Des Moines Register
08-08-06
Ankeny plans a town within a town
Project includes housing, trails, shops, town center
By LAURA PIEPER
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Ankeny officials unveiled Thursday what Mayor Steve Van Oort called one of the
most important projects since the founding of Ankeny.
Prairie Trail will be a 1,000-acre development that will include residential
neighborhoods, business parks, pedestrian trails and lakes. The focal point of the
project will be a town center that will resemble old-fashioned Iowa town squares.
Former Ankeny mayor Ollie Weigel was present at the Thursday press
conference on Prairie Trail. He is pleased to see a project 25 years in the making
finally come to fruition.
"I think it's going to be great," he said. "It's been a long time coming."
Weigel served as Ankeny mayor for about 20 years, from 1974 through 1993. He
has witnessed decades of discussions between Ankeny and Iowa State
University officials about how to develop the land currently occupied by the
school's dairy farm.
Now known as Prairie Trail, the land is located generally north of Des Moines
Area Community College and south of John Deere Des Moines Works.
"Even 25 years ago we spent a lot of hours on it, so it's pretty nice to see
something really coming together now," Weigel said.
Ankeny officials made an offer to buy the land from ISU for $23.6 million in 2005,
then sought proposals on how the land could be developed. They chose Ankeny
developer Dennis Albaugh to be the project's master developer and his company,
DRA Properties, purchased the land from ISU.
As part of the city's deal with Albaugh, his company will contribute up to $25
million to a civic trust fund to pay for new city facilities and public spaces around
Ankeny. These developer payments would be based on the first $20 million
Ankeny officials could spend to build streets, utility systems and other support
projects in Prairie Trail.
DRA Properties officials will give the city $3 million to start the civic fund. That
advance will be earmarked as city officials' return on their first $12 million of
investments in Prairie Trail streets, utilities and other improvements.
After the city spends $12 million, officials said, each future improvement project
will cause the developer to pay back $1.25 for every $1 the city spends.
Officials have said the Prairie Trail project is unique because it is already within
city limits and is generally undeveloped farmland. The sheer size of the project,
officials have said, makes it one of the largest in the Midwest.
"The scale of this ... is much larger than anything else in the metropolitan area,"
Ankeny City Manager Carl Metzger said at the press conference.
Developers have said the Prairie Trail design reflects Ankeny's heritage and Iowa
values, particularly with the town square concept.
"The goal is to create more of a sense of neighborhood," Metzger said.
Prairie Trail will be connected to the rest of the community as well, with trails
following underground tunnels to meet areas on the other sides of Ankeny
Boulevard, Oralabor Road and Irvinedale Drive.
"We think the walkability of Prairie Trail is one of its strengths," Metzger said in
an interview.
The city and DRA Properties hired Pittsburgh-based firm Urban Design
Associates to develop the master plan for the community, which was revealed at
Thursday's press conference.
Van Oort said planners used information gathered from Ankeny residents and
businesses through a community feedback process last year.
"The results (of those meetings) ... were used to shape overall direction of the
development that you see before you today," he said at the press conference.
UDA held a weeklong design meeting earlier this year with city and DRA
representatives as well as people from Des Moines Area Community College,
John Deere and the Ankeny school district.
"We're very excited about it," said DMACC President Rob Denson.
Prairie Trail will have several access points to the college and will include new
student housing. A new Future Farmers of America International headquarters is
planned on DMACC property on the edge of Prairie Trail.
John Deere Ankeny plant manager Dave Rodger said he was pleased with the
plans for Prairie Trail.
"We're encouraged by the well-thought-out and broad range of services included
in the proposal," he said.
The planners have included a buffer zone of commercial development between
the John Deere plant and any residential properties within Prairie Trail.
Albaugh said he expects to break ground on grading yet this year for Prairie Trail,
and plans to have 350 residential lots complete by late 2007. The entire Prairie
Trail development should be complete and occupied within eight years.