A local real estate developer is planning a mixed-use development in his hometown of Gilbert, with construction possibly beginning as early as this fall.

The business park will complement the growth in residential development the small community has seen in recent years, said Luke Jensen, managing director of RES Development, one of the partners on the project.

Jensen said he purchased the 10 acres of land for about $300,000 from Ben Durbin. The site sits north of Gilbert High School and south of the middle school, and Jensen, a Gilbert High School alum, said he hopes to create a mixed-use development that could include retail, commercial, service and light industrial.

“There’s been some interest in it, and I have had inquiries from people from a fitness and health background to a counseling background, and a little retail,” Jensen said.

The developer has not determined the total expected investment in the project. Jensen said investment totals will depend on what type of development occurs.

The site would be developed into five or six individual lots, ranging in size from 1 to 3 acres. They could be developed into either a stand-alone business or a multi-tenant building, like a strip center, he said.

Plans also include the extension of Steele Street on the site’s western edge.

The venture, being developed by RES Properties/Gilbert LTD, is a partnership among Jensen, his uncle Dave Jensen, and Tim Day, a Gilbert resident.

“You have three people that care about the area and the city and want to have some vibrancy in the commercial area,” Luke Jensen said.

Some of the lots could contain speculative buildings, while others could be build-to-suit for specific businesses, he said.

There could also be a mix of selling lots to businesses to self-develop, or building and leasing space to tenants, Jensen said.

“We’re pretty open, but we do have some development standards and expectations for the property owners from the look and feel [of the development], and we’re vetting some of the inquiries on how we put people into the development so it can maximize its success,” he said.

Discussions about the development began in August 2022. There were informal talks about how the development could benefit the city, and concepts were shared with the Gilbert City Council.

Jensen credited the city of Gilbert and its efforts to partner on the project. The city created an urban revitalization area and offered incentives to help him recoup some of the costs of development, including road and sewer, he said.

An official groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 1.

Jensen said dirt work is underway and the infrastructure should be in place this summer, with buildable lots being available this fall.

Jensen said the development will complement the growth that is already underway in the community of about 1,300 people, about 8 miles north of Ames. Gilbert’s population is growing at about 2% a year, and is up nearly 9% since the 2020 census.

Much of the community’s growth has revolved around residential and the school district, Jensen said. It’s that growth that has sparked the need for more commercial growth in the city, he said.

“When I graduated high school, there were 80 kids in my class,” said Jensen, who has three children in the Gilbert school district. “Today, I think it’s around 130 kids. So there’s a lot more activity in the area.”

His vision would be to have businesses included in the development, like a coffee shop or bakery as a gathering spot for the community.

“I’m more aware of it now on the other side of life; when I was in high school I didn’t care,” said Jensen, a 2002 graduate of Gilbert High School. “We went down to Casey’s on the corner, and now being around the community more, and being connected in deeper ways, there’s a desire to create space that people want to be at.”