2 planned sports venues will ‘spark development interest’ along Merle Hay Road, Johnston official says

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For nearly a decade, city officials in Johnston have been piecing together plans for redeveloping Merle Hay Road, the backbone of the city that stretches from Interstate Highway 80 north to Northwest Beaver Drive.


The nearly 3-mile stretch of road is where Johnston got its start; it’s where city offices are located and it’s what the main east-west arterial roads connect to. Time has been harsh to some of the properties along Merle Hay Road, with several becoming tired-looking, falling into disrepair or being abandoned.


Rather than wait for the private sector to step forward, the city created a plan to reinvigorate the area. 


In 2019, plans were unveiled for the Johnston Town Center, a $100 million development on the northeast corner of Merle Hay Road and Northwest 62nd Avenue that city officials billed as a gathering place for residents. 


A new City Hall opened in 2021. Also opening was a splash pool that converts to an ice rink and about an acre of green space called the Yard at which people can gather to hear concerts, watch movies and participate in other activities. 


Construction of two commercial buildings is underway and expected to be completed by midyear.


Officials have now turned their attention to the area just north of the interstate. 


“This is an area where we really tried to lay out a plan for a destination location,” said David Wilwerding, Johnston’s community development director. “We wanted to support existing businesses along Merle Hay but also draw a lot of visitors into our community.”


In late February, the Johnston City Council took steps to make the area a destination location. The council approved a site plan for Ignit, an indoor/outdoor sports fitness complex planned on the west side of Merle Hay Road at Northwest Johnston Drive. The 30-acre complex will include a 200,000-square-foot facility with an indoor track, a full-size soccer field, meeting spaces and fitness areas. Volleyball courts, baseball fields and a soccer field will be outside.


Construction of the indoor facility is expected to be completed by spring 2023.


The council also approved a development agreement with Stoye & Kann Development, which is proposing to build a golf entertainment venue, a hotel and three other mixed-use buildings at 5055 Merle Hay Road. The golf venue, called Bombers, will include 60 bays from which golf balls can be hit onto a driving range. It would be the second such venue proposed in the Des Moines area. 


Attached to the four-level Bomber golf venue will be a 100-room hotel. Also included in the complex will be a video arcade, a rooftop bar and other bars, a full-service restaurant, and private meeting rooms and event spaces.


Construction of the $80 million project is expected to begin this spring and be completed by summer 2023.


Planning for the project began in August 2020.


Brothers Eric and Mitchell Kann contacted Troon, an Arizona-based golf management company, about doing a feasibility study on whether the Des Moines area could support a Topgolf-like facility, Eric Kann said. When the study showed such a venue would be successful, the brothers began looking for land on which to build, including in Waukee, they said.


“When word started leaking out that we were looking in Waukee, the price of the land suddenly got a lot more expensive,” said Dr. Allen Stoye, senior managing partner of Stoye & Kann Development. 


The group learned about the land in Johnston, which the city had purchased last October, and a deal was struck to purchase the parcels at 5055, 5229 and 5249 Merle Hay Road. 


Since news of the proposed golf entertainment project broke, the development group has been contacted by retail-related businesses interested in locating in one of the three mixed-use buildings, Stoye said. Originally, construction of the three buildings was expected to be completed by the end of 2026. Stoye said one or more of the buildings could be completed before then. 


“Our plan is not to sell that ground to somebody but to own it and do a build to suit,” Stoye said. “We really like this site, and with some of the other things that might be built there, will be a very exciting addition” to the Des Moines area.


Johnston’s Wilwerding agreed. 


“The Bomber complex and Ignit I think will really spark development interest up and down the entire Merle Hay Road corridor,” he said.

 

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