The new West Bank headquarters in West Des Moines has features that may not be classically associated with a bank — including a fitness center and yoga studio, two golf simulators and outdoor seating with a bar and fireplace.
CEO and president David Nelson said the amenities for its employees and invited guests will help attract and retain the best workforce and provide more ways to develop meaningful business relationships. The massive headquarters off Interstate 235 at the Valley West Drive exit also represents the first time the company’s administrative employees all can work together under one roof.
“This is one more example of … what makes us different, what makes us special,” Nelson said during a tour Monday of the new $33 million headquarters that opened April 15 at 3330 Westown Parkway.
The new four-floor, 73,000 square-foot headquarters that overlooks the freeway will serve five bank branches in the metro, one in Coralville and four in Minnesota. The headquarters itself has a drive-thru and lobby for bank business.
Nelson said the lease at two office buildings on 22nd Street and Westown Parkway, where the bank had been a tenant for 52 years, expired on April 30.
But West Bank has been an institution for much longer than that. What was then known as Valley Junction State Bank was established in 1893 at the corner of Fifth and Maple streets by German immigrant husband and wife Herman and Anna Raaz.
West Bank spokesperson Sara Gallagher said theirs is the oldest business in West Des Moines and Anna Raaz may have been one of the first female bankers in Iowa. Valley Junction State Bank later became West Des Moines State Bank and then West Bank.
There are still some finishing touches to be completed inside and out, especially to the building’s landscaping. But Nelson said there will be a ribbon cutting May 1, and he hopes the building can spur redevelopment in the surrounding area.
New headquarters features amenities to attract workers
Nelson said the new headquarters is big enough for the 115 employees who work there now and has room to grow by 25% or 30%. The building is a larger version of similarly designed branches in Minnesota, he said.
He said the company had wanted to move sooner but had a long-term lease.
“We probably paid for the building once every 10 years,” he said of the previous location, though West Bank never owned it.
Nelson said his favorite space in the new building is an entertainment area on the top floor that features retractable windows on an enclosed patio area with seating and wall-mounted TVs. A sliding glass door leads to two indoor golf simulators and a bar. Nelson said the golf simulators are one more business development tool.
On the other end of the top floor there is what’s called the Great Room, an entertainment area that includes more indoor seating, a bar and a wine storage room. It connects with a larger outdoor seating area that wraps around the building’s north side.
On the lower level, there’s a large cafeteria — without a kitchen, but with lots of refrigerator, coffee-making, countertop and table space — as well as a fitness center with weight and cardio machines, some dumbbells, a yoga studio, locker rooms and private showers. Outside, there’s a patio overlooking the building’s retention pond and walking trail.
“It’s a real point of pride,” Nelson said.
Recent office redevelopment projects in Urbandale and West Des Moines have included similar features as ways to draw employees back to offices after virtual working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nelson said he heard from West Bank employees that having those amenities is a matter of convenience. The fitness center, for example, lets them easily get a workout in over lunch or before or after work without spending extra time to travel elsewhere or money to pay for a gym membership.
More: Two years after foreclosure, movement toward Valley West Mall redevelopment remains slow
And beyond offering more for its own employees, Nelson said he hopes West Bank’s new headquarters will spur continued development at Valley West Mall — across the street on the building’s north side — and on the former site of Valley West Inn near the intersection of Westown Parkway and Valley West Drive.
The bank headquarters sits on a 7.5-acre site where there used to be a strip mall and a TGI Fridays restaurant, MetaBank, Twisted Vine Brewery and a Bank of America office.
“We turned a blighted site into something special,” Nelson said.
What’s going on next to West Bank between it and Interstate 235?
The earth work along the highway just south of the West Bank headquarters that drivers have probably noticed is a separate city of West Moines stormwater detention project to control flooding downstream on Blue Creek.
City Engineer Brian Hemesath said there won’t be any standing water in the area outside of the hours it will take for backed up rainwater to drain after a storm.
Hemesath said the project was always going to happen regardless of the bank’s construction. He said there was some discussion with West Bank about building a joint detention pond, but the bank chose to have its own pond as an aesthetic feature with standing water.
Hemesath said the stormwater detention project should “considerably” help with flooding at the eastbound I-235 offramp at 22nd Street.
And once the temperature is a bit warmer, consistently in at least the upper 70s, he said people should start to notice native grasses and other plants including a few trees that have been planted in the detention area.
Phillip Sitter covers the western suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @pslifeisabeauty.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: See inside West Bank’s new headquarters that towers over Interstate 235
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