The West Des Moines Planning and Zoning Commission voted Monday to designate an Urban Renewal Area around Valley West Mall, a move that Ryan Moffatt, the city’s community and economic development director, described as an “enabling step,” toward the redevelopment of the site of the once popular mall.

“This is basically just a step in the process,” Moffatt said during the meeting.

The Urban Renewal Plan approved by the commission will go before the West Des Moines City Council for final approval on Oct. 20.

Moffatt said the city is in negotiations with an interested party who is looking to buy the mall but would not identify who that is. He also said he doesn’t know what a future plan for the site might look like.

Moffatt said the Urban Renewal designation would extend beyond the immediate mall property and include 74 acres west of Valley West Drive along Westown Parkway where there are vacant office buildings, vacant sites and a housing project that is in “somewhat of a deteriorated state.”

Moffatt said the designation complies with the city’s land use plan.

In June 2024, the West Des Moines City Council rezoned the mall property for mixed-use, allowing the site to be redeveloped for residential, office, retail and entertainment. In February, the 865,000-square-foot mall officially went on the market with brokerage firm CBRE appointed as the exclusive sales agent.

In August, it was announced that the mall was under contract and that a prospective buyer was beginning a period of due diligence, but neither Todd Millang, a senior vice president with CBRE, nor Moffatt would identify who that is, citing a nondisclosure agreement.

U.S. Bank foreclosed on the mall in 2022, alleging the mall’s owner, Watson Centers Inc., had not made loan and other required payments since May 2021. According to the foreclosure petition, the Minneapolis-based Watson Centers owed $3.49 million in missed payments.

Since then, questions have lingered about who will buy the 60-acre parcel and what any redevelopment of the once-bustling mall could look like.

The two-story mall at 1551 Valley West Drive opened in 1975 and flourished with three anchor stores until Jordan Creek Town Center opened in 2004 and retailers began to follow shoppers to the new retail hub.

During Monday’s meeting, Moffatt said the mall has seen an 80% reduction in assessed value since the height of its activity in 2005. Online records show an assessed value of $19.8 million. The mall has 138 tenant spaces, but only about 22 are occupied, Moffatt said.

“If you read the plan, we’ve done a good job laying out the conditions that exist today, a lot of market obsolete conditions,” Moffatt said. “It’s kind of a new journey for us.”