Des Moines, Iowa
Everything inside is new.
50 apartments on Douglas Avenue, taken apart and rebuilt in 2025. Studios from $650, every utility included for a flat $35 a month, and on the ground floor, your own door to the parking lot.
- Rent from
- $650
- Utilities
- $35 flat
- Parking
- Free, on site
- Pets
- Welcome
The Building
Rebuilt from the inside out.
This was a hotel on Douglas Avenue for fifty years. We bought it in 2024, closed it, and rebuilt it as apartments. It opened in 2025.
Every apartment got new flooring, new paint, a rebuilt bathroom, new cabinets and countertops, new appliances, and a new heating and cooling unit you control yourself. Behind the walls we rewired the building and added circuits. Outside we repaved and restriped the lot, repainted the stucco, and put in new fencing, new landscaping, new mailboxes and new signage.
What we kept is the shape of the thing. Two stories, no elevator, and a ground floor where you park a few steps from your own door.
The old sign came down in 2024. So did almost everything behind it.
Gallery
Have a look around.
Floor Plans
One main layout, drawn with a real queen bed in it.
A studio is small, and a photograph will not tell you whether your bed fits. This plan is drawn to scale with a queen at true size, so you can answer that before you drive over.
Drawn to scale. The bed shown is a queen, 60 by 80 inches.
Studio · about 300 sq ft · from $650
A full kitchen with a range, oven and refrigerator. A full bathroom with a tub. A closet by the door, a large window at the far end, and one open room that is not carved up by hallways.
What fits: a queen bed, a table for two, and a dresser, with the floor still clear between them.
- 47
- StudiosThe layout drawn here. A handful are larger corner units and are priced accordingly.
- 3
- One bedroomsAbout 420 sq ft, with a separate bedroom. Ask us what is open.
Or call (515) 334-3345 to book a showing. Showings are not booked online.
In every apartment
- New flooring, paint and light fixtures throughout
- New cabinets, countertops and appliances
- Rebuilt bathroom with a tub
- Heating and cooling you set yourself
- A large window and a closet by the door
- New locks on every door
On the property
- Pets welcome
- On-site laundry
- Free off-street parking, including three accessible stalls
- Ground floor apartments open straight to the parking lot
- Bike parking, new fencing and new landscaping
- Pay rent and submit maintenance requests online
What is included
Every utility is on us. You pay a flat $35 a month on top of rent and that is the whole bill: no meter to read, no summer spike, no account to open before you move in.
Included in rent
- Electricity
- Heating and cooling
- Water and sewer
- Trash and recycling
You pay
- $35 a month, flat, on top of rent
- Your own internet service
Laundry
- On site, coin operated
Pets
- Dogs, $50 a month
- Cats, $35 a month
- $250 non-refundable fee, per pet
- Two pets maximum
- No breed or weight restrictions
Assistance animals are not pets. Service animals and support animals are never charged pet rent or a pet fee, and are not counted against the pet limit.
What it costs to move in
Every dollar it takes to get keys, listed before you apply. No surprises at the counter.
- Application fee$25
- Security depositOne month's rent
- First month's rentfrom $650
- First month of utilitiesThe flat $35, collected at signing$35
- Administrative feeNone
- Total to get keysfrom $1,360
That total is for a $650 studio and includes everything, the first month of utilities included. It is higher on the larger floor plans, because the deposit matches your rent. After you move in, your monthly cost is rent plus the flat $35 utility charge and nothing else. Pet fees apply only if you have a pet, and assistance animals are never charged. If the deposit is the thing standing in your way, read the next section.
Will you qualify?
We publish what we look for, so you know where you stand before you spend anything on an application.
- Monthly income before taxesAbout $1,625 a month for a $650 studio2.5× the rent
- Credit score625 or above
- Rental history2 years
- Housing vouchersWelcome here
Not sure whether you clear these? Call and ask before you apply. We would rather tell you honestly than take your $25.
Short on the deposit, or under 625?
Neither one is automatically a no. There are two more routes to approval here, and we will walk you through both.
Instead of a deposit
Deposit coverage
Rather than putting down a full month's rent, you can pay a much smaller fee to a deposit coverage program and keep the difference in your pocket at move-in.
The fee is set from your own situation, so there is no sticker price to quote. Ask and we will get you the exact number before you commit to anything.
If credit or income falls short
Lease guaranty
A guaranty service can stand behind your lease, which often lets us approve an application that would not clear our criteria on its own. It works a lot like a co-signer, without needing to ask anyone you know.
Priced on your own circumstances rather than a flat rate. Ask before you apply and we will have it quoted for you.
We also accept Housing Choice vouchers. If you hold one, bring it and we will work through the paperwork with you.
Why it costs what it costs
Renovated apartments at unrenovated rent.
Most of what is available near Merle Hay at this price was built in the same decade as this building and has not been touched since. We did the opposite. We bought an old building cheaply, spent the money on the inside, and kept the rent where it was.
That is the whole trade. A rebuilt kitchen, a rebuilt bathroom and a new mechanical system, in a building nobody will mistake for new construction, at a rent new construction cannot reach. Every utility is included for a flat $35 a month.
There is no income limit here and no waiting list. If you meet our standard screening, you can move in.
Neighborhood
Off the Merle Hay corridor.
Douglas Avenue runs east and west across the north side of Des Moines and meets Merle Hay Road right here. That corner is where the groceries, the pharmacies, the restaurants and a good share of the jobs on this side of town are.
Merle Hay Mall is a tenth of a mile away. The bus stop is next door.
- DART bus stopPublic transitNext door
- Merle Hay RoadRetail, dining, groceries and pharmacyAt the corner
- Merle Hay MallShopping and services0.1 mi
- Interstate 35/80Highway access north5 min drive
- Downtown Des MoinesSoutheast of the property10 min drive
Available now
What is open today.
Openings, rent and move-in dates are kept current in our leasing system. If you see one you like, you can apply right there.
To schedule a showing
Showings are not booked online. Call or email and we will find a time that works, usually same week. A showing takes about fifteen minutes.
Leasing
Come see one in person.
Browse what is open right now and apply online, or call and we will set up a showing. Applications are reviewed in one to two business days.