Since opening the Machine Shed restaurant in Urbandale 17 years ago, Mike Whalen has seen a tremendous amount of economic development on the west side of Greater Des Moines, a boon he expects the east side to experience soon.

Whalen, president and CEO of Heart of America Restaurants & Inns – a restaurant company that has become more of a hotel company – is poised to add a significant commercial real estate component to his company’s portfolio with the development of The Shoppes at Prairie Crossing in Altoona, a 176-acre development at the intersection of Interstate 80 and the U.S. Highway 65 bypass.

And though he is confident the development will be a catalyst for more commercial and residential development, he admits there are obstacles to overcome.

“We have a little bit of this housing crisis to work through, but I think we will come out of it,” Whalen said, adding that he is surprised at the number of retailers that have already signed a letter of intent to occupy Prairie Crossing in a climate where retail development is “glacially slow” and retailers are carefully evaluating each project, cutting back on expansion plans and closing stores.

“It is amazing how many projects are being pulled off the shelf” due to the economic downturn, Whalen said, citing a recent “doom and gloom mood” among retailers.

Whalen has spent the better half of two years working on the Prairie Crossing project and was heavily involved in the courtship of Bass Pro Shops, a key element in attracting other retailers to the mall.

Whalen hopes landing a 150,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops store will help “put us on the map” and capitalize on the “herd mentality” of retailers, which tend to follow such “bell cows” as the giant outdoor retailer.

“I think you need to have a couple lead tenants,” including a major fashion retailer, in order to generate interest from other retailers, which are currently in a “hunker-down mode,” he said.

“I’m pretty confident that in the next six months we will tie down enough of these folks that we can start building,” Whalen said, commenting on the task of acquiring tenants for the mall, which will boast nearly 1.5 million square feet of retail space when completed in the next seven to 10 years.

“Once everyone feels that happy days are here again, those sitting on the sidelines will ask where to go and we can say we are ready to go right now,” Whalen said.

“As soon as the corn comes off … we’ll start moving dirt.”