In the end, the projects each got all but $3.5 million of what they requested, or 88%, Anderson said.
The board approved $26.5 million for the Merle Hay project, and $23.5 million for the soccer stadium and a wide range of retail, housing and hotels on a Superfund site previously occupied by Dico.
“If you let a dying mall take its course and die a slow death, that is a cancer on the neighborhood,” Anderson said.
The project planned will add a new home for the Des Moines Buccaneers hockey team and events, a new Kohl’s store, an added retail strip north of the former Sears site, and housing.
Ames, which was granted $10 million of the $21.5 million it requested, plans an indoor aquatic center near downtown and a new plaza area in the downtown area.
The $262.6 million Heart of America District project was approved for $9 million of the $39.5 million requested.
Des Moines’ $276.6 million Capital City District would be anchored by Krause Group’s and USL Pro Iowa’s proposed 6,300-seat professional soccer stadium at the long-abandoned Dico Superfund site.
The $121.6 million Merle Hay Mall project would include converting the old Younkers store into a 3,500-seat hockey arena and building a new Kohl’s store on the former site of the now-demolished Sears store.
An $86 million Corridor Plaza District project would redevelop the Crossroads Mall site with an indoor/outdoor event center, hotel, meeting space and retail.
Also included are plans for expanded Des Moines Area Community College programs, retail space, plaza improvements, a Legacy Commons, a five-acre park and infrastructure improvements and derecho repairs.