Cytown Update

[Frak]

Bingo. Even the One Light and Two Light towers around P&L District are quite expensive, but the housing they provide are why the businesses stay afloat at P&L outside of their Black Friday event (ISU fans at B12Tourn). Even then, the turnover is quite high at P&L because the rent is so high.

The difference is the bigger cities have young professionals working downtown that want to be around the nightlife. And, they have a bunch of disposable income because they don’t have kids. Ames doesn’t really have a ton of young professionals like that. There aren’t enough businesses to support those salaries.

 

[CYdTracked]

If I had to critique one thing in CyTown, its that the housing is only for older, more wealthy individuals (they cost a very hefty amount), while they're trying to build a year-round events district. Power & Light (KC), Capitol District (OMA), and others across the country have catered housing to young professionals, people who are usually younger, single, but have some money and want to drink on a Wednesday or Thursday night.

I'm 34 and would probably live in CyTown if there were moderately priced condos or apartments down there, and would probably pay a portion of a bar or restaurant's rent per month in patronage (semi-sarcastic here). I'm obviously on the older age of the "young professional" age, but this would be a great recruitment tool for companies in Ames to have an area for 25-35 year olds near the main entertainment venues.

(Young professionals in Ames are generally not catered to whatsoever, and that's why many live in Prairie Trail or East Village and commute)

I get what you are saying but this project is all about generating revenue so affordable housing is probably not in scope if they can get people to pay top dollar for that space. If the demand is not there at the price points they are aiming for then maybe they offer something more affordable. My guess is based on the number of businesses that are interested in space in CyTown (I think Pollard said it was somewhere around 300+ at one point?) once they set the pricing and weed out some of those it's still going to be a lot of demand and $ involved I bet as this is a new and unique opportunity that hasn't been done before in this kind of setting. As long as the demand and money is there they'd be crazy to limit what kind of use goes into those spaces.

I think targeting areas in need of revitalization/redevelopment/repurposing where there is already some existing businesses and infrastructure in place to make it affordable and desirable is where some like you mentioned would be more appropriate for. Look at East Village in Des Moines, that was a combination of repurposing/revitalizing some existing older space in town as well as sprinkling in some new development too to create a unique place in town to live and socialize. CyTown is a brand new concept where the intent is to stay ahead of the game with facilities in an ever changing athletics environment so maximizing revenues is going to be the top priority. Something like you are proposing I think would be more along the lines of maybe the old downtown Ames district. There are some hidden gems in the Main street area IMO. I have no idea what housing costs near Welch Ave these days but they completely tore out a big chunk of buildings and built some brand new multi-purpose buildings with retail and housing in that area in recent years too. That's not a far walk down Lincoln way to the Iowa State Center IMO and plenty of things to do along Welch and Lincoln way as well.

 

[Frak]

I mean, would anyone be surprised if Haliburton and Niang own one of those condos? And Purdy too.

 

[JP4CY]

I mean, would anyone be surprised if Haliburton and Niang own one of those condos? And Purdy too.

Monte said once on a pod IIRC that he planned on having a condo/apt in Ames post NBA retirement.

 

[3TrueFans]

Monte said once on a pod IIRC that he planned on having a condo/apt in Ames post NBA retirement.

Maybe he'll want to get some Hickory Park with me.

 

[2speedy1]

The condos are what I'm most skeptical of with this project.
Are they just going to end up being party pads for the home football games?
Are people actually going to be living in them?

They are so expensive, and then the odd 10 year lease term (or whatever it was).
Like you said, only the very wealthy or corporations are likely able to afford them, so then what do they do with them outside of game days or other big events?

I bet many of them will be used as short term rentals, like AirBB etc. Im sure some will be bought by big donors and others by big businesses to use as perks for employees or customers. Similar to what some do with suites etc. These businesses etc during non-gamedays, can then also be rented out via short term rental companies or continued to be used as perks during winter sports in Hilton etc.

 

[JP4CY]

Maybe he'll want to get some Hickory Park with me.

You two could share a mint choco chip shake

 

[ZJohnson]

All I have to add in this incredible beer convo over the last few days is continue to drink Ames Lager. We will, yeah I know, continue to support the We Will Collective as they transition.

Cheers and Go Clones

 

[NWICY]

Sorry,

let’s be honest here. A Busch Light Beer Garden would probably be the most successful establishment in CYTown.

That's where a 30 hops deal works well combine crafts and commercials. Ideally if WestO gets in have them add 6 commercial beers also Busch lite, Coors lite, Mich Ultra, Miller, Budweiser, and 1 more. Any combination of popular commercial beer would be fine heck 4 would probably be fine.

 

[NWICY]

They're having private meetings for the people that are interested in the condos. They want to presell 30 of them that will build one building and then an additional 15 out of 30 that will build the second building.

They would like to have everything announced and under construction and open as soon as possible, but hopefully toward late '27.

Are they still like 10 or 20 yr leases? Wasn't that the original idea?

 

[NWICY]

For football games I probably will stay the hell away from CyTown, especially since we tailgate in the GA grass lots. Why do I want to walk clear over there just to stand in line for overpriced beer when I can bring my own in a cooler and tailgate without the extra expense and congestion. Have to realize that CyTown for FB games likely is going to cater to folks that want some other option than doing their own tailgate. Why would anyone want to wait in a long line for an overpriced Busch Light when you can bring your own for significantly less cost and crack it open without waiting in line?

I think once the novelty of CyTown wears off it's bread and butter will be people looking for tailgating alternatives and a place to go when events are hosted in the area or before/after basketball games. They aren't going to be serving 50,000+ people during football games, just not enough space and resources to do that. Could even see the possibility of a few event rooms that will be rented out for a premium on game days that your average fan is likely not going to pay to reserve. Will be more along the lines of a company outing or high end donor willing to pay for something like that.

Excellent idea like a upscale version of the current tents. Seems like there is a lot of money floating around in Sports. That idea sounds good. Hell it could basically be unrented retail space as long as there is a restroom heat and and air the rest can be rented tables, chairs and a caterer.

 

[NWICY]

All I have to add in this incredible beer convo over the last few days is continue to drink Ames Lager. We will, yeah I know, continue to support the We Will Collective as they transition.

Cheers and Go Clones

So did WestO Milford run out of beer when Ragbrai came through? Read on CF they either ran out or were out of Ames Lager.

Also thank you to WestO for supporting ISU athletics and letting some of smaller supporters of ISU donate through a secondary way.

 

[Havs]

The difference is the bigger cities have young professionals working downtown that want to be around the nightlife. And, they have a bunch of disposable income because they don’t have kids. Ames doesn’t really have a ton of young professionals like that. There aren’t enough businesses to support those salaries.

I don't buy this... there are a ton of public and private sector jobs in Ames that cater to young professionals.

 

[Tailg8er]

I don't buy this... there are a ton of public and private sector jobs in Ames that cater to young professionals.

Not near as many as a KC or DFW, though.

 

[Frak]

I don't buy this... there are a ton of public and private sector jobs in Ames that cater to young professionals.

I don’t know what to tell you then. It’s just true. Ames is primarily college kids and old townies. Yeah, there are young professionals out in the research park, but none of those companies are very big. It’s not like Principal where they have a couple hundred employees in their 20’s.

 

[Havs]

Not near as many as a KC or DFW, though.

That's not really the point. Just because we're not KC doesn't mean we shouldn't have a multitude of housing options, especially in entertainment districts.

 

[Cyclonsin]

That's not really the point. Just because we're not KC doesn't mean we shouldn't have a multitude of housing options, especially in entertainment districts.

Ames doesn't have an entertainment district that would be appealing to most young professionals.

 

[Tailg8er]

That's not really the point. Just because we're not KC doesn't mean we shouldn't have a multitude of housing options, especially in entertainment districts.

Didn't you use cities like that as reasoning for why Ames should do the same? They're apples to oranges, not even close to being similar. Not to mention, like someone else said, the goal of this area/development is to maximize revenue - affordable housing doesn't do that.

 

[Havs]

Didn't you use cities like that as reasoning for why Ames should do the same? They're apples to oranges, not even close to being similar. Not to mention, like someone else said, the goal of this area/development is to maximize revenue - affordable housing doesn't do that.

Yes it does. These businesses need a customer base when there aren't events. We've seen that to an extent in Somerset, the one area of town that isn't just college apartments or suburban homes with big yards.

 

[Cyclone06]

I mean, would anyone be surprised if Haliburton and Niang own one of those condos? And Purdy too.

Rocco too probably.