The West Des Moines City Council this week approved the site plan for a development that will include a Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Architectural rendering by BSB Design

A proposal for a development that will include a popular national steakhouse cleared a key hurdle this week when the West Des Moines City Council approved the project’s site plan.

Project developer CRG Residential, located in Carmel, Ind. plans to construct a mixed-use building that will be anchored by Ruth’s Chris Steak House, a New Orleans-based steakhouse chain. The restaurant will occupy 15,000 square feet of space in the four-story building that will be located on the southwest corner of Jordan Creek Parkway and Ashworth Road, according to city documents.

The building, with brick and fiber cement panel exterior, will include an additional 8,000 square feet of commercial space and 199 multifamily residential units, city documents show. The multifamily units and commercial space will wrap around a multilevel parking structure.

Development costs are estimated at between $20 million and $30 million.

City officials are working with CRG Residential on finalizing a development agreement that could include an economic development grant of up to $2.3 million, according to a city document. The agreement could also include a breakdown of who will be responsible for infrastructure improvements.

According to information provided to the council, items that could be part of the agreement include:

• The city paying for and constructing improvements to 76th Street between Ashworth Road to just north of Aspen Drive. The city would install traffic signals at Ashworth and 76th Street.
• The developer ensuring that sidewalks around the development are installed, a private east-west street between Jordan Creek Parkway and 76th Street is constructed, and a regional underground detention basin is developed for the project site and 76th Street area. The city would reimburse the developer for the cost of the work.
• The developer initiating the process of installing streetlights around the development and ensuring a power line along Ashworth Road between 76th Street and Jordan Creek Parkway is put underground. The work would be done by MidAmerican Energy Co. and the city would reimburse the associated costs.

Site work on the project likely won’t begin for several weeks, according to city officials. The developer does not yet own the property. Once the land is acquired, paperwork must be completed to tie the properties together. In addition, architectural plans must be reviewed, a process that can take up to four weeks to complete.

Once development of the site begins, construction could take up to 18 months.