Large sports and recreation complexes, corporate headquarters coming to Johnston in 2024

Johnston expects in 2024 to see the opening of large athletic and sports entertainment complexes in its gateway corridor to the rest of the Des Moines metro area.

Johnston Mayor Paula Dierenfeld has said projects in the Johnston Gateway area, including Bombers Golf and Ignit, "literally will change the face of Johnston."

But that's not all that's coming to Johnston.

Bombers Golf coming to just north of Interstate 80/35

Bombers Golf at 5055 Merle Hay Road was envisioned as an adult-oriented golf driving range using the proprietary Topgolf technology, Toptracer. But it expanded its options when it announced in 2022 plans to build in West Des Moines.

Now Bombers will have 36 golf hitting bays, an axe-throwing center and a 12-lane bowling alley. An indoor mini-golf course will snake through an arcade. And a putt-putt golf course outside will be similar to those at Tiger Woods' upscale Popstroke restaurants, which look like miniature versions of traditional golf holes, eschewing windmills and plastic dinosaurs.

The city offered developers up to about $25 million in incentives for the project, almost entirely in tax increment financing, according to city documents.

Bombers is a separate development from the Ignit Sports and Recreation complex across the street but both developments are anchors for broader development in the Johnston Gateway along Merle Hay Road.

Ignit Sports and Recreation developers expect to draw almost a million visitors a year

Ignit, to be located at 5384 Pitch Parkway and spearheaded by Ignit Sports and Fitness of Grimes, will have an indoor track, full-size indoor soccer field, fitness areas, eight basketball/volleyball courts and outdoor fields.

Chad O'Meara, who is developing Ignit with his brother Brian, said he expects it to have a campus-like feel and be a track and field hub that will draw nearly 1 million visitors to Johnston each year — half of them from out of state.

Dierenfeld said the Ignit complex will generate about $25 million in economic impact in its first year and $60 million annually by 2050.

Josh Laraby, Johnston's economic development director, said there will be public availability for Johnston residents at Ignit facilities.

Around Ignit and Bombers, the city of Johnston will construct Centurion Park — to include a soccer field, playground and one of the metro area's first cricket fields — expected to be ready by the end of spring 2025.

And Johnston City Council has also approved a plan for an at-least 100-room, $10 million hotel and six tenant strip mall to be built on Merle Hay Road across from Ignit.

Tax increment financing incentives for the hotel would be capped at $2.5 million and at $600,000 for the strip mall.

Grand Stays Hotel coming to central Johnston

Laraby included another hotel in his list of what's coming in 2024 — this one, Grand Stays Hotel, coming to 6215 Merle Hay Road.

The four-story, 76-room hotel in Johnston Town Center would include an indoor pool, a breakfast and bar area, and an outdoor patio.

New headquarters for LifeServe and Fareway both expected to be completed in spring 2024

LifeServe Blood Center is moving its headquarters out of Des Moines to a two-story, 56,000-square-foot building at 5625 N.W. Johnston Drive.

LifeServe provides blood products to 161 hospitals, primarily in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, according to its website.

The new location in Johnston will be large enough to serve as the hub for six other blood distribution centers and, because it's close to the interstate, will provide convenient access for blood deliveries.

The new headquarters will also include a blood donation center and a public outdoor area dedicated to donors, according to Laraby.

Meanwhile, the Fareway supermarket chain is also moving its headquarters, from Boone to a 42,000-square-foot building at 8800 N.W. 62nd Ave. that formerly was the home of the Iowa Bankers Association.

CEO Reynolds Cramer told the Des Moines Register more than 200 employees may eventually work in the Johnston office. Cramer said the company may move into the office around the end of May.

Crown Point Community Center getting a renovation

Laraby said the Crown Point Community Center at 6300 Pioneer Parkway is getting an estimated $5.8 million renovation to make it more functional and add breakout rooms that can hold 50 people, as well as large windows overlooking Terra Lake.

There will also be an improved viewing deck and enlarged community room, according to the city.

Laraby said construction will begin in January and finish by the end of the year.

Phillip Sitter focuses for the Des Moines Register on reporting on suburban growth and development in the western metro areas. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @pslifeisabeauty.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Coming to Johnston in 2024: Bombers, Ignit and Fareway headquarters