Questions, answered.

Everything inside is new, and every utility is included for a flat $35 a month. This building was rebuilt as apartments in 2025: new flooring, paint, a rebuilt bathroom, new cabinets, countertops and appliances, and a heating and cooling unit you control yourself, in every apartment. Most of what rents near Merle Hay at this price was built in the same decade and has not been touched since. On the ground floor you park a few steps from your own door.

Everything but the shape of the building. It was a hotel on Douglas Avenue for fifty years. We bought it in 2024, closed it, and rebuilt it as apartments: every apartment got new flooring, new paint, a rebuilt bathroom, new cabinets and countertops, new appliances and a new heating and cooling unit, and behind the walls we rewired the building and added circuits. Outside we repaved and restriped the lot, repainted the stucco, and put in new fencing, landscaping, mailboxes and signage. It opened in 2025.

Douglas Avenue runs east and west across the north side of Des Moines and meets Merle Hay Road right here. That corner is where the groceries, the pharmacies, the restaurants and a good share of the jobs on this side of town are. Merle Hay Mall is a tenth of a mile away, the DART bus stop is next door, Interstate 35/80 is about five minutes north, and downtown Des Moines is about ten minutes southeast.

No. There is no income limit here and no waiting list. If you meet our standard screening, you can move in.

Forty-seven studios of about 300 square feet from $650, and three one bedrooms of about 420 square feet with a separate bedroom. A handful of the studios are larger corner apartments and are priced accordingly. The studio is drawn to scale with a real queen bed on the Floor Plans section of the home page, and the listings page shows what is open right now.

Yes. The studio takes a queen bed, a table for two and a dresser with the floor still clear between them. The plan on the home page is drawn to scale with a 60 by 80 inch queen, so you can check before you drive over.

A full kitchen with a range, oven and refrigerator, a full bathroom with a tub, a closet by the door, a large window at the far end, and one open room that is not carved up by hallways. New flooring, paint and light fixtures throughout, new cabinets and countertops, new locks on the door, and a heating and cooling unit you set yourself.

Yes. The building is two stories with no elevator, and on the ground floor your door opens a few steps from where you park. Upstairs apartments are one flight up.

Every utility: electricity, heating and cooling, water and sewer, and trash and recycling. You pay $35 a month on top of rent and that is the whole bill. No meter to read, no summer spike, no account to open before you move in. The only thing it does not cover is your own internet service.

Every dollar it takes to get keys, listed before you apply: a $25 application fee, a security deposit equal to one month's rent, the first month's rent, and the first month's $35 utility charge, collected at signing. There is no administrative fee. On a $650 studio that comes to $1,360, everything included. It is higher on the larger floor plans because the deposit matches your rent. After you move in, your monthly cost is rent plus the flat $35 and nothing else. Pet fees apply only if you have a pet.

We publish what we look for, so you know where you stand before you spend anything on an application: monthly income before taxes of two and a half times the rent (about $1,625 a month for a $650 studio), a credit score of 625 or above, and two years of rental history. Housing Choice vouchers are welcome, and the income test is not applied to the portion of rent your voucher pays. Not sure whether you clear these? Call and ask before you apply. We would rather tell you honestly than take your $25.

Neither one is automatically a no. If credit or income falls short, a lease guaranty service can stand behind your lease, which often lets us approve an application that would not clear our criteria on its own. It works a lot like a co-signer without needing to ask anyone you know. If the deposit is the problem, a deposit coverage program lets you pay a much smaller fee instead of a full month and keep the difference in your pocket at move-in. Both are priced on your own situation rather than a flat rate, so ask before you apply and we will get you the exact number.

Yes. Dogs are $50 a month and cats are $35 a month, with a $250 non-refundable fee per pet, a maximum of two pets per apartment, and no breed or weight restrictions. Assistance animals are not pets: service animals and support animals are welcome, with no fee, no deposit and no monthly charge, and they do not count against the pet limit.

Free off-street parking in a lot that was repaved and restriped in the renovation, including three accessible stalls. There is bike parking too.

Yes, on-site laundry, coin operated.

Call (515) 334-3345 or email viewondouglas@stanbroughrealty.com and we will find a time that works, usually the same week. Showings are not booked online, and a showing takes about fifteen minutes.

Online, from the apartment's own listing. Every open apartment on the listings page links to its photos and the application. The fee is $25, and applications are reviewed in one to two business days.

Online, through the resident portal. You can pay from a bank account or a card and set up automatic payments so it is never late. The flat $35 utility charge is billed with your rent.

Through the same resident portal. Describe the issue, add a photo if it helps, and the maintenance team schedules the repair. For anything urgent, call the office.

Stanbrough Realty, a Des Moines property management company. Leasing, showings, rent and maintenance all go through their office at (515) 334-3345.