The joke goes, how cold is it outside? It’s so cold I saw a lawyer with his hands in his own pockets!

Okay, well this isn’t that bad but the news item brought it to mind. The Des Moines City Council considered a resolution to give a local law firm $27,000 if they will stay downtown and not move out the suburbs of West Des Moines. The story was in the January 10, 2011 Iowa Business Record. The firm is Simpson, Jensen, Abels, Fischer & Bouslog, P.C.; a firm located downtown since 1927. The firm is planning on expanding 4,000 square-feet and either they or the landlord will have to spend about $100,000 to $150,000 for the tenant improvements. Des Moines has a high vacancy rate and this financial inducement is an attempt to keep this law business downtown. West Des Moines has an equally high vacancy rate for office space. I’ve been told that from Valley West Mall to the Des Moines Country Club on Westown Parkway there are 1.3 million square feet of vacant space available. That puts tenants at an advantage with obtaining favorable t.i.’s. Ouch. I was not able to locate the story online but below is the news squib I received by way of an email news alert.

Just know there is a trade-off between rich incentives to stay-put and bankrupting the landlord, which is why the City coffers are starting to open up. Is this an indication of the real estate taxes being too high in downtown Des Moines?

Please stay

The Des Moines City Council will consider a resolution today to give a local law firm $27,000 to keep its offices in the Equitable Building at 604 Locust St.

According to a staff report, the inducement would in the form of a forgivable loan to Simpson, Jensen, Abels, Fischer & Bouslog P.C., whose home office has been located downtown since 1927.

"The company has been evaluating new lease options and is in the process of making a decision between its current office space and available space in West Des Moines," according to the report.

Older downtown office buildings are at a competitive disadvantage in attracting tenants because of dated construction, maintenance costs and floor plans, according to the report.

The law firm plans a 4,000-square-foot expansion at estimated improvement costs of $100,000 to $150,000, according to the report.

In order to counter increasingly high vacancy rates downtown, the city can encourage "innovative adaptive re-use" or lower costs for traditional tenants, the report said.

If the loan is approved, the law firm will continue to lease its existing space of approximately 7,620 square feet, with an option to lease and improve an additional 4,000 square feet for a term of 10 years, and agree to collectively retain and employ at least 18 full-time employees to work at the leased premises during the term of the lease, according to the report.