With all funding commitments in place for the Pro Iowa Soccer Stadium and Global Plaza, organizers have been busy working with the design team to get a clearer picture of what the development will look like.

“This is the fun part,” said Jeff Lorenzen, president of the Iowa Soccer Development Foundation, the nonprofit behind the project. “Getting over the line for the funding was really a challenge, and now getting it to the point where we can engage the architects and construction companies to come in and show us what our dream looks like in reality is the fun part, and then just slowly watching it go from ground to a full stadium and Global Plaza in a mere 24 to less than 36 months, it’s going to be a game-changer for downtown Des Moines.”

The Iowa Soccer Development Foundation has raised more than $90.8 million for the project, including a $7 million grant that was approved by the Des Moines City Council in December. The project has also received more than $40 million in private contributions, including $23 million from Kyle and Sharon Krause. It also has received $17.9 million from the state’s Iowa Reinvestment Act program, along with $5 million from the state’s Destination Iowa fund and a $200,000 grant from Prairie Meadows.

With those commitments in hand, Lorenzen said organizers will continue working with the design team, a process that could wrap up in late May or early June. Once that is done, organizers will work with the city and the EPA on preparing the former Dico Inc. location, a superfund site south of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and east of Fleur Drive.

That process has to be very detailed to meet EPA requirements to ensure the site is properly prepared before infrastructure can begin, Lorenzen said.

Part of that work will include removing the asphalt cap that is currently at the site as underground utility work begins. Once that is complete, the area will be recapped.

When complete, the stadium would be home to a United Soccer League franchise, with talks underway to bring both a men’s and women’s team to the city.

An update on those negotiations is expected in the coming months, according to a statement from Krause Group.

“Krause Group has an established, long-term partnership with the United Soccer League, which aligns with our vision for growing both women’s and men’s professional soccer in Des Moines and across Iowa,” the statement read.

While the initial proposal was for 6,300 seats, the exact number of seats in the stadium will be dependent on the final design.

Lorenzen said while some changes are expected from what the initial proposal looked like, he anticipated they would be minor changes that the average person wouldn’t likely notice.

“We want to be able to expand the stadium at some points, but maybe having footings in so you can do that expansion when the time comes,” he said. “Some of it was just pulling back on some of those amenities, but from an aesthetic standpoint, I don’t know that the average person would know the difference between one rendering and the other. It’s more of what it would look like going forward and allowing us the flexibility to expand as much as we can.”

Lorenzen said if the number of seats is reduced in the final design, it will still meet the requirements set forth by the USL, but that fundraising is continuing to ensure future expansion is funded.

“We have enough to build this facility the way we need it to be for the USL, but there’s things we want to do yet and it takes more money, so we’re going to continue that fundraising to make this the best facility it can be,” he said.

Lorenzen is also the CEO of American Equity Life Insurance Investment Co., which is moving downtown from West Des Moines. He said the stadium and Global Plaza will be a “drive for economic development downtown, which is sorely needed.”

He said the stadium and Global Plaza is a combined $600 million of investment that will spread from the Western Gateway to Principal Park.

“It’s an area that has been underserved and that has had its challenges as a superfund site,” Lorenzen said. “So, it’s a great use of underused land in Des Moines and it’s a catalyst for future development of housing, retail and other recreation and entertainment, and then that will filter up into the Western Gateway.”

A feasibility study by Johnson Consulting estimated the stadium and Global Plaza will generate $8.8 billion in revenue over 20 years and create 2,000 permanent jobs and 6,800 part-time jobs.

“In terms of contributions to job creation, to economic development, tax revenues, it’s bringing an attractive asset to Des Moines,” he said.