 

In addition, 31 multifamily projects were started in 2022, adding over 1,900 units to the metro area. The value of the multifamily building permits totaled over $354 million, the review showed.

In all, 251 building permits were issued for new commercial projects in the Des Moines area in 2022.

The following are the 10 projects with the highest building permit values:

  1. Microsoft data center
    3655 S.E. Soteria Ave., West Des Moines
    Permit value: $265.4 million
    Square footage: 184,596
    Owner: Microsoft Corp.
    Builder: Weitz Co.
    Architect: N/A

  2. Build-out of Microsoft data center
    5855 S.W. Kerry St., West Des Moines
    Permit value: $255 million
    Square footage: 250,000
    Owner: Microsoft Corp.
    Builder: Turner Construction Co.

  3. Build-out of a Facebook data center
    2500 Share Way N.W., Altoona
    Permit value: $82.4 million 
    Square footage: 714,873
    Owner: Siculus Inc.
    Builder: Turner Construction Co.

  4. Four-story mixed-use building that will include 100 apartments, retail and Ruth’s Chris Steak House
    950 Jordan Creek Parkway, West Des Moines
    Permit value: $47.8 million
    Square footage: 392,000
    Owner: CRG Residential
    Builder: CRG Residential
    Architect: BSB Design

  5. Four-story, 283-unit apartment building  
    200 N.W. Second St., Waukee
    Permit value: $43.8 million
    Square footage: 275,780
    Owner: RealtyLink Development
    Architect: Plageman Architecture

  6. Five-story, 169-unit apartment building
    425 S.W. 11th St., Des Moines
    Permit value: $39.1 million
    Square footage: 195,898
    Owner: Sherman Associates
    Builder: Estes Construction
    Architect: Simonson and Associates

  7. Middle school
    501 Falcon Drive S.E., Altoona
    Permit value: $38.3 million
    Square footage: 206,779
    Owner: Southeast Polk school district
    Builder: Weitz Co.
    Architect: FRK Architects and Engineers

  8. Warehouse shell
    2301 25th St. N.W. Altoona
    Permit value: $34.9 million
    Square footage: 497,587
    Owner: KCI Altoona Industrial Land LLC
    Builder: MW Builders
    Architect: George Butler Associates Inc.

  9. West Bank corporate headquarters 
    3300 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines
    Permit value: $33.5 million
    Square footage: 71,450
    Owner: West Bank
    Builder: Henning Construction
    Architect: HGA

  10. Elementary school
    5635 156th St., Urbandale
    Permit value: $30.1 million
    Square footage: 56,035
    Owner: Waukee school district
    Architect: FRK Architects 

Sources: Cities’ building permit records