PLEASANT GROVE — Let the battle for shoppers begin.

Pleasant Grove Mayor Mike Daniels and developers from the Westwood Development Group met Tuesday to announce plans to build Sundance Commons, a 105-acre, $200 million outdoor retail and business center.

The announcement of the project, which will be built in south Pleasant Grove, near the new I-15 interchange, comes less than three months after The Terrace, a similar, slightly larger project to be built in Lehi, was announced.

It also will compete against The Meadows, the bustling shopping center in American Fork that has attracted such retailers as Kohls, Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

Anchor stores have not been selected for the development, but Mike Bowen an official at Michigan-based Westwood, said there has been a lot of interest from major retailers, and an announcement will likely come soon. He assured council members and others who attended a meeting that "they are names you'll like."

But Bowen said the goal of an outdoor retail center like Sundance Commons is not to pack it with big-box stores but to create a destination.

"The philosophy on shopping centers has historically been anchor driven . . . that whole trend has been done away with over the last five years and been replaced by what we call a 'lifestyle center,' " he said. "Quite honestly, I'm excited to see it happen. I think our business got a bit stale over two decades, just cranking out power center after power center."

The idea behind a lifestyle center, he said, is to blend retail, restaurant and professional space, then accent it with open areas highlighted by water features, walking commons, amphitheaters and other features. The aim is to create something for everybody.

"The ultimate compliment you can have as a developer is when somebody tells you they're going to your development with no specific plan — they're just going there," Bowen said.

Daniels said the announcement of Sundance Commons was timed to coincide with the visit of a Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team from the American Institute of Architects this weekend.

The team's job is to work with city leaders and residents to come up with a cohesive development strategy for the city's future, and Daniels said he wanted the team to have a basis for its work in helping Pleasant Grove carve out an identity for the future.

He also said the announcement would encourage further investment in Pleasant Grove and Lindon.

"What kind of attraction do you think is going to happen, from an investment standpoint, after this announcement?" he asked. "You're going to see $500 million walk into the Pleasant Grove/Lindon area in the next six to eight months."

Groundbreaking for Sundance Commons is slated for this summer, and major construction of phase one is scheduled to begin in early 2007.

The project should be finished by 2010.

When finished, it will have approximately 1 million square feet of leasable space, 70 percent of which is anticipated to be used for retailers.

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E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com