Conversations about what the CyTown development in Ames will look like can begin in earnest now following Wednesday’s approval by the Iowa Board of Regents of a 30-year development agreement with Iowa State University, the Iowa State University Research Park and Omaha, Neb.-based Goldenrod Cos., the real estate company the university hired to build CyTown.

CyTown, a multiuse district between Hilton Coliseum and Jack Trice Stadium, was first announced in 2019. After stalling in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, planning and work on the site resumed in 2022 and 2023, with McFarland Clinic announcing its plans to build a clinic on the site, becoming the first anchor tenant to commit to the district.

The majority of infrastructure projects were completed in February 2024, and with the regents’ approval Wednesday, construction on buildings is expected to begin this spring, said Rick Sanders, president and director of the ISU Research Park.

Sanders said some of the details of the agreement are still being worked out, but that the Research Park will supervise Goldenrod’s construction and operation of CyTown.

“I think the Research Park will have a role in making sure that the CyTown entity is operating the way it is determined it should be operating,” he said. “I think we’re that oversight arm of making sure CyTown does exactly what it is intended to do in benefit of the university.”

Sanders said the agreement that was approved allows “us to start to put real detail to these conceptual plans.”

“It allows us to start to figure out exactly who ends up occupying CyTown and what it looks like,” Sanders said. “We have literally hundreds of different entities that have expressed interest in CyTown and until the agreement was done it was hard to have a more formal conversation beyond an expression of interest. Now it’s time to have those conversations.”

“This allows us to go to a whole different level of conversations and decisions than were able to prior to the Board of Regents taking their necessary action,” he said.

The agreement approved Wednesday creates a management committee for CyTown that will direct all aspects of development. That committee will include Sanders, ISU Athletic Director Jamie Pollard, the university’s senior vice president for operations and finance, general counsel and a member of the board of regents.

Goldenrod will arrange for financing for construction of buildings and infrastructure for the development, which is expected to include eight buildings with space for retail and restaurants, office space, an outdoor music venue, concierge suites and a 215-room conference center hotel. Total cost for construction is between $175 million and $225 million.

According to the agreement, Goldenrod will manage operations of the development, including securing tenants and addressing their needs.

Sanders said the Research Park’s involvement in the future of CyTown is a natural progression of the park’s mission.

“The reason the Research Park exists is to help Iowa State University pursue its mission,” he said. “The university recognized it wanted to deal with the commercial world, but it’s not set up nor should it be set up to deal directly with the commercial world. The university has its own  missions and method of operation, but that does not negate the need to be able to operate within that commercial sphere. And the Research Park was created to help fill that gap between the commercial entities and the university, so I think it’s an absolute natural that the Research Park be part of this project.”

From the Research Park’s perspective, “it’s just us continuing to grow the amenities we offer and the kinds of spaces that are available to our partner tenants,” Sanders said.

Plus, the proximity of CyTown to the Research Park — separated by just a mile along University Boulevard —  helps create a natural corridor that ties the Research Park and other facilities and amenities to Central Campus, he said.

In a news release, ISU President Wendy Wintersteen said CyTown would not be possible without all the collaboration and partners who are involved.

Pollard said in the release that revenue from CyTown will help the university continue its investment in the revitalization of the Iowa State Center, including renovations to Stephens Auditorium and the Scheman Building.

Zach Wiegert, managing principal for Goldenrod, said in the release that CyTown is about “creating a place that brings together students, businesses and the community.”

“CyTown will foster innovation, drive collaboration and most of all encourage meaningful interactions,” he said in the release.

Sanders said he envisions CyTown being a development that will be an economic driver for not only Ames but all of Central Iowa.

“I believe the CyTown project will do for Central Iowa what the Iowa State Center did for Central Iowa back in the 1970s,” he said. “When that project was conceived it was outlandish to think that a little place like Ames, Iowa, and Iowa State University could build that social, arts, district.”

Sanders said the Iowa State Center was able to draw big concerts, like the Rolling Stones. “Things that never would have happened had they not had the vision and fortitude to develop the Iowa State Center. I think CyTown allows us to reimagine and reinvigorate the vision for the Iowa State Center. I think it’s going to be hugely impactful.”

Major projects like CyTown also help improve opportunities to draw more people and businesses to Iowa, he said.

“So many things we’re laying a foundation to do, you have to have the amenities necessary to be able to draw them, and I think CyTown is a piece of that.”