Kurt Brewer is excited about the possibility of development around Alice’s Road in Waukee.

As a full or partial landowner of about 200 acres in the 1,700-acre corridor, Brewer said he’s working daily on things related to development in that area. And he’s excited not only about his own prospects, but also about what it will do for the city of Waukee.

“Waukee has an opportunity to put itself on the map and make it the premier location in the state of Iowa – the premier place to be,” Brewer said. “It’s a really exciting time to have 1,700 acres of willing landowners, and this can be the neatest project in the state of Iowa.”

Before things go too far, there is work to be done and funding to be obtained. But developers and city officials are excited about a development area they think will look different than what people in Greater Des Moines are used to.

The heart of the proposed area stretches from Interstate 80 on the south to University Avenue on the north, with development filling in to Hickman Road. It will take major infrastructure improvements, including an extension of Alice’s Road south of University, and a different way of thinking for business and residents that locate in the area. A main goal is to encourage density that’s a bit higher than the suburban norm.

“We want something that’s not a cookie-cutter type of look,” said Waukee Mayor Bill Peard. “Something that people can say, ‘That’s unique.’”

After an original development plan envisioning an office and commercial corridor was laid out in 2004, the city, helped by the nonprofit Waukee Economic Development Corp., decided to take a closer look at what had changed and what the market called for as the plan became more of a potential reality.

The city has a new draft for the Alice’s Road Corridor Master Plan, which it shared with the City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission last month and at a community open house on April 5. Brad Deets, development services director for the city of Waukee, hopes for approval by the council and commission by May or June. The city hired Hoisington Koegler Group Inc. (HKGI) of Minneapolis as the project consultant, and last summer, work was completed on a bridge over Interstate 80 that connects Alice’s Road to 105th Street in West Des Moines.

Something different

A key concept of this project is higher-density development. The plan calls for an integrated approach of commercial, office and residential development.

“In the suburbs, we’re pretty used to density of really not to exceed about 18 units per acre. We’re proposing a slightly denser area, between 20 and 30 units per acre in some of these areas,” Deets said. “The whole idea is to create more of an urban feel in here and more density in here in order to sustain the overall development of the corridor.”

That could mean taller buildings and more creative use of green space. Rather than strictly single-family housing, developers are looking at adding multifamily stacked housing and row housing.

“Density drives infrastructure,” Brewer said. “Infrastructure attracts retail and more commercial tax revenue. And that will make us an attractive community.”

Gerry Neugent, president and chief operating officer of Knapp Properties Inc., which owns land in the area, said selling the higher-density approach to businesses could take getting used to. But he and others agreed it would be a selling point that could help Waukee stand apart from other areas in Greater Des Moines.

Neugent said Knapp had no specific deals in the works for the land between University Avenue and Interstate 80, but Hy-Vee Inc. did acquire a 13.46-acre parcel from Knapp at Alice’s Road and Hickman Road in February. Brewer, on the other hand, said he would have offers as soon as plans and funding for the infrastructure are finalized. He declined to name specific businesses, but said he had received interest from convenience stores and banks.

Getting there

The infrastructure part of the equation has already started with completed construction of the bridge over Interstate 80. The long-term goal is to have Alice’s Road extend south of University Avenue to connect with Interstate 80 as a six-lane road, with plans for widening the segment between University and Hickman Road to a four-lane road with a turning lane. The more immediate goal is to start with a three-lane road from Interstate 80 to University.

The next step toward those goals is to get approval for an interchange at Alice’s Road. Consulting company HKGI is working on an interchange justification report to be submitted to the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. To finance the interchange, Waukee officials were in Washington, D.C., at the end of March to seek sources of funding, Deets said, some of which is expected to come locally, split between Waukee and West Des Moines, and some from the state and federal levels.

The interchange ramps come with an estimated $13.5 million price tag. The overall estimated cost of the project, which includes construction of a three-lane road from Wendover Road just north of Interstate 80 to University Avenue, expansion of the road from University Avenue to Hickman Road and sewer development, is $35.5 million. However, “this is certainly subject to change,” Deets said.

Though the corridor plan could take decades to be realized, Deets estimated that if funding is obtained, there could be development along the new section of Alice’s Road within five years. Road construction is tentatively scheduled to be complete by 2013.

The sooner, the better, as far as developer Brewer is concerned.

“As soon as we hear the word ‘justification,’ I have people who are going to write me offers,” Brewer said.