02.08.21

Downtown Des Moines stadium part of 65-acre, $535M development

An Iowa investment group seeking a USL Championship team has unveiled a 65-acre, $535-million development anchored by a new downtown Des Moines stadium.

Pro Iowa, the campaign seeking to bring professional soccer to Iowa, is working in partnership with Krause+, the real-estate development arm of Krause Group, and the City of Des Moines on the plan to revitalize the downtown Dico Superfund site into a community space featuring recreation, housing, commerce, and entertainment. A new downtown Des Moines stadium, owned by Iowa Soccer Development Foundation, a local nonprofit, would be among the first construction projects in that development.

All sides are working to develop a reinvestment district that would open access to tax-generated funds from the Iowa Reinvestment Act (IRA) for the redevelopment of the Dico Superfund site. The site would house a Global Plaza and Iowa’s first professional soccer stadium. If approved, the reinvestment district would include 65 acres of total development set to activate sections of Raccoon River, serve as a connector for downtown, and create dynamic, mixed-use neighborhoods. Krause+, along with Sherman Associates, would lead development of areas included within the reinvestment district.

This is a plan that’s been years in the making, and the plan has certainly expanded in score and complexity; read the linked stories below to see how dramatic the project has changed.

Beyond the Dico Superfund site, Krause+ plans to redevelop parts of the Western Gateway to include hospitality, food and entertainment, retail and housing. The reinvestment district will also include additional properties owned by Minneapolis-based developer Sherman Associates that continues to transform the Gray’s Landing area with recent housing, retail and hospitality developments.

“The reinvestment district will transform blighted, vacant and brownfield sites in the heart of Des Moines and replace them with dynamic, mixed-use neighborhoods that use the power of place to draw people of all ages and backgrounds to downtown,” said Des Moines mayor Frank Cownie via press statement.

To date, Pro Iowa has raised $13.7 million in private donations toward development of the professional soccer stadium.

SOURCE: Soccer Stadium Digest