Downtown Sioux Falls

Downtown Parking Ramp hammer about to drop?

l3wis June 26, 2017 3Comments

Rumor has it that Sioux Falls city council has been put on notice; contract negotiations between the city and the parking ramp developer (Legacy) is almost complete, and they are going to ask the council to approve that contract this month, but will they?

Only two councilors so far have been vocal about a NO vote, Stehly and Starr. Stehly takes issue with Legacy’s close relationship with Hultgren Construction and the lack of transparency when it comes to investors (rumor is that Legacy doesn’t have any yet) and Starr takes issue with the corporate welfare aspect, handing over $17 million to a private developer who will provide us very little in return.

Really, anyway you look at it, the deal stinks, really bad. Even on a really windy day when JM’s is in full kill, the stink isn’t as bad as this deal. So what baffles me and many others in the community, why would possibly 6 councilors be on board with this? I don’t know. As one city official said to me today, “Where is the outrage from the public?” or more importantly what do we have to do to get the outrage?

This has to be possibly the WORST deal the city has ever cut since they gave $27 million for about $2 million dollars worth of land to the Railroad, and the trains are still running through downtown. A Boondoggle that didn’t solve the original problem, train traffic downtown.

Maybe that is why this deal will probably be struck, because the citizens really don’t care. They proved this with the RR deal, the indoor pool and the administration building (at least the public took a stab at that one).

I’m hoping the other 6 councilors wake up, or at least 4 of them to make the deal veto proof. I’m not holding my breath.

I would have done something different with the Copper Lounge space

l3wis June 15, 2017 10Comments

Surprised they are being so short-sighted on such a great spot downtown. I would have built at least a 3-story structure with underground parking.

Below are some different designs that could be tweaked to fit the area.

I would probably have underground parking strictly for apartment tenants on 2nd and 3rd floors. I would do retail on main level and ALL studio apartments on 2nd and 3rd floors with a rooftop patio and garden for the tenants.

Waterford at All Saints gets it right

l3wis May 30, 2017 6Comments

The expansion at Waterford is pretty snazzy, and old looking.

I never really understood all the resistance to the expansion of Waterford in the All Saints Neighborhood. Besides the fact that they are providing more assistant living in Sioux Falls that is needed, they were able to put many other services under one roof in stead of carting residents around to other facilities.

One of the biggest arguments against the expansion was the elimination of a grove of trees, on private property, that no one ever frequented. It wasn’t a park. It was a dark empty lot full of trees.

As Waterford promised they saved as many trees as they could and added shrubbery. But the landscaping isn’t what makes this project a gem. It is the historic nature of the new construction. Waterford went all out to match the current facility, and make what is new look old.

I wish all the development downtown took this kind of time and effort into being more historically correct. They have been doing it DT Minneapolis, and it looks fantastic. Giant, pre-poured slabs of pink colored concrete isn’t quartzite, it’s just pink concrete.

We are starting to see the slap together construction creep into downtown that we have seen in all the urban sprawl areas. The apartments on Phillips to the Falls and the condos by Sunshine come to mind.

I think moving forward, the planning department needs to set an example of Waterford and push for more historically correct construction downtown. Now if we can just convince them to get a permit before they take out any load bearing walls.

Is there a bigger reason why Legacy’s investors are being kept secret?

l3wis May 20, 2017 4Comments

I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that the investor list for Legacy is probably some pretty big wheels in town that wield pretty big swords.

Recently Legacy was announced to be a part of the first project at Flopdation Park, a gigantic warehouse freezer that will employ a handful of forklift operators.

While none of the actual investors came forward, a group of banks were quite eager to say who they were involved with this project. I guess when it isn’t an actual fuddy-duddy rich person but OUR money we have invested in those banks, it’s okay to tell everyone.

Rumor around town is that a guy who recently sold his quite lucrative burger making business and got involved in health clubs and golf courses is one of the investors in Legacy. But I guess we will never know since that investor list is probably locked up in the same place as Richard Benda’s autopsy report and death certificate.