The city of Ankeny is continuing its growth with two planned annexations that total more than 1,000 acres on the city’s northeast side.

One is 857 acres south of 36th Street, with 517 acres owned by development company DRA Properties LC. The other area is about 500 acres north of Costco, with about 300 acres owned by the Denny Elwell Company LC.

The annexation by DRA has been approved by the Ankeny City Council but still needs approval by the state’s City Development Board. The Elwell annexation still needs council approval before going before the state board.

It’s a very early step in the redevelopment of those areas  — which is several years off by most estimates — but will likely include a mix of retail, housing, some light industrial, potentially some office and in the case of the DRA site, maybe an 18-hole golf course.

It’s important to plan now for future growth of the community of about 72,000 people, said Chris Murray, president and CEO of Elwell.

“It’s really a lifetime of development with that much ground,” he said.

The objective, Murray said, is to “square up the city boundary.”

“We’ve assembled that ground and put it together,” he said. “We’ve had it for some time. There’s some early momentum up at the 36th Street corridor. In our business you’re always looking out five, 10, 20 years. Things don’t move fast, so you have to always be looking forward and that’s just what we’re doing.”

There isn’t a definitive plan yet for the property, Murray said.

Elwell will continue to evaluate the evolution of development in the area and the market demand as it works to develop a vision for the site.

“To say it’s going to be all one thing or all one type of zoning would be very difficult,” Murray said. “So our plan today is we’re looking forward.”

Ashley Johnson, chief operating officer at DRA, said the plans DRA has for the land it is annexing are not definite, but a golf course is part of the conversation.

“We are considering a high-end golf course, so potentially 18 holes, it could be up to 36. That will be a foundational piece for this northeast corridor,” she said.

If that happens, it could be surrounded by residential and commercial development along 36th Street, Johnson said.

She said continuing to expand Ankeny to the north and east is critical to the city’s growth.

“When the interchange went in at Northeast 36th Street, the development in that area became natural, especially as we started to see services and amenities like Costco go in adjacent to the interchange,” Johnson said.

DRA also is developing what is called the Plaza 36 site, which sits between 36th Street and the company’s Pine Lake Estates development just to the south. It will be a mix of retail, office and some multifamily.

Johnson said streets in the development are going in slowly, having been delayed by the rainy weather, but the first plat should be delivered this fall.

Streets in Pine Lake Estates are done and some homeowners are closing on the purchase of lots with construction about to begin. Lots on the second phase should be released for development soon, Johnson said.

Derek Lord, Ankeny’s director of economic development, said absorption of developable land in the city has been very high over the past decade and “it’s great to see the development community continuing to plan for the future.”

“That gives us available inventory to help market and support future development in the city,” Lord said.

He said the city is nearly built out on its southeast side, and “very built out on the southwest side.”

“So this opportunity on the northeast side really points to the future growth of commercial, mixed use and business park property in the city,” Lord said.