MidAmerican Energy buys Dotdash Meredith office, leaving big vacancy at struggling Ruan Center

In a blow to one of downtown Des Moines' most prominent buildings, MidAmerican Energy will bolt downtown Des Moines' Ruan Center to take over one of the office buildings occupied by Dotdash Meredith at the city's Western Gateway.

A spokesperson for the utility announced Tuesday that MidAmerican will buy the building at 1615 Locust St. from Dotdash Meredith, effective April 1. MidAmerican had been a tenant at the Ruan Center since 1975.

In a statement, MidAmerican spokesperson Tina Hoffman said the move allows the company to "cost effectively maintain our downtown presence."

"We are excited to move to a permanent location alongside the iconic downtown Western Gateway Park," Hoffman said, referring to the area where the Krause+ development company is eyeing a massive renovation. "Through this purchase, MidAmerican continues its longstanding commitment to a thriving downtown Des Moines, which also contributes to the success and continued growth of our entire metro area."

The move, however, leaves a hole for Ruan Inc., which owns the Ruan Center at 666 Grand Ave. and its neighbor, Two Ruan. The Ruan Center has been a focal point of the downtown business scene since it opened in the 1970s at the behest of John Ruan II, the founder of the diverse company best known for its trucking division and Bankers Trust.

The company has struggled to fill the downtown spaces in recent years, especially as businesses have allowed employees to work from home since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In August, a division of Ruan reached a settlement with the Polk County Board of Review to decrease the assessed value of Two Ruan to $6.7 million from $11.6 million.

Polk County Chief Deputy Assessor Bryon Tack said the board agreed to decrease the building's value after staff toured the space and observed how many floors were unoccupied.

The company also has filed an appeal to lower the assessed value of the Ruan Center, to $15 million from $22.8 million. That appeal remains pending in Polk County District Court.

On LoopNet, an online marketplace for commercial property, the company has listed space available on half of the 14 floors at Two Ruan, as well as on eight of the 36 floors at the Ruan Center. MidAmerican's exit will open up another four floors.

Nicole Mahowald, a spokesperson for Ruan Transportation Management Systems, declined to answer a series of emailed questions from the Des Moines Register, writing, "We do not have access to that information. The building is owned by Ruan Inc. and we are a lessee."

Mahowald did not respond to a follow-up email Tuesday afternoon asking whom the newspaper should contact at Ruan Inc. Nobody responded to an email sent to a media relations line, and a Ruan executive assistant said she was not sure to whom to direct questions, given that "only a handful of people" work for Ruan Inc.

Daniel Manning, the attorney who filed the property value appeals for Ruan Center Corp., did not return a voicemail Tuesday. John Ruan IV, the parent company's chairman, did not respond to a message left at a listed phone number.

The Ruan Center was Des Moines' tallest building until construction of the nearby 801 Grand in 1989. When the building was under construction in March 1974, John Ruan II took out an ad in the Register with the president and chairman of Bankers Trust, declaring, "The RUAN CENTER will provide the finest, most modern and complete office facilities to a variety of local businesses and we are sure will help attract additional commerce to the city."

He told the Register in 1976 that he conceived of the building as a 50-story skyscraper, a plan he later reined in by 14 floors. He said he needed to construct the building to fit the expanding roster of Bankers Trust employees. He eyed a bigger building, though, because he planned to lure Blue Cross and Blue Shield from a competitor's building, a plan that he said was successful through "nothing more than salesmanship."

Ruan II's business holdings also constructed Two Ruan next door in 1981, replacing the building that once held Bankers Trust.

Dotdash Meredith CEO: Company remains committed to Des Moines

In an email to employees Tuesday morning, Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel said that despite the sale of one of its two buildings, the company is not leaving town.

Dotdash Meredith is the result of New York-based Dotdash's purchase last year of Meredith Corp., the venerable Des Moines magazine publisher, for $2.7 billion. In his email, Vogel said employees who work in the building that the company is selling will move to Dotdash Meredith's adjacent office, at 1716 Locust St.

He said the company also will renovate the space it is keeping, a historic brick building adorned with a landmark tower. In November 2021, two weeks before the merger, a Meredith Corp. spokesperson told the Iowa Economic Development Authority that the company employed about 870 workers in Des Moines.

A Dotdash Meredith spokesperson did not return an email Tuesday asking how many people the company now employs in town. Vogel, meanwhile, told staff he wants to add employees in Des Moines.

"We remain committed as ever to Des Moines, and part of that commitment is a need to be flexible in our approach to our space in order to create a vibrant and energetic office that best suits the way we work today," he said in his message to them.

The building Dotdash Meredith will retain includes test kitchens, product testing areas, photo studios, a cafeteria and a gym. The company also will retain its Better Homes & Gardens test garden, Vogel said.

Spokespeople for Dotdash Meredith and MidAmerican did not answer questions from the Register about what assets the utility will receive besides the office space. They also did not answer a question about the purchase price of 1615 Locust St. The county has valued the building and surrounding land at $19.3 million.

Meredith Corp. constructed the 1615 Locust St. building in 1998. The four-story building also displays an iconic, rotating mural that greets drivers as they enter downtown from the west.

The move gives MidAmerican a presence in a part of town that could see significant renovations in coming years. The Krause Group, the parent company of the Kum & Go convenience store chain, plans to build a professional soccer stadium just south of the Dotdash Meredith properties. It also plans to build an entertainment venue, a plaza, hotels, office spaces, shops, restaurants and apartments in the area, and owns the former Crescent Chevrolet building on the southern fringe of Sherman Hill that now houses Big Grove Brewing's Des Moines restaurant and tap room.

Hoffman, the MidAmerican spokesperson, said the acquisition will not impact employees at the utility's Urbandale campus.

More:Our Des Moines: The Dotdash Meredith mural that changes with the seasons celebrates 20 years

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Tyler Jett covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at tjett@registermedia.com, 515-284-8215, or on Twitter at @LetsJett.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dotdash Meredith selling office to MidAmerican, leaving hole at Ruan