Crossroads Plaza Development LLC, of Ankeny, is asking city officials to change the zoning designation of the property.The requested change would then allow the company to move forward with converting the site into an area with multiple uses, including stores, offices, apartments, a gas station, a medical facility and a hotel. The plans also call for a 10,000-square-foot green space near the middle of the complex.

The site has been renamed Corridor Plaza.

The new owners bought the site from Namdar Realty Group, Mason Asset Management and CH Capital, all of Great Neck, New York, in a roughly $3.3 million deal that closed in March.

When the deal was announced, Ben Garrett, development director of DCI Group, one of the firms that makes up Corridor Plaza Development, said “We want to make this the focal point of the community for retail.”

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
A sign on a fence displays the new name of the Crossroads Mall area. Corridor Plaza will have stores, apartments, a medical facility, a gas station and a hotel.

Mayor Matt Bemrich previously described the company’s plan as a “catalyst project.”

“I think this will be the same kind of catalyst for changing retail culture that the original mall was when it opened,” he said. “This will bring back the regional hub draw that Fort Dodge has traditionally had.”

Corridor Plaza Development plans to tear down the vacant wings of the mall that once housed Younkers and JC Penney. The former Sears store was demolished in November 2019.

It also announced plans to construct a new retail building this year to house four to six stores.

A new medical facility is planned for the north side of the property along First Avenue South.

The company has asked the city government to change the zoning designation of the site from shopping center commercial to planned development. The city’s Plan and Zoning Commission will consider that request when it meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Municipal Building, 819 First Ave. S. That commission’s decision will be a recommendation forwarded to the City Council, which will have the final say.