Urbandale’s plan to redevelop its downtown district — that area between Merle Hay Road to 75th Street along Douglas Avenue — is moving forward with the next steps focused on branding and zoning to better identify the area and create opportunities for development that will turn the area into a mixed-use district.

The Urbandale City Council recently awarded contracts to consultants who responded to separate requests for proposals: One for branding, the other for zoning.

It’s the latest in the city’s vision to revitalize its downtown to create a sense of place for the community to come together for shopping, entertainment and to live.

The city, working with consulting firm Bolten and Menk, developed its downtown master plan, which was approved by the city council in December 2023. Since then, the city has met with business owners and residents to get their input on what they want in the wide-ranging plan. That includes renovation of existing buildings, new construction, development of street-level retail with upper-story residential, more landscaping to create buffers between parking lots and the streets, altering traffic flow, and storm water control initiatives.

Before it gets there, though, the city needs to address some issues that include the identity of the downtown, and the zoning that currently exists in the area.

“As we started going through this and thinking about downtown and the revitalization effort, we knew there are people in the community that didn’t know Urbandale had a downtown,” said Aaron DeJong, the city’s director of economic development. “One of the things we discussed was what is the best name for it?”

The downtown master plan was approved in July 2025, and as that plan evolved, talks about the identity of the downtown continued, DeJong said.

“We thought about how to present this area back to the metro, what is the way and the style in which we should do that?” he said. “There’s going to be major changes down there … and how should that be reintroduced to the metro? The branding effort is to identify what is downtown Urbandale to be communicated as out to everyone?”

The city council approved an agreement with De Novo Marketing from Cedar Rapids in February to guide the downtown branding effort.

DeJong said the city has begun meeting with De Novo and property and business owners to get input.

DeJong said the city hasn’t decided whether a name change is needed in the area.

“This branding effort is one way to solidify whether that’s the case or not, and to know whether downtown Urbandale is the right name for it, or is there something better that could communicate the vision we have for that area,” he said.

The council also approved an agreement with consulting firm Wright Smith Cozino, which will work with the Confluence consulting firm and look at the types of projects that are contained in the downtown master plan that would require zoning that is different from what is currently there, DeJong said.

The zoning now is neighborhood commercial, which allows for low density commercial along the Douglas Avenue corridor.

“Certainly, the master plan is a much different vision for the area, so the zoning needs to be modified to reflect that,” DeJong said.

He said rezoning the area will provide certainty for the business community and developers as they embark on redevelopment of the area.

DeJong said the branding and zoning efforts are separate but will take place concurrently.

He said those efforts are an example of the work that needs to take place before the city begins redeveloping an existing neighborhood.

“It absolutely takes time,” he said. “We’re fortunate to have a really good master plan that lays out the vision, and then the rules and regulations and the effort for infrastructure, branding and placemaking are all the next steps to what will ultimately provide certainty and confidence for the business community to reinvest in downtown Urbandale. We’re looking at how this area will be perceived by the market, how the rules will be written and adjusted so that developments have an easy path to success.”

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