In her 16 years of selling real estate, Sharon Klaus has never seen a planned community quite like the Village of Ponderosa.

Construction is moving forward on Ladco Development Inc.’s mixed-use development in West Des Moines, the first of its kind in Central Iowa, with a “live, work and play atmosphere,” said Klaus, residential sales director for Ponderosa.

Following the increasingly popular trend of new urbanism, marketers of the project are touting Ponderosa as a community that offers “proximity and convenience” to residents and businesses, a unique environment in which people don’t have to start their cars each time they want to go somewhere.

“We are creating a destination,” for entertainment, business and lifestyle, said Tamera Hanson, Ladco’s marketing communications director.

When finished, the 96-acre development will boast 494 homes, 16 commercial buildings, a 2.25-acre lake and seven miles of walking trails, which will eventually connect to the West Des Moines trail system. Forty-four percent of the development will be devoted to green space.

Hanson said approximately 102,463 square feet of the planned commercial retail/office space has been completed so far, with 218,513 square feet remaining to be built, including Ladco’s and Ball Construction Services LLC’s new 17,000-square-foot headquarters, expected to open in January 2009.

Originally expected to take two to three years, the build-out of Ponderosa has been slowed by a downturn in the housing market, Hanson said, adding that it will now be “several” years before it is completed. “Now is not the time to start” building, before the homes are sold, she said.

According to Klaus, 42 residential properties have been sold and 36 of those have been completed and occupied, or are currently under construction. Klaus said Ponderosa is bucking the trend in a soft market. Only one of the 36 home buyers has yet to sell the home they moved out of, she said.

Hanson said the increasing cost of fuel is one of the attractions of a “destination” community” like Ponderosa, where residents can walk or bike to any number of locations for food, work or entertainment. The neighboring West Glen Town Center also offers an array of restaurants, bars and retail establishments, including a SuperTarget, within walking distance of Ponderosa.

This is the “least amount of driving I’ve ever done in my life,” said Sue Davis, who’s been a resident of Ponderosa’s Creekside neighborhood. With gas prices at an all-time high, Davis, who moved to Creekside in April, said she doesn’t put many miles on her vehicle, opting to walk or bike instead.

“It is a lifestyle that people in Des Moines are not yet aware of,” Davis continued, adding that the social element of capturing a “small town community in the city” was a draw to her and her husband, as well as the range of age brackets represented.

Ladco’s only residential project, Ponderosa has 13 neighborhoods, each featuring a different style of home, and various price points – ranging from $119,000 to $700,000 – which leads to diversity in the area, drawing buyers who range from young professionals to retirees.

But how has the economic downturn affected the retail businesses at Ponderosa, which are waiting for the automatic customer base 500 households will bring?

“I think if I was a brand-new business it would be hard,” said Cyndi Landa, owner of Estilo Salon and Day Spa, the first retail establishment to open in Village of Ponderosa. “For me, it was a great move to the west side,” adding that her business has gained 2,900 new clients since opening in October 2007.

Landa believes that as businesses continue to open they will “feed off of each other,” and is interested to see if Gateway Market West, which opened in June, attracts business to the salon.

Paul Rottenberg, owner of Gateway Market West, said the store was designed to “work well for tight-knit neighborhoods” with the long-term “pedestrian-oriented” mission of Village of Ponderosa in mind.

He said the market’s café business is off to a “rocket start,” its catering business is picking up, and he thinks grocery sales are strong, though not yet mature. Grocery sales will pick up, he added, when the houses are finished.

“Once that foot traffic (increases), things will begin to build on themselves.”