Editor’s note: The annexation of the Ames Golf & Country Club and the Irons Subdivision properties was approved on July 28, by the Ames City Council. A tax abatement plan will reduce tax levies by 75%, 50%, and 25% over a three-year transition period.
An additional 250 acres adjacent to Ames’s northern city limits must be annexed to accommodate a large development of homes and apartments.
In spring 2025, the City of Ames began annexing about 500 acres of land into the city to make way for a development called “Greenbriar.”
Yet-to-be-built Greenbriar will offer new homes and apartments
Hunziker and Friedrich companies have partnered to develop the new neighborhood on 153 acres of farmland along George W. Carver Avenue and Hyde Avenue, which will include a commercial area. Plans include 236 homes and nearly 220 apartments.
The surrounding land includes the Ames Golf & Country Club (AGCC) to the south of the development and portions of the Irons Subdivision, which is owned by the country club. The Ames City Council decided to proceed with the annexation of those properties separately, and the process was deferred until 2026.
Two hundred and thirty-five acres were annexed in September to facilitate the Greenbriar development. Including the entire country club and the Irons properties, a little more than 250 acres remain.
On June 9, the council approved an annexation schedule that will bring all properties within the city by January 2027.
Why must properties near the Greenbriar be annexed?
The city allowed the Ames Golf & Country Club to subdivide and create the Irons subdivision on the northwest side of the course in 2014, agreeing that it had to annex into Ames at the city’s discretion.
The Irons and the country club must be annexed into Ames to avoid creating an “island” of unincorporated properties.
The city has received annexation applications from 20 property owners in the Irons, representing about 93% of the intended annexation area, according to city documents.
There were enough applications accepted for the city to proceed with the annexation, Ames Planning and Housing Director Kelly Diekmann said.
Up to 20 percent of the land within a voluntary annexation may be included without the owners’ consent under the 80/20 voluntary annexation rule.
A tax abatement plan is included, with tax levies reduced by 75%, 50%, and 25% over a three-year transition period.
The plan will apply to both consenting and non-consenting property owners.
Ames sets annexation schedule
A consultation meeting is scheduled on June 17 with township trustees and Story County.
A hearing for the annexation’s approval is slated for the council meeting on July 28. The state’s City Development Board will tentatively discuss the application on Sept. 9, with an approval hearing set for Oct. 7.
Ames Country Club initially balked at immediate annexation
The city of Ames received a letter from AGCC’s attorney in March 2025, noting that the country club felt the timing wasn’t the “best practical moment for moving forward with the annexation.”
The statement noted that the city drafted the annexation agreement with the previous ownership.
The letter also claimed annexation didn’t make “practical sense” from a utility services standpoint, as water and sewer are “not likely going to be available to AGCC or The Irons for several years.”
The country club said annexation wouldn’t make sense until they know they can connect those services.
A sewer extension for the Irons is dependent on the timing of the Greenbriar project and their extension of the sewer line, Diekmann said in May. At the earliest, it could happen in Fiscal Year 2027-28, but it is highly unlikely.
The new sewer lines would cost around $951,000, a lower overall projected cost than using the original lines, which came in at $1.4 million.
The smaller price tag is because crews won’t need to dig up city streets.
This option is best suited to serve Ames Golf & Country Club, according to city documents. Though not required to connect to a sanitary sewer main, the country club can “if it becomes feasible.”
(This article has been updated to add information.)
Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: New Ames subdivision requires additional annex, including country club
Reporting by Celia Brocker, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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By Celia Brocker, Ames Tribune | USA TODAY Network
