Equitable Building

The Equitable Building is a high-rise located in Des Moines, Iowa. It is named after the insurance company Equitable of Iowa, which originally owned the building, and is located along Locust Street in the downtown area of the city. The 19-story Equitable Building, at 604 Locust St. in Des Moines, was completed in 1924, and standing at 318 ft (97m), for 49 years was the tallest building in Iowa. It remained the tallest building in Iowa for almost 50 years, until the completion of Financial Center in 1973. The Equitable Building is now the eighth tallest building in Iowa.The building consists of retail, office and residential spaces. Since early 2006 a developer has been working to convert much of the building to condominiums. In late 2007 the main retail tenant, Joseph's Jewelry, announced that they would be relocating from the Equitable Building after 83 years to Davis Brown Tower, located at 10th St and Walnut. The move was completed in 2008.On May 5, 2009, Equitable L.P. was ordered to pay a $500,000 environmental civil penalty for conducting extensive renovations of the historic Equitable Building in downtown Des Moines without taking required precautions for the presence of asbestos-containing material. “This is the largest civil penalty by far in Iowa for asbestos violations,” said Attorney General Tom Miller. “We alleged Equitable L.P. completely ignored asbestos-handling requirements during renovations from 2005 to 2007, until the Iowa DNR became involved.”Asbestos – which often is present in older building materials – is regulated as a hazardous air pollutant. It can cause lung disease and cancer, especially if it is contained in dust when asbestos-containing material is crumbled, pulverized or reduced to powder. State and federal laws and regulations have stringent requirements for handling regulated asbestos-containing material during demolition or renovations.