DES MOINES, Iowa -- With a treacherous flood in the early 1990sand a stubborn reluctance from residents to stay in the city pastworking hours, downtown Des Moines had seen its share of plightsover the years including another wave of recent flooding.

That all changed in the spring of 2007 when a once lifeless,three-story building became one of the catalysts to breathe lifeback into Des Moines. Thanks to the vision of area developers andcity officials coupled with partial financing from CommunityBusiness Lenders LLC, the building has transformed into the CourtCenter, a bustling entertainment venue home to several trendyrestaurants and live music spots.

Located on the corner of Third and Court, the 33,000-square footCourt Center at one point housed a restaurant and office space onthe first floor but the second and third floors sat dormant foryears, said Mark Kilian, CEO of Community Business Lenders. TheCUSO was founded in 2005 by the Iowa Credit Union League, $224million Community Choice Credit Union $124 million MEMBERS1stCommunity Credit Union. A Des Moines resident for nearly 30 years,Killian said he was all too familiar with the starts and stops torevitalize downtown.