Owners of Merle Hay Mall and the Des Moines Buccaneers have not yet reached an agreement for a lease for a proposed arena on the west side of the mall, according to an Urbandale city official.

Officials from the cities of Urbandale and Des Moines and from Polk County gave owners of the mall and the Buccaneers until Dec. 31 to reach a finalized lease agreement or risk losing a $26.5 million award from the Iowa Reinvestment District Program. Mall owners and the Buccaneers have been working to hammer out an agreement for well over a year.

“The two parties are continuing to negotiate and desire to preserve funding sources like the Iowa Reinvestment Act for the development,” Curtis Brown, Urbandale’s assistant city manager, wrote in an email.

In November 2020, Merle Hay Mall’s owner announced that former department store space in the center would be redeveloped into a home arena for the Buccaneers. When the Bucs weren’t playing, other related activities could be held in the 3,500-seat arena, project supporters have said.

However, pandemic-related hurdles, including soaring interest rates and spikes in the prices of materials, stalled the project.

In late 2023, leaders from Urbandale, Des Moines and Polk County gave the mall and Buccaneers until Dec. 31 to reach a lease agreement or risk losing the award from the Iowa Reinvestment District Program.

Brown, in his email, wrote that representatives of the project will provide a verbal report to the Iowa Economic Development Authority board at its Jan. 19 meeting.

“This report will provide an update on the project status and will be an opportunity to assess next steps for the Merle Hay Project and the 28E Board representing Polk County and the cities of Des Moines and Urbandale,” Brown wrote.

Elizabeth Holland, CEO of Merle Hay Investors, the group that owns the mall, and Michael Devlin, part of the Buccaneers ownership group, have both have previously said they expect to reach an agreement that allows the proposed project to move forward.