It took a few million dollars and a whole lot of polish, but R&R Realty Group's overhaul of a former Wells Fargo hub on the western outskirts of downtown Des Moines, Iowa, is resetting the bar for what the local developer claims is the market's ultimate lifestyle office building.
Stocked with amenities such as electric vehicle charging stations, a former parking lot transformed into green space, walking trails, pickleball courts and a putting green, the West Des Moines-based landlord's bet on the continued blurring of the separation between home and office space has pushed the prior single-tenant property to the forefront of the region's top-tier office market. Since the renovation of the 1990s-era building was completed, it has already filled up with deals to house the headquarters for companies such as ITA Group, a level of success that earned it a 2025 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
“The way people use buildings has changed a lot, so we asked, 'How do we create a space that people want to come to, that employers really see as an opportunity to help bring their people back into the office?" Adam Kaduce, president of R&R Real Estate Advisors, recently told the Business Record. “It really is an experience-type building where people want to come not only as a workplace, but [somewhere] they can come to meet, work out, and is a place that is comfortable, inviting and accessible. That is really what we’ve done with this project.”
Tenants have access to multiple types of workspaces, a cafe-style area complete with a Starbucks kiosk, wellness-focused perks and on-site day care, all of which helped land the deal with ITA that now encompasses about half of the roughly 180,000-square-foot building.
The decision to relocate to the now-called Arcadia Building was "more of a strategy than a building," ITA Group President and CEO Brent Vander Waal said in an earlier statement. "We’re employee owned and we take that very seriously. It’s a mindset that this building is for our employees, so we really wanted to create a space that would be useful and beneficial to them.”
About the project: The redevelopment included transforming the single-tenant property into one that would attract multiple companies that prioritize high-end office space with a hospitality-oriented feel. The $6 million overhaul focused on including amenities and services worthy of tenants' commutes as well as a strong emphasis on sustainability and tech-driven features such as advanced video conferencing, a multi-story video wall, fiber service and electric vehicle charging stations.
What the judges said: CoStar Impact Award judge Angie Glick-Martin, a principal at GLD Commercial, called the project a "transformative office redevelopment with a focus on cutting-edge amenities and a lifestyle-work hub," with fellow judge Bill Wright, a senior vice president at CBRE's Des Moines office, adding that it delivers the type of new amenities that companies and employees demand.
They made it happen: The project was spearheaded by a team of R&R Realty Group executives that included Chris Curran, Paul Rupprecht, Jonny Bosworth, Alissa Nelson, Tom Rupprecht, Mark Sabers and Jeremy Shepherd.
CoStar Market Manager Alyssa Ricca contributed to this report.