The new mall that has been billed by some as an economic jump-start for Ames now has a questionable future.

Wolford Development Options, developer for the new mall, has failed to meet certain criteria determined in the development agreement two years ago.

“One of the goals set in the agreement was having a certain number of binding leases of stores to set up in the mall,” said Doug Marek, Ames city attorney. “As of now, they didn’t meet the lease agreement issues.”

According to a memo from Marek to the City Council on Tuesday, the three main goals Wolford had to accomplish were providing a title to the land to be developed, providing evidence that they had secured financing for the property and the aforementioned lease agreements.

“It looks like Wolford met the other two requirements, just not the lease agreements,” Marek said.

Wolford was supposed to have agreements with two major anchor stores and at least 329,000 square feet of new retail space leased. However, the fault may not be solely Wolford’s.

Ames Mayor Ann Campbell recalls that, when the current City Council was elected two years ago, its plans for the mall were not the same as the old council’s.

“The new council tried to reverse all the land-zoning agreements, so everything for Wolford was put on hold,” she said. “Tenants were not interested in signing a public lease if there was still uncertainty about action from the City Council. As a result, Wolford was set back in terms of the lease agreements.”

Campbell said the people elected to the council two years ago were strongly against the development of the mall.

“I think it’s fair to say that purchasing all the land and getting a bank to loan money for the project does indicate a pretty sincere commitment on Wolford’s part,” she said.

Marek agrees and said the project does not have to be scrapped just because one deadline was missed.

“For Wolford to request an extension would not be unreasonable,” he said. “The council could now change the land zoning or refuse permits, or they could take no action. Really, now it is a policy decision.”

Even if the council decides to rezone the land, which is not a certainty, it might not shut down the mall.

“The agreement does not go away. Wolford still owns the property,” Marek said. “They were just faced with some delays. I do know they had been in significant negotiations with several stores – they just didn’t have any agreements.”

Campbell agreed with Marek and said getting an extension for Wolford is an avenue that could be taken.

“It wasn’t until the green light from the council and land zoning that companies were willing to sign a lease,” she said.

“I think there would be reasonable grounds for an extension.”