Des Moines ยท Downtown
Surety Hotel
George B. Hippee's Early Commercial office tower by Sawyer & Watrous, bought in 2017 by Aparium Hotel Group and turned into a hotel.
- Built
- 1910sCompleted in 1913 as the Hippee Building (later the Southern Surety, Savings and Loan, and Midland Building); converted to a hotel after 2017.
- Style
- Early Commercial
- Architect
- Sawyer & Watrous
- Type
- Boutique hotel
- Area
- Downtown
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The story
George B. Hippee, who developed Des Moines’ first interurban railway, completed the 12-story building in 1913; at 172 feet it was Iowa’s tallest skyscraper when finished. Des Moines architects Sawyer & Watrous designed it in the Early Commercial style. It served as an office building, known in turn as the Southern Surety, Savings and Loan and Midland Building, until Chicago’s Aparium Hotel Group bought it in 2017 and began converting it to a hotel. It was added to the National Register in 2018 and now operates as the Surety Hotel in Marriott’s Autograph Collection.
Good to know
- Address: 206 6th Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50309
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.