The inspiration behind Gray’s Station townhomes began with a purposeful master plan to turn 75 acres of set aside timber and land into a sprawling urban neighborhood with endless housing choices and entertainment options for those looking to live in downtown Des Moines.

When it comes to the townhomes you’ll discover in the community, much of the ideation came from market visits and Susanne Roesch, the Lead Designer for Hubbell Homes. When the project was proposed, Susanne understood the need for high density housing coupled with the access to nearby trails and walk ways.

“It was quite overwhelming to hear 75 acres – it’s a huge space. We wanted to create a fun, urban and diverse environment that would attract many areas of our population,” said Roesch. Between the varying levels of home heights and features found inside, it was really the outside that proved a fun challenge.

“For such a big area, the goal was to create the buildings so they don’t look the same. The challenge was to bring texture in the façade and to play up the in and outs but not to over do it. In an urban neighborhood – how do you define all of it without doing too much and without combining too many things as it’s all coming together?” said Roesch.

In the first phase alone, visitors will see 7-plus home types, all of which sport different interior finishes. The outsides boast metal siding, panels, stone and many other materials that only blend together in an urban community like this.

“The concept was taking the master plan that we created with the city and use it like building blocks. It went very much from nothing to streets, then we knew we wanted alley-loaded homes where the front door could have more walkability and could be more pedestrian friendly,” said Roesch. “All in all, it took about four months to get the schematics and elevations done, which then we wanted to perfect them. We did a lot of iterations of every unit type to get the right mix in order to attract family with kids, young professionals to empty nesters. It was important that we had something for everyone.”

Learn more about available homes here: https://graysstation.com/live-here