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The Prairie Trail project in Ankeny is on schedule despite the slowdown in the housing market and commercial development, said Ashley Johnson, sales, project planning and administration manager at DRA Properties, the developer of what is projected to be a 1,000-acre urban neighborhood.

“Things are not happening quite as we planned, but they are still happening and that is something that we are very excited about,” Johnson said. “We anticipated this would be a seven- to 10-year project based on its size, and we feel we are right on track for that completion.”

One tactic Johnson credits with keeping the development on track is the sale of nearly 100 acres, which were originally slated for residential plots, to public entities.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to sell off some of our large parcels to different entities that were initially dedicated to residential,” Johnson said. “A little over 90 acres was sold to (the city and school district), like Ankeny High School, Ankeny Middle School and the new aquatic center.”

Johnson said selling some of the residential plats to the city and the school district has helped Prairie Trail buck the current downtown in the residential housing market.

Currently, six houses are under construction in Prairie Trail and construction of two custom homes will start this spring, Johnson said.

“In terms of residential, we would love for it to be faster, but many people see the value in still coming to this type of neighborhood,” she said.

Johnson said work has already started on the 70-acre high school parcel, which is slated to open in the fall of 2012 along with the middle school, which will sit on 25 acres. Additionally, the aquatic center is set to open by June 2010 and two parks will begin to take form in March: Dean Park, a 1.2-acre park targeted to children, and Chautauqua Park, a 46-acre city park to be built in phases.

Last month, Prairie Trail received the green light from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to start the cleanup of Chautauqua Park, a former landfill and wastewater treatment site. According to the Ankeny Economic Development Department, Deere & Co., the city of Ankeny and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will together spend more than $9 million for the cleanup.

Also in progress is the $7.5 million Iowa Soybean Association headquarters and the Iowa FFA Association’s headquarters.