ROOT Development financing major downtown overhaul

Alley Poyner Macchietto partner Daric O’Neal is undertaking a major overhaul of the two buildings at 302 and 304 E. Coolbaugh St.
O’Neal, who has the Alley Poyner Macchietto office at 302 E. Coolbaugh, is renovating the existing office space while turning the second story into an Airbnb. Renovations for 304 E. Coolbaugh will turn the ground floor into a new business space for J Mercantile, and the second story into a two-bedroom apartment.
O’Neal said one of the catalysts for why he decided to undertake the project stemmed from his fascination with historic architecture.
“I gained a much better appreciation for it when I lived in London as part of a University of Nebraska study abroad program for a semester in 2002. London is a very old city, but if you travel around there, or anywhere in Europe, you see a great respect for the history as well as a pretty progressive infill with modern architecture and uses, whether that’s renovating a building or putting a new building into a historic context,” O’Neal said. “I started thinking about how it would be great to do some of that in my hometown of Red Oak. It took me a while to get back here, but I’m lucky to be a partner in an outstanding architecture firm that believes in me enough to have an Iowa office here, and I get to bring these ideas and try my hardest to implement them when I can into the community.”
O’Neal said early on, he was a partner with Earl and Cynthia Bangston in their Coolbaugh Street Holdings project, and he learned a lot from both of the Bangstons and had a lot of mentorship from Earl. As he undertook the current project, O’Neal said things snowballed from there.
“Around the time we renovated our house, we got connected with a number of like-minded individuals that wanted to see Red Oak Prosper and grow, and we partnered with others to form ROOT Development, which stands for “Red Oak’s Ongoing Transformation.” One of the definitions of “root” is the cause or react of something. We’re doing that right now mostly with acquisition and rehabilitation projects that require a lot of patience, time, and resources to make them happen,” O’Neal explained. “We know that this is a long game. Nothing we do is a flip and a quick dollar. If we do a number of these projects downtown, you bring the whole downtown value up. We’re trying to do things strategically on a scale that makes sense for Red Oak. It was never an intention to do as much as we’re doing, but it’s working out nicely with the spaces and the properties we’ve already done some renovations on.”
O’Neal said the renovation projects between both buildings have been extensive.
“It’s been a full-on take it down to the bare bones and bring it back. There’s all-new electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, improving insulation values when needed, and both the buildings needed all-new roofs. A lot of the buildings downtown have been incrementally improved over the years, but they need an extensive interior remodel. I want the renovations in these buildings to be 50-year renovations, so for anyone that comes in here, these renovations will last for another 50 years with minimal improvements,” O’Neal advised. “We’re not quite ready to reveal exact time frames yet, because our schedule keeps changing. You tear open a ceiling and find out you have some joists to fix and level as an example. We’ve been doing a lot of that work.”
O’Neal said the J Mercantile move to 304 E. Coolbaugh was to allow for a business expansion.
“They’re going to expand into some furniture lines. Jill, my wife, does a great job with her business there, but she’s limited with the amount of space she currently has, so she’s excited and nervous to get in here,” commented O’Neal.
For the second floor apartment above 304 E. Coolbaugh, O’Neal said the apartment will have two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, washer/dryer hookups, and plenty of open spaces.
“There will be a space at the front for a living room and dining room, and an open kitchen. At the back, there will be office space that we included in this post-COVID world so people can work and live wherever they want and work a remote job. It has fiber internet for a high-speed connectivity, and eventually, there will be some shared outdoor deck access with the Airbnb at 302 E. Coolbaugh.
O’Neal said Erl Bangston was the one who convinced him of the power of the value of a person living in a downtown core and what it meant for the number of jobs.
“That person living upstairs is utilizing coffee shops and restaurants, and from there you can think about all the people those places employ, and how that person living downtown contributes to the overall health of the economy. That’s a big focus behind what we’re trying to do here.”
O’Neal has been renting out the ground floor of 302 E. Coolbaugh St., and said they will continue to do so while creating a modern co-working environment, a concept Alley Poyner Macchietto started in their Omaha, Neb office in 2009.
“It’s going to be called “The Hub” and will be a co-working space. Initially, this was wide open. We’ve build some partitions between the desks, we have two private offices or a space that can be used for content creators and podcasts that can be rented. A couple of desks will be for Alley Poyner, and three or so desks will be available. Some will have standing height desks. We’re trying to incorporate all the things we’ve learned over the years,” advised O’Neal. “And with the whole space being shared, if someone rents a desk, they get access to scheduling the conference room, we have high-speed internet, and a kitchenette.  I feel like this is a great co-working space.”
O’Neal said it will be ideal for a remote worker who wants to transition out of their home and not have to rent an entire building or working space.
Under layers of glue and carpet, O’Neal said he found tile that was included in a picture of the building after it was remodeled in 1924, and so they have plans to fully restore that classic tile. The conference room will fit 12-15 occupants and have all the technological capabilities to make it an enjoyable experience.
The final piece of the project is the “Planck Airbnb.” The name comes from the Planck Real Estate Company, which used to operate in downtown Red Oak. O’Neal said the space has historically been an apartment, but is being converted to an Airbnb space. Also, Airbnb has added certified historic tags to their searches, which O’Neal said would be useful in getting the new Airbnb space rented.
“A lot of people travel with some sort of heritage tourism piece in mind. Red Oak has a lot going on, but some of the city’s biggest assets are the history, the war history, and cool historic architecture. People travel to experience that, and this will allow them to come to Red Oak for some of that.
The space has original historic woodwork that will be restored, as well as original wood floors, and an original fireplace that will be restored. However, the electrical has all been updated, and it will have a fire alarm system, new plumbing, heating and cooling, and windows. There is also space for an original Murphy bed, which will be fitted with a useable bed.
“There will be space for a little dining area and an office space. We’ve been trying to think of all the uses, and we’re utilizing the high speed internet access we have downtown. Some of the other features are a renovated bathroom with period appropriate tile, a galley kitchen set up with appliances, washer/dryer, a master bedroom that fits a king-sized bed, flatscreen TVs, and a common deck area that will be shared between the Airbnb and the apartment next door,” O’Neal stated.
O’Neal said it’s fun to see the results of the number of big projects he’s been fortunate to work on in a short amount of time thanks to living in Red Oak.
“One of them was the bond project from 2017-18 for the school. I was then able to have my kids go to school there, and my oldest has graduated from there. It’s a fun feeling being able to design a space like that for people to go to school and use. We’ve also done some projects for Bank Iowa and they’ve been a great partner. I’ve enjoyed playing my part in helping preserve a town that’s been good to me and my family over the years. I believe my kids are sixth generation. The roots on my mom’s side go back for many years, and my father had a successful electrical contracting business here for a long time. It’s fund to see the results of what you do and give back when you can.”