Now that they've made that an urban revitalization area I wouldn't be surprised at all to see it develop very rapidly. That area of S 16th is probably the best location left in Ames for large-scale development, it is right along hwy 30 and visible from I35. Deery Brothers is developing 3 parcels to the east of the river (with their dealership going on one of them), and I think Hunziker is filling in and grading the area the west of the river. Heard rumors of Menards, Home Depot, Cracker Barrell among others, there is also a new hotel going in by the Marriott down that way too and the city is developing an entry way to the city down there with native grasses, trees, and light sculptures to line Hwy 30 between I35 and Dayton. Apparently Ames is realizing how important it is to draw people in off of 35 and 30 and have areas around there look nice. Not sure how I feel about the way they are going about thing though, with the tax abatements for developing the areas in the flood plain, although almost every large community located on a river has done it . Just look at Des Moines; developed right down to the river banks and built a reservoir to control the streamflow/flooding, they entirely changed that river and flooded a large area of land north of the reservoir. I'm not defending Ames but when you look at cities like Des Moines and Cedar Rapids it is really astonishing how they have altered those rivers.