AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University is moving forward with a planned multi-use district between Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum at the Iowa State Center in Ames.
"We're finding a way to energize that space in a way that'll allow us to reinvest in the Iowa State Center and also build a convention center and a hotel," says ISU Athletics Director Jamie Pollard.
He says they want to take the first phase of the CYTown project to the Iowa Board of Regents for approval in November, with completion set for August of 2025.
"The first phase is roughly a $25 million project that will put all the infrastructure into place in the southern half of that space--the parking lots," Pollard says.
He says CYTown's initial phase also includes an outdoor public plaza and amphitheater area that can be used on game days, or for local concerts or other special events.
Pollard says the future phases will include a new medical clinic, meeting and gathering space, as well as office and retail space.
Iowa State envisions the CYTown development is a two-decade long project.
"When fully built out over the next 20 years, it'll generate approximately $200 million of spendable revenue. Seventy-five percent of that will come from the rents that we'll generate from repurposing that land," Pollard says.
He says the remaining 25 percent will come from the leasing of 20 CYTown Suites and fundraising.
ISU says it wants CYTown to be similar other projects around the country developed near sports facilities including Titletown near the Green Bay Packers' Lambeau Field, and Kansas City's Power & Light District near the T-Mobile Center, the annual home of the Big 12 Men's and Women's Basketball Championships.
Image from ISU Athletics Facebook Page