The next phases of the Johnston Town Center development could begin next year, continuing the project to create a town square environment that includes a new city hall building and a new GrandStay Hotel that opened last month.

The Town Center development also includes two retail centers on the southwest corner with plans to duplicate those buildings on tracts of land to the north.

Johnston, which has a population of just over 24,000, doesn’t have a downtown, and creating a downtown-style area has been part of the city’s comprehensive plan going back to the 1970s. The city began purchasing land in the 2000s along the northern area of Merle Hay Road to spur development in the area and in 2019 broke ground on the new city hall and the Town Center project.

Now with the 76-room GrandStay Hotel open at Merle Hay Road and Northwest 62nd Avenue, officials have their sights set on the next phases of growth for the space designed to create places for the community to gather for events like the already scheduled Family Fest, Concert Series and Holidays at the Town Center.

“We do have a timeline in 2025 for some more activity to begin,” said Josh Laraby, Johnston’s director of economic development. “Our partner, Hansen Construction, our agreement with them would be that they purchase the next tranche of land by the end of this calendar year.”

Officials said having a hotel can be a tool used that helps draw businesses to the Town Center and the community.

The city conducted a hotel study prior to the pandemic, and leaders have been talking to hotel developers throughout the process. The GrandStay emerged, checking all the boxes for what the city was looking for, said David Wilwerding, Johnston’s assistant city administrator.

“It has a nice amenity package, different variety of room styles, and it’s not a massive hotel, but it’s within a mile of all our major employers,” he said. “It’s in the middle of the Town Center, where we have the businesses that are here now and that will be here, and we can build on that synergy.”

Laraby said the hotel will not only support the opportunity for new businesses but also support current businesses and other visitors to the community.

“We as a city have brought in consultants for municipal efforts, and they can’t find a hotel to stay here in Johnston more than once,” he said. “And even the school district has reported that, so a new hotel not only brings new business attraction opportunities and increases the general vitality but supports our existing businesses, particularly our larger employers.”

The GrandStay is the city’s third hotel. The others are the Stoney Creek Hotel and AmericInn.

Some of the tenants in the existing Town Center buildings are restaurant Backpocket Pin & Pixel, Blue Bean Coffee, the wine lounge The Cork 50131 and Athletico Physical Therapy.

Wilwerding said the vision for the next phases is for smaller boutique and mom-and-pop style businesses that don’t need a lot of space to operate but will benefit from the foot traffic. A third building will mirror existing buildings along Merle Hay Road on the northside of the development, and then another building on land to the north.

He said the Town Center is also creating a community where businesses are supporting activities in unexpected ways.

The Cork 50131 runs all the concert series that happen at the Town Center, and Backpocket operates concessions and skate rentals, Wilwerding said.

“Those aren’t business things they would otherwise be doing, but it’s cool to see that community take shape where they see the value of having this cohesiveness and bringing people in,” he said.