DES MOINES – The cities of West Des Moines and Clive are working on a redevelopment project to breathe new life into the University Avenue corridor.

The area they seek to revitalize is the stretch of University Avenue between 22nd Street and Interstate 35. Over the past few years, there have been major vacancies in businesses across the area.

Clyde Evans, the City of West Des Moines’ Director of Community and Economic Development, said that working with Clive is important because University Ave. serves as a border between the two communities.

“We approached them about doing this joint land use plan and they were very very receptive to it we felt that it was a way to jointly tackle some of the issues we had in that corridor,” Evans said.

The project would focus on rezoning areas to make it easier for future developers to move in. It would also work to provide the infrastructure needed for future development.

Evans said that there are many possibilities for what types of businesses move into the area.

“We wanted to make sure we have adequate infrastructure to address future development in the area,” Evans said, “I think that you’ll see properties get redeveloped for maybe a mixed-use type of development you may see more residential development to bring maybe more vitality to the area and it’s not just a 8 to 5 area its more a 24-hour type of development.”

A zoning commission meeting is set to take place on Monday after which the plans for the University Ave. corridor will be submitted to the city council for a vote of approval.