A major department store committed Thursday to anchoring the planned Wolford Development Inc. lifestyle center.

Dillard’s, a department store catering to middle and upper-middle income women, with 329 stores in 29 states, has agreed to open a 100,000 square-foot store in the new mall, zoned for the area off Interstate 35 and 13th Street.

The company is paying roughly $100 per square foot for the space, said Tennessee developer James “Bucky” Wolford, who has done business with the company before.

“They are one of the reasons I got involved with Ames in the first place,” Wolford said.

Wolford said as a result of Dillard’s announcement, three other major retailers have begun finalizing deals with him to open in the new mall.

“I’ve already had calls today as a result of it,” he said.

Wolford said until those companies formally announce their agreements, he couldn’t disclose their names.

He projects those announcements to come after the first of the year.

Wolford compared the size of this store to Younkers in North Grand Mall, 2801 Grand Ave. Younkers is 50,000 square-feet, making the new Dillard’s store twice that size.

“I think it shows retailers that aren’t in the market today want to be in Ames, Iowa,” Wolford said.

Planning, Housing and Economic Development Director Matt Flynn said Wolford had been in negotiations with Dillard’s for quite some time, and he agreed the deal would make it easier for other retailers to come forward. Although the re-zoning process for the new mall still has to have another read completed by the City Council, Flynn said he doesn’t expect any problems to arise.

Wolford said City Council approval of the zoning agreements would send a message to retailers about Ames.

“This vote confirms to them that Ames is receptive to the new market,” he said.