Our Owner

Connor J Delaney - Founder and Principal

 

"Cities don’t lose their character all at once.
They lose it one transaction at a time.

 

A theater that becomes storage.
A bar that loses its soul.
An apartment building stripped of what made it human.

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Ownership is easy to define. Stewardship is not.

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Stewardship means understanding that some buildings carry more than square footage. They hold memory. Routine. Belonging. They’ve watched generations pass through them quietly, without ever asking for attention.

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In Des Moines, there are places that don’t just sit in neighborhoods — they are the neighborhood. They anchor streets, stories, and social life. When those places change hands, the decision reverberates far beyond the deed.

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I’ve come to believe that the role of an owner, especially of historic and culturally significant properties, is not to erase what made them matter — but to protect it while allowing the next chapter to exist.

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That means patience.
It means restraint.
It means sometimes doing less when doing more would be easier.

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Not every building should be maximized.
Some should be respected.

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Stewardship isn’t flashy. It doesn’t always optimize returns on paper. But it preserves something far harder to replace once it’s gone: continuity.

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Cities are shaped by the people who decide what’s worth keeping.

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I choose to keep what matters."

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- C.D.