A look inside Hy-Vee Inc.’s Fast & Fresh store in Altoona. The store opened in February at 3950 Prairie Fire N.W. in Altoona. Photo supplied by Hy-Vee, Inc.

Hy-Vee Inc. plans to build a Fast & Fresh store at Prairie Tower Business Park, R&R Realty Group’s 74-acre development at 128th Street and Meredith Drive in Urbandale.

Hy-Vee opened its first Fast & Fresh in Davenport in December; its second store opened in February at 3950 Prairie Fire N.W. in Altoona. The Urbandale Fast & Fresh, which will include a Hy-Vee gas station and drive-up coffee shop, is one of three planned for the Des Moines area.

Fast & Fresh stores, which are smaller than a traditional Hy-Vee grocery, are designed to cater to busy customers. Two of the stores are scheduled to open yet this year. A store at Merle Hay and Hickman roads in Des Moines will open this summer; one at Jordan Creek and Mills Civic parkways in West Des Moines will open in early fall.

A construction timeline is not yet in place for the Urbandale site, Hy-Vee officials said. Other sites in the metro area are being discussed, they said.

Fast & Fresh stores sell dairy, meat and bakery items and fresh produce as well as pantry staples and frozen foods. The stores also feature online pickup, wood-oven pizza, craft beer and made-to-order meals.

The Urbandale Fast & Fresh is the first project announced for R&R’s Prairie Tower Business Park. Other plans for the park include retail and flex office buildings along Meredith Drive and warehouse space along 128th Street.

Development of the area straddling Meredith Drive west of Interstate Highway 35/80 is expected to explode in the coming years. Triggering the growth is the construction of a northbound exit ramp and southbound on-ramp connecting the interstate to Meredith. Construction of the ramps is expected to be completed in late 2020, an Iowa Department of Transportation official said. 

Projected traffic counts anticipate that by 2030 33,750 vehicles daily will travel on Meredith; 25,500 vehicles daily are expected to travel on 128th Street, according to information supplied by R&R.

Prairie Tower Business Park is located in Urbandale’s Urban Loop development area, launched in late 2017. Fast & Fresh is among 20 business that have either expanded or located to the Urban Loop, information on Urbandale’s website shows.