The city of 52,000 is about 30 miles from Des Moines and is at the crossover of State Highway 30 with Interstate 35. The blocks to be worked on first are those between Lincoln Way and Chamberlain Street, bounded by Sheldon and Lynn avenues. The area currently includes office, multifamily and retail.

A spokesman with Lane4 said the next step will be to solidify a master plan. "It's too early to really discuss cost or square footage," he tells GlobeSt.com. The company has six months to present a concept to the city, with a dollar figure attached.

Ames selected the Kansas City, MO-based firm from a panel of nine potential partners for the project. "Our research has demonstrated that there is significant demand for new facilities to serve both the city and the university," said Hunter Harris, director of development for the company.

City officials said they chose Lane4 because of the company's previous campus-style projects. These sites include the development at 39th Street and Rainbow Boulevard around the University of Kansas Medical Center and the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, KS, as well as similar projects around Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS and the University of Missouri-St. Louis.