Oster Purchases Land to Expand Pinnacle Prairie

CEDAR FALLS, IA-Pinnacle Prairie, a planned mixed-use development here is growing. Local publishing pioneer Merrill Oster has added 137 acres to his land holdings here, taking the proposed project here to 628 acres. An official announcement ceremony for the project will occur in June.The development site encompasses the majority of the land bounded by Greenhill Road, South Main Street, Viking Road and Cedar Heights Drive. Oster, who began assembling land inside the Cedar Falls city limits in 1973, recently expanded his holdings by 28% with the acquisition of parcels on all three sides of his existing holdings. As a result, what previously totaled 491 acres and now totals 628 acres, though the expanded development still needs approval from the City of Cedar Falls.Oster has acquired 57 acres on Viking Road adjacent to Wal-Mart from General Commercial Development; 58 acres on Greenhill Road on the east and west sides of the Heartland Vineyard Church from Heartland; and 22 acres at the intersection of Viking Road and Cedar Heights Drive from Harold Sturtz of Morristown, AZ. The sale prices were not released by the parties involved and not otherwise immediately available. Oster was unavailable for comment Monday afternoon. An official announcement ceremony for Pinnacle Prairie is planned for June 24. Several projects are already in various stages of development. The largest, a 14-screen movie theater by the Star Iowa Corp., will break ground in June. In addition, a new Allen Hospital facility is under construction, and at least two other projects that have not yet been detailed are expected to break ground over the next few weeks. Within the aforementioned development boundaries but not part of the total acreage, Oster also has donated or sold 120 acres to Western Home Communities and Bethany Bible Chapel.”The recent land purchases will provide the Pinnacle Prairie development additional visibility and entrance opportunities along the major streets forming the perimeter of the project,” says Oster in a prepared statement. “This is a 20-year project. The development will roll out gradually, and in a way that is intended to capture new growth in the city’s commercial, retail, and housing markets, rather than competing for existing tenants on Main Street or from existing area shopping centers.”Larry Peterman, the head of Pinnacle Prairie’s land planner, Hitchcock Design Group, says the supplemental land acquisitions will allow the project to be designed with street connections “that are more pleasing to the surrounding land areas.” Sitting on one of the highest points in Black Hawk County, Pinnacle Prairie is envisioned as an environmentally friendly planned-community with hiking/biking trails that connect to a state-wide network. It will contain a Towne Center with a theater, retail, and restaurants surrounded by housing and an office and medical park.First phase road construction from Greenhill Road to the Pinnacle Prairie Town Center started last October and is projected to be completed by Sept. 1. The office/medical complex will be accessed by the same entry off Greenhill Road. A second entrance road off Greenhill Road will provide access for Heartland Vineyard Church and the housing development, the villages of Pinnacle Prairie.Oster says that several additional office buildings, retail outlets, and restaurants are now being discussed and will break round in 2006. Plans for the housing communities at Pinnacle Prairie will be implemented after final engineering for Viking Road has been completed later this year. The project is being directed by Lockard Cos., whose firm handles real estate sales, development and project management for Oster.