Live Nation Entertainment Inc., which bills itself as the world’s leading live entertainment company, has signed a 20-year lease agreement to anchor the Venue, the centerpiece of a $100 million entertainment district in Waukee.

The Venue, which will hold about 3,500 people, will be Live Nation’s first Iowa location.

“This is a feather in the cap of the project,” said Harry Coin, a Quad Cities developer who is a principal of the 40-acre KeeTown Loop development planned on the northwest corner of Grand Prairie Parkway and Ashworth Road. The development is expected to include retail shops, restaurants and one or more hotels.

Live Nation Entertainment, which includes Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts and Live Nation Sponsorships, is expected to bring 100 or more events annually to the Venue.

“It’s live entertainment and they will bring in some fairly significant and recognizable artists,” said Coin, who worked more than 18 months with Live Nation to finalize a deal.

Coin said Live Nation’s presence in KeeTown Loop will likely attract other retailers to the development.

“Once people educate themselves about what Live Nation brings to a market and what they’re about, you’ll see a lot more [development] activity,” he said. “All a person has to do is go look at similar endeavors Live Nation has been in to see their impact. It speaks for itself.”

Site work is expected to begin on the development yet this fall. Coin said construction is expected to begin in spring with completion eyed for late 2023. The first event will likely be held at the Venue in late 2023 or early 2024.

Live Nation, which is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif., owns, operates or leases 155 entertainment venues in North America and 76 international ones, according to its most recent annual report. A majority of the space in which Live Nation operates – 149 venues – is leased, according to the annual report. The company will lease eight additional sites that are currently under construction.

Planning for KeeTown Loop began in 2019 and construction was originally expected to begin in spring 2020, just as the pandemic hit. Construction of the first phase of the project is expected to be completed by 2025.

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