We are excited to be a part of this project and for the growth coming to the Grimes community.
A proposed $250 million mixed-use development in Grimes is expected to include hotels, restaurants, retail and a multi-use sports tournament venue that would open in fall 2021. The sports venue would include fields for soccer, baseball, softball and football. The development, called Hope District, is proposed for 200 acres northwest of Iowa Highway 141 and East First Street. Site map courtesy of Hope Development & Realty
A $250 million development planned in Grimes will include the Midwest’s largest turf sports tourism venue, helping make the northwest Polk County community a destination for youth athletics, Grimes officials announced today.
Hope Development & Realty LLC plans to develop what’s being called Hope District, a 200-acre area northwest of Iowa Highway 141 and East First Street that will include hotels, restaurants, retail and destination entertainment venues.
Included in the development will be the Grimesplex, a privately-owned, 50-acre multi-use sports tournament complex with more than 70 soccer fields of varying sizes, up to 26 baseball and softball fields and 13 football fields. The complex will include lighted fields, concessions, restroom facilities, and areas for food trucks and vendors.
When completed, the complex will be the “largest turf sports tourism venue in the Midwest,” Grimes Chamber and Economic Development wrote in a news release.
The complex, which is expected to open in fall 2021, is eventually expected to draw 1.5 million visitors a year.
“That’s consistent with the kind of tourism sports complexes draw in the Kansas City area,” said Jake Anderson, Grimes’ city administrator. “It’s a really positive way for us to bring the retail and other amenities to Grimes that our residents want.”
Hope Development & Realty is owned and operated by Reza Kargarzadeh, president and CEO of Engineered Plastic Components Inc. Kargarzadeh, through his Hope K Farms development company, owns hundreds of acres in the northwest part of the Des Moines-metro area. Hope K Farms previously owned the land on which a new Hy-Vee grocery store will be built at 351 N.E. Gateway Drive, just east of Hope District.
The Grimes City Council this week approved a development agreement with Hope Development & Realty. The company agreed to install infrastructure in the development and develop the sports complex, which will be privately owned but managed by the city.
In return, the city will provide up to $25 million in tax increment finance rebates to the developer over a 15-year period.
The complex will eventually be donated to the city, likely by 2030, Anderson said.
“Our partnership with the City of Grimes was instrumental in our ability to create a high-quality environment in which to experience different sporting, culinary and entertainment events and amenities,” Kargarzadeh said in the news release.
By Kathy A. Bolten, Senior Staff Write Business Record
