"Instead of showing conceptual watercolor sketches with faceless people, events like the pop-up block party let people experience what's next." Clint Dudley said this in a February 2026 Business Record piece about last October's party in downtown Urbandale. Dudley has owned Shade Tree Auto downtown since 2022. That first party drew more than 700 people to a block that, in the article's words, was otherwise "nondescript."
When the second Pop-Up Park & Block Party opens Saturday, the setting will be different. Next door, the small building at 7025 Douglas Avenue opened as a Dairy Queen in 1960 and stayed one until the mid-2010s. It now belongs to the City of Urbandale and has a signed tenant, an architect and a renovation budget. The plan is to open a gelato and coffee shop there in May 2027. Last year the party was a preview. This year it takes place on a block where work is already scheduled.
Saturday at 7031 Douglas
The details are on the city's event page:
- When: Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, 4 to 7 p.m.
- Where: 7031 Douglas Ave., in a parking lot set up as a temporary park
- Cost: Free to attend, with food and drinks for sale
- What's there: Food trucks, a 21+ beer garden, a live DJ, and yard games such as mini-golf and cornhole
So far the city hasn't named the food trucks, the beer garden operator or the DJ. The page calls the event "a first look at what's possible in Downtown Urbandale when we imagine these spaces differently." The 2025 party was listed at 70th Street and Douglas Avenue, with the same 4-to-7 time slot.
If you stand in the lot on Saturday, the old Dairy Queen is next door. Under the new lease, part of that lot will eventually belong to the gelato shop.
What Changed on This Block Between the Two Parties
The first party took place a month after the city bought the property. Most of what has happened since is in council records, not news coverage:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| June 2025 | City Council approves the Urbandale Downtown Master Plan |
| September 2025 | City buys 7015–7025 Douglas for $850,000 |
| Oct. 11, 2025 | First Downtown Urbandale Block Party |
| July 21, 2026 | City asks for proposals to design and manage the renovation of 7025 Douglas |
| Sept. 1, 2026 | Council hires Substance Architecture for design work |
| Sept. 15, 2026 | Council approves the gelato shop lease, Resolution 248-2026 |
| Oct. 10, 2026 | Second block party |
| Before Jan. 1, 2027 | City may end the lease if improvement costs go over $450,000 |
| May 1, 2027 | Lease term begins, with a planned gelato shop opening that month |
Ten firms answered the design request. The design contract is $57,172, paid from the city's Capital Projects Fund. The project's total budget for fiscal year 2026–27 is $450,000.
A 972-Square-Foot Building With an Outsized Role
The old Dairy Queen is small. City documents put it at 972 square feet. In the council letter, city staff call it "a key building in the Urbandale Downtown Master Plan to have an active use to encourage residents and visitors to come to the area."
The tenants approached the city on their own. Preet Nagra-Cungu and Jetmir Cungu contacted Urbandale's economic development staff about opening a gelato shop. The letter says they were "encouraged by the downtown plan and the City's implementation actions to date." It describes Jetmir as a trained pastry chef with 15 years in the food industry. The lease is with their recently formed company, JP Investments LLC. The shop doesn't have a public name yet.
Under the lease terms, the city does most of the upfront work and the shop shares in the results:
- The city renovates. Interior and exterior work is estimated at $350,000, including a $54,000 allowance for the tenant's own improvements.
- Rent has two parts. Base rent starts at $1,215 a month in 2027 and rises each year to $1,822.50 by 2032. On top of that, the city collects 3% of quarterly gross revenue above $60,000.
- The tenant can buy. JP Investments has the option to buy the building and a defined private area for $600,000. A purchase agreement would have to be signed by Jan. 31, 2031, with closing by April 30, 2031.
The lease covers the building and "a portion of the outdoor area around the building." A summary of the Sept. 15 public hearing says that outdoor area includes part of 7031 Douglas, the same address as Saturday's party. Next fall's walk-up gelato window and seating may stand on part of the lot where people play cornhole this weekend.
Big Sky Bread Has the Same Landlord Now
The 2025 purchase also included the building at 7015–7023 Douglas, where Big Sky Bread is the main tenant. The bakery says it moved to 7021 Douglas in 2006. It sells handmade breads, granola, cookies, Dutch letters, cinnamon rolls and other pastries.
The same night it approved the gelato lease, the council approved a three-year lease extension for Suburban Bread Company/Big Sky Bread at 7021–7023 Douglas as Resolution 249-2026. According to the meeting summary, the city committed $100,000 to tenant improvements. Rent also includes 3% of sales above a 2025 baseline. Council members discussed the building's condition, including the lack of air conditioning in the rear prep space.
That puts a long-running bakery and a new gelato shop side by side on Douglas, with the city as landlord for both. Under both leases, part of the rent depends on how much the business sells. If more people come downtown, the city earns more from both buildings.
Where the Plaza Goes
City documents call the area the "Big Block." It is bounded by 70th Street on the east, 71st Street on the west, Douglas Avenue on the south and Madison Avenue on the north. The city says it bought the 7015–7025 Douglas parcels "to facilitate the creation of a plaza area within the Big Block." None of the plan documents says Saturday's lot at 7031 will become the permanent plaza. The plaza is planned somewhere within that block.
The wider master plan goes well beyond one block. The Business Record reported in June 2025 that it calls for narrowing Douglas Avenue from four lanes to three. It would add on-street parking and pedestrian crossings and build mixed-use areas with interior plazas near 71st and 67th streets. The February 2026 piece describes the plan as a 20-year effort for a downtown that was "once a streetcar hub and civic center." The plan came together with input from the Downtown Urbandale Stakeholders Group, nearly 30 business owners, property owners and residents who met every other month in 2024 and 2025.
Several businesses already line this stretch. Stormy's, a neighborhood bar at 6923 Douglas, sits on the northeast corner of Douglas and 70th, just across 70th Street from the Big Block. Salon Seven•O, just south of Douglas, took part in the first block party. In September the Urbandale Chamber named its owner, Melissa Baas, the 2026 Downtown Urbandale Champion. Shade Tree Auto is part of that same downtown group, and its owner joined the stakeholders group in 2024.
The Next Two Dates
After Saturday, the next milestone comes before January 1, 2027. If renovation costs at 7025 Douglas go over $450,000, the city can end the lease before that date. Substance Architecture is preparing bid documents so the improvements can be finished before the lease starts on May 1, 2027. If costs stay under the cap, a 1960 Dairy Queen building that has been closed for about a decade could open as a gelato and coffee shop in May 2027, next to the lot where the block party takes place this Saturday.
Changes like the work on Douglas Avenue affect how a part of town feels from year to year, and following them is part of how we keep up with the communities we serve. If you'd like to talk through what the downtown plan could mean for your part of Urbandale, or you have a move coming up, contact Marc & Jill Lee. Get Moving With Marc & Jill Lee.
