Another Lost Opportunity
The aging, twelve‑story Holiday Inn still rises above I‑235, its spinning restaurant at the top long silent. When nonprofit Greater Des Moines Supportive Housing (GDMSH) announced plans to buy the property for $8.75 million and transform it into 160 studios for individuals earning 60 percent or less of area median income, it felt like a beacon of hope for our city’s most vulnerable.
Their vision was bold: not just housing, but “supportive housing” with on‑site case managers, food pantries, life‑skills classes, transportation aid, and laundry facilities. In March, Des Moines City Council voted to dedicate $2.5 million of federal funds to the project, signaling a commitment to address the growing housing issue in Iowa, particularly in Des Moines.
Then, in mid‑June, word came: negotiations had stalled. The nonprofit hadn’t reached an agreement to purchase the hotel, and the option expired January 31. The building remains functional yet derelict—continuing life as a hotel, but a shadow of its once iconic stature. And now, stripped of a promising new future.
This failure reverberates personally. I often drive past the looming structure—once hopeful it might shelter someone in need of a genuine break with a safe affordable home. Maybe even my loved one who is still struggling on the streets, unsheltered. Now, the building serves as an empty emblem of broken commitments. Just two years ago, ironically, I gave a keynote speech at the NAMI-Iowa Day on the Hill event held in the spacious ballroom at the top, with the floor that used to slowly turn once upon a time.
Our city’s homelessness is no abstract statistic. In late 2024, more than 140 families were living in hotel rooms because shelters couldn’t take them. Polk County spending exploded from $22,000 in 2022 to a projected $300,000 in 2025. That means what should’ve been a stopgap became months‑long displacement. And the county’s shelters have only eighteen family‑sized rooms.
I’ve sat through unhoused‑policy meetings when police officers, outreach workers, even business owners talk about ordinances banning public camping and sleeping. Everyone agrees on one major point: the growing number of unhoused is a deeply concerning problem. But that’s the only thing anyone can agree on, and not enough people want to shell out money to legitimately address it.
The ill-fated Holiday Inn endeavor wasn’t the GDMSH’s first attempt to secure a location for its project. In 2022, the team looked into buying the Valley West Inn in West Des Moines, but the sale fell through because they could not secure the funds quickly enough to prevent the burned former hotel from being demolished. In 2024, they attempted to build a 101-unit apartment complex in Pleasant Hill, but that project fell through due to “neighborhood concerns.”
I can’t help but mourn what might’ve been. The downtown Holiday Inn could have been a hub of stability for people at risk of falling through the cracks. Instead, the status quo limps on—leaving too many on our sidewalks, in their cars, in cramped rooms they can’t call a home.
If this city is going to live up to its promise, that hotel was a lost opportunity Now, it’s the symbol of one more good idea forced into abandonment. And while the faces change, the need remains: people need homes.
We just need more courage to prioritize them.
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Thank you for this, Kali. I'm with you....disheartened to see another what-might-have-been story. And the statistic about the county having only 18 family-sized rooms is shocking. You're doing important work here, keeping us informed. Thank you.
Oh, no! This is so demoralizing.