It looks like Des Moines’ historic and grand Landmark on the Sound Masonic Retirement Home has been sold for $11.5 million to EPC Holdings 955 LLC of Sumner.
The closing date was Monday, Aug. 26, 2019.
The historic campus has 1,319,850 square feet, was built in 1926, and served for numerous years as a retirement home for local Freemasons.
For several years it operated as an event center, and hosted the Rotary Club’s annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival up until being closed by the Masons a few years ago.
It had been on the market for several years, with asking prices as high as $~20 million at one time.
In Feb., 2018, an Open House was held by WORKlofts to showcase a proposed multi-use facility with small offices and worklofts for rent. That deal apparently fell through.
The main building has five levels, with 117,930 square feet and a variety of detailed features, styles and remarkable views.
This main building includes a formal dining room that can seat as many as 200, a charming theater space, commercial kitchen, formal library, chapel, 200 residential rooms, resident shops, a healthcare wing, many outbuildings and more (including an alleged ghost named “George” on the 5th floor!).
The city says it has not had any contact with the new owners at this point, and it is unknown what their plan is.
The campus is located at 23660 Marine View Drive S. in Des Moines:
Sumner might not be quite correct, as the address listed for the buyer is in downtown Seattle (2001 Western Ave Ste 330, Seattle, WA 98121-2133). The address is also home to Teutsch Partners, a development company.
and you probably would have to hire a lawyer or private detective to find who the actual owners are. their email is frontdesk @1031 Services.com. this implies to me that the buyer is involved with tax deferred exchangers.
Can you tell me if the Landmark property is going to be redone any time soon? It looks sad & not taken care of at all. I would hate for us to lose this historic site.
Thank you,
Judi Armer
There punting up an 8-10 foot fence all around the entire property I cried like a baby today we will b blocked from even walking on the property. ANOTHER F—ING INVESTOR DESTROYING OUR BEAUTIFUL DES MOINES, TAKING THE MONEY AND LEAVING US TO LIVE IN THERE MESS
This has been one of my favorite places to walk since childhood. I learned to ride my bike on the trail behind the lodge. I’m so sad some investor is locking us out of such a beautiful part of our city
Demolition permit applications have recently been filed with the City of Des Moines to remove all of the buildings on the site. Such a waste of a historically significant building. Once these buildings are gone there will be no remaining trace of any of the Masonic retirement homes in Washington State. There are some highly decorated interior spaces in this building that feature irreplaceable details, and it sounds like they are not even considering rehabilitation of the building for new uses or at the very least even salvaging any of the materials, such as stained glass windows, light fixtures, etc. I think the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation has had the building on their Most Endangered list for several years.
It is tragic to know that this historic building in Des Moines will be demolished. This is a landmark site. One i remember so well growing up in the area. This site should be protected by law.
Where can we go again to try to stop the Landmark building from being demolished? I believe there is a group that is working on that idea and I would like to join it.