Des Lux Hotel (The Des Moines Club)

800 Locust Street

Completed: 1913

Designed by Proudfoot Bird & Rawson in 1913 as the Des Moines Club

Original details include gargoyles at the cornice line although they do not function as downspouts.

Sold by the Ruan Corporation in 1974 to the Za-Ga-Zig Shrine for $325,000. Who used it until they moved to Altoona in 1989.

The building was gutted in late 1980’s, anticipating renovation into an office building. The deal fell through and it stood vacant for 12 years.

Renovation began in 2000 and The Suites of 800 Locust were opened in 2001 by the late Bob Knapp, who spent an estimated $10 million to renovate the building into a 51 room hotel.

Plans at one time were to remove the entire façade and replace it with steel and glass.

In December 2013 Rebound Hospitality of Northfield, Minn., paid $3.27 million for the hotel. The company has invested about $500,000 on new seating, bedding, televisions, and furniture in the lounge, Wi-Fi upgrades and other improvements. Rebound owns three other historical hotels; the Hotel Winnshiek in Dubuque and two in Minnesota.

The hotel reopened as the Des Lux Hotel in September of 2014.