Sioux Falls | Development

[Justin_144]

_______________________________________________________
Imagine the city of Sioux Falls with another highway-like bypass around it, something like Interstate-229.
That's exactly what is becoming reality as construction has started on South Dakota Highway 100.

When completed, the new highway will run around the edge of the city, and be five miles longer than I-229.

The dirt work is just the beginning of a major change around the eastern edge of Sioux Falls. This first phase of the project will convert an existing stretch of South Dakota Highway 11 into the new South Dakota Highway 100. The one mile section will eventually turn into a four to six lane bypass, covering 17 miles, from the EROS exit on Interstate-90, down to the Tea exit on Interstate-29.

Craig Smith of the South Dakota Department of Transportation says, "It’s very significant, definitely for the Sioux Falls area, to see a new roadway to be built."

When completed, Highway 100 will have a speed limit ranging from 45 to 55 miles an hour. It won't have ramps like the interstate; rather, highway 100 will have limited intersections. And while it will provide a quicker route through the east side of town, the work to complete the project is stuck in low gear.

Smith explains, "With the funding climate, the cost of construction going up, it's definitely going to be a long process to get the entire 17 miles done."

Craig Smith of the South Dakota department of transportation says it's likely that only three miles of the road will be completed in the next five years.



And the Highway 100 project won't just change the landscape of eastern Sioux Falls, it also lays the ground work which clears the path for more homes and businesses.

Jeff Schmitt says, "It’s kind of the chicken and the egg. They're going should we build roads if there's no (building) construction? Well, they're not going to build construction if there are no roads. So Highway 100 is right in the mix of that."

Jeff Schmitt of Sioux Falls Planning and Building Services gives the highway project credit for sparking additional commercial interest on the east side. He predicts businesses could start popping up as soon as later this summer in the Dawley Farm Village.

Schmitt says, "Here's the movie theatre. Here's the Best Buy. Here's the tenants for the out buildings for the restaurants. Once they get approved, if they get approved, they're going to start construction."

But residential and business construction is likely to out-pace Highway 100 construction, so it could be a challenge to keep developers from buying up land needed to complete the road.

Smith explains, "It's very difficult. A lot of times they're able to move faster than our process. So it really takes a lot of planning to make sure they're aware of our project and what the right-of-way needs are going to be."

No matter the pace, Highway 100 is sure to forever change Sioux Falls.

Schmitt says, "In 3,5,7 years, you'll go out to Highway 11 and Arrowhead Parkway and people will say, I remember when it was just a corn field, and there was nothing out here."

Smith says, "There’s definitely a lot of costs involved in the project and funding is going to play an important role when that's available."

And it will also determine highway 100 can be completed.

The city's planning department is holding an open meeting on July second which will show off the retail plans for the Dawley Farm Village.

Plans
http://www.siouxfalls.org/PublicWork...98FF7FF9E.ashx

[Justin_144]

The Midland National Life Insurance Co. building with its distinctive gold glass exterior will soon have new owners.

Veteran Sioux Falls developers Don Dunham Jr. and Clint Stencil plan to buy the four-floor building from Midland. Terms on the 80,000 square foot building were not disclosed.

Closing is expected next February when Midland Life vacates its current building to move to its new 115,000 square foot headquarters on the southwest side of town.

Dunham, head of Dunham Company, said he and Stencil are interested in buying the Midland Life building because it is a familiar site that has strong potential to attract new office tenants. “We are already talking to three or four prospects,'' Dunham said.

Stencil, owner of Stencil Construction, said other positive features of the Midland site is that the building is structurally sound and the two-acre site has 170 to 190 spaces for parking. “We want to create more parking,’’ he addd, noting he and Dunham are considering the addition of 40 to 50 underground parking stalls.

Depending on tenant demand, the Midland building might also be expanded with up to two additional floors, Dunham said.

Dunham said he doesn't know if he and Stencil will opt to retain the building's gold-colored windows. “We are bringing in an engineer from Minneapolis to look at that,’’ he said.

[NewDetroit1]

Wow downtown Sioux Falls is really starting to get some projects going!

Does anyone have any pictures or the courthouse expansion, or any renderings of the proposed first bank and trust expansion

keep it up Sioux Falls!

[sfman08]

Hollywood Theaters has made a preliminary commitment to bring a 12-screen movie theater to the planned Dawley Farm Village project on the east side of Sioux Falls.

A theater on the east side long has been a dream for many residents in the area. Though rumors have surfaced on occasion, plans never have been released.

"We have a letter of intent, and we are working through the process," said Craig Lloyd of Lloyd Rickert Development Co., which is teaming with Opus Northwest of the Twin Cities on the retail mall that could top more than 500,000 square feet.

The news comes as the developers are scheduled to appear tonight before the Sioux Falls Planning Commission seeking approval for some minor amendments to the final development plan for Dawley Farm Village. The project, one of the biggest in the Midwest, would be between Arrowhead Parkway and East 26th Street, west of Highway 11.

One proposed change to the final Dawley Farm plan would allow for a slightly higher building height to accommodate a blue logo sign for a proposed Best Buy store, a modification that has drawn opposition from residential neighbors.

Lloyd still hopes Target will commit to building one of its 150,000- to 175,000-square-foot super stores at Dawley Farm Village. The Best Buy store could be 30,000 to 40,000 square feet, he said. He noted that Best Buy has said its real estate committee will look at moving forward with a store if the developers secure city approval for their plans.

Plans for the mall also include a number of smaller U.S. retailers, including restaurants and apparel shops.

Whether developers can pull off the Dawley Farm project soon remains a big question given that many U.S. retailers have scaled back expansion plans, and others have closed stores in the face of a weak national economy.

"If they can get the big retailers to jump on board in light of the national economy, I think they will have done a heck of a job," said Doug Brockhouse, a partner at Sioux Falls-based Bender Commercial.

Lloyd agreed that proceeding with such a large retail project is no longer the slam dunk it would have been a few years ago. Still, Lloyd is optimistic about moving forward. He hopes to get retail tenant commitments by Aug. 1 and begin construction during the following year for retail store openings in fall 2009. He noted the strength of the Sioux Falls economy and help from Opus Northwest are key factors in making the project possible.

Officials at another proposed east-side development project called the Galleria at River's Bend could not be reached for comment. But as of a month ago, executives with Twin Cities-based PariPassu Cos. said their retail project still was a go, noting there was a lot of retail interest in their plans.

Lloyd said Hollywood Theaters wants his development team to secure various city approvals on Dawley Farm's final development plan before it commits to the project. After the planning commission action, the City Council could take action on the topic within the next couple of weeks. But Lloyd is optimistic that Hollywood Theaters, which would take about 40,000 square feet, will move forward with the deal.



Lloyd also has secured letters of intent from about a dozen smaller nation-wide retailers but declined to identify them. He said interested parties include an apparel store, bank and restaurants.

"Now there is an entertainment component, not just shopping," said Raquel Blount, a vice president at Lloyd Cos. That will generate more interest for Dawley Farm, she said.

One point of contention with the proposed Best Buy building: The plans call for the store to have an angled roof with the company's signature bright blue logo.

Kevin Gallo, a resident of the Split Rock Heights development, said neighbors from the rural residential area are opposed to that sign facing east toward their homes.

"The residents were told that (Dawley Farm) would have consistent storefront design and controlled storefronts with earth tones," Gallo said. "We would like to see Best Buy modify its store design."

Both Gallo and Lloyd said they hope the parties can work out a compromise. One option might be to have the Best Buy store sign face north toward the other retail development, Gallo said.

Reach reporter Scott Carlson at 331-2318.
___________________________

Hey Everyone, this is my first post!

[sfman08]

United Airlines soon will replace its Boeing aircraft used in Sioux Falls with Airbus planes that have more seats and in-flight entertainment as part of a string of cost-saving changes announced recently by the airline.

The newer aircraft is "definitely an upgrade" for travelers, said Mike Marnach, executive director for the airport. It comes at a time when many airports nationwide are facing service cuts.

That doesn't mean Sioux Falls is safe from the airline's latest announcement that it will cut 950 pilot jobs by the end of 2009.


Other changes are possible for the airport, though Mark Sixel of Sixel Consulting doesn't think the airlines will cut any service from Sioux Falls.

"Certainly they're thinking about it, and things could change," he said, "... but the only place where the main airlines are doing well at all are in the smaller to mid-size markets, like Sioux Falls."

United announced this month that it will retire its 94 Boeing 737s and six Boeing 747s as part of an effort to cut domestic capacity by 17 percent to 18 percent in 2009 and international capacity by 4 percent to 5 percent, eliminating 1,600 jobs.

On Wednesday, officials told Marnach they will replace the 737s used in Sioux Falls with Airbus A319s and A320s.

Jeff Kovick, spokesperson for United, said that while the different aircraft are made by different companies, they are similar.

The 737s have 104 to 128 seats, depending on the specific model, and A319s have 138 to 156 seats. The Airbuses also have in-flight entertainment and "additional benefits for consumers."

Marnach said more seating makes the aircraft "more fuel efficient per passenger," as the cost can be spread out further.

Northwest Airlines uses airbuses in Sioux Falls.

"We use these particular planes ... because they're more fuel-efficient," said Michelle Aguayo-Shannon, media relations manager for Northwest. "That's very advantageous to have in this current climate of $142 barrels of oil."

Despite recent announcements regarding job and flight cuts spurred by the increasing price of oil and a slowing economy, there are no plans for any flight cuts at the Sioux Falls airport, through any airline, in the near future, Marnach said.

He expressed hope that the airport won't see any more flight cuts and that "we have already suffered our pain" with the cancellation of two Delta nonstop flights to Salt Lake City and Atlanta earlier this year.

Sixel said the capacity cuts probably will occur in major markets, where it's possible to cut one or two flights from a route that already has numerous flights a day.

He said the airlines are "very happy with Sioux Falls," adding that the airport has done a great job in the past few years.

"The important thing to do is to make sure that residents in the area use the Sioux Falls airport," Sixel said, and not drive to Minneapolis or Omaha.

Reach Brittany Westerberg at 331-2320.

[sodak]

Group unveils plans for revamping downtown Sioux Falls
With broad vision set, panel seeks input from residents
Melanie Brandert • mbrander@argusleader.com • July 2, 2008

The Downtown Sioux Falls organization is taking the lead to create a strategic plan for the area's future development.

The group kicked off the process Tuesday with the first of several meetings that will seek input on what people want to see downtown.

Bill Peterson, board chairman, said the group wants to create three, six- and nine-year plans and update them every three years to guide downtown development.


"We want to know what the people of Sioux Falls want, need and expect from downtown," he said.

Fifty to 65 downtown business owners, developers and city officials heard about the city's five-year Capital Improvement Plan, 2015 Downtown Plan and a three-dimensional future concept of downtown.

Those attending were asked to fill out a strategic planning survey that will be used in this process.

Mayor Dave Munson noted total taxable valuation in downtown has risen from $87 million in 1996 to $211 million this year. Building permit values increased from $11 million in 2005 to $26 million in 2007.

"That tells me remarkable steps have been taken to keep downtown a viable part of this community," he said.

Munson cited the importance of a vibrant downtown when he met with someone who wanted to locate a business in the city. When that man arrived, he insisted on seeing downtown first, Munson said.

Dan Statema, Downtown Sioux Falls executive director, said 1,270 people live downtown, with 10,689 working there as of last year.

Mike Cooper, city planning director, listed capital improvement projects including Fawick and Falls parks improvements, rebuilding and enhancing Phillips Avenue from 10th to 12th streets, revamping Van Eps Park, adding the downtown greenway's first phase from Sixth to Eighth streets and removing railroad tracks.

Cooper also reviewed the downtown plan's goals, including preserving historic buildings, integrating Big Sioux River and Falls Parks into downtown and developing the area as the city's arts and culture district.

Redevelopment sites have been identified at the East Bank area, Schoneman's property, Sioux Steel, Uptown at Falls Park, Weber Avenue and 14th Street and Minnesota Avenue, Cooper said.

"The whole southeast corner of downtown, I think, is another sleeper area where we could see significant change," he said.

Statema said several properties pose development potential in the river greenway plan.

"The river is a largely untapped resource," he said, citing the area north of Fawick Park.

Hazard's 3-D model showed potential areas of downtown residential and office space.

Anita Kealey, who restored the historic Pettengill building at 123 S. Main Ave., said many buildings could add upper floors to expand into high rises.

"We have so much square footage in the downtown area," she said. "We could add a lot of people without a lot of effort."

Peterson said DTSF committee and board meetings will occur from July to October to discuss results of strategic planning surveys. A draft presentation will be shown to the community in October, with a final strategic plan approved in November or December.

[detmi7mile]

Definitely a place I would be curious to check out.

[Avian001]

I just spent a couple of days in Sioux Falls on my way back to Minneapolis from Denver (via the Badlands). It has been quite a few years since I was there last and I have to say it's pretty amazing with all the changes! I got a good vibe from the city (yeah, OK that's a bit hippie but I don't care). It just seemed that Sioux Falls had the potential to be something like a western version of Madison. Optimistic and forward-looking.

[sfman08]

Nationwide, home builders are slowing production as the log jam of unsold homes flirts with a record level.
But trends here in KELOLAND often buck what the rest of the nation is doing. Nonetheless, the economic slump is having an effect on the building boom in communities surrounding Sioux Falls.

Hardly a day has past in recent years when the sound of nail guns and hammers hasn't rang through the town of Tea. In fact, the community's population has doubled since the year 2000 when 1,700 people called Tea home. And despite national worries, new home construction isn't slowing down.

Kevin Nissen says, "Talking to builders, they've kind of declined on building spec houses. They're gone to pre-solds. Obviously everybody wants a pre-sold. But the pre-sold market is what's thriving now in Tea."

With such rapid growth over the past ten years, city leaders admit it's been a challenge to keep up with the demands of the sprawling town. That's why they welcome news of a potential slow down.

"We'd like to stay where we're at as far as just a moderate growth because we're having a hard time keeping up with utilities, street expansions, all the stuff is in the works. Water, obviously it's been in the news,” says Nissen.

But even with the expanding population, those in Tea are still struggling to bring more jobs into town. That's been a hard sell lately. Zoning Administrator Kevin Nissen suspects that's because businesses typically want communities with at least 5,000 people. Tea is at 3,500, which means a business boom is likely just a few years away.

Nissen says, "I think if people would talk to the businesses that are here, they'd know the town really supports those businesses."

And while those here in Tea are looking for more businesses to come to their community, there's a similar town that seems to have reached that magical mark, and businesses are blooming.

The town of Brandon is just miles away from Tea, but the two communities are worlds apart in how the economy is affecting them. More and more businesses are moving into Brandon, including one new business which will add 150 new jobs.

Dennis Olson says, "Eventually those people will live here and when they live here, they'll need services which will require more retail and its just a big circle."

Brandon's population hit 5,000 in 1996 and has since grown to more than 8,000. In that time, the city has issued building permits for at least 100 new homes each year.

Olson recalls, "I remember back in 1996 thinking 'boy, this won't last.' But it's been 11 years so we've had a pretty good growth."

But contrary to the trends in Tea, Brandon's new home construction is down this year. Way down. So far, only 20 new home permits have been granted, and that number won't likely exceed fifty by years end.

Olson says, "These houses produce sales tax for us and people when they move to town. There's a lot of advantage to that."

However, City Administrator Dennis Olson does see a bit of relief with the slowdown in the building boom.

"It seems like in city government you're always a little bit behind the curve. And we have been. We try to keep up with our sewer work. We're connected with Sioux Falls. We did that in '93 and it's kind of an automatic growth thing you can always ship more to them,” says Olson.

And Olson adds other planning successes in Brandon like keeping up with the demand for water. In fact, he says the town is even ready for more of a population growth.

Olson says, "We can stand a lot of growth without a lot of infrastructure change right now."

Whether it's businesses or homes, KELOLAND communities aren't being bothered by national economic worries and that's just the way they like it.

Tea is currently working to build a new water tower which will work with the Lewis and Clark pipeline connection. Brandon, on the other hand is looking to build another water treatment plant. Brandon opted not to join Lewis and Clark, and instead gets water from the Split Rock aquifer.

[Justin_144]

Building a home, paying for the moving cost, finding a job can all be expensive, but finding a place where your family feels safe and has opportunities is often worth the cash.

This year Forbes has ranked Minnehaha County as one of the top 20 counties to raise a family.

Katy Rees, her husband, and two kids knew packing up the family to move was in their future. Rees' husband started interviewing for his medical residency a few months ago.

"All his other interviews were in really large cities. Minneapolis, Kansas, Omaha, we really liked the small town feel here mixed in with the big town opportunity," says Rees.

So after considering a place where they felt safe to move and their the quality of life for their family, the Rees' chose Sioux Falls.

And according to Forbes, they picked a perfect place for just that.

The Forbe report looks at cities with more than 69,000 people. They consider house prices, commute time and the school system.

Sioux Falls ranks 18th, falling high on the list of low cost for home buyers. The city also tops the list for average commute time of less than 16 minutes.

The only shortfall is a graduation rate of 81 percent.

Rees' son Jacob will enter school next year but says those figures don't concern her that much. "I've done a little bit of research and I've been impressed with what the schools have to offer. There's not a bad school in the area."

The Reeses say they are pleased with their move to Sioux Falls. They feel it fits their family well and Forbes agrees.

The Reeses also say they have purchased a home in Sioux Falls and are considering staying permanently.

Forbes list

[chimaresh]

interesting to see some of the comments made by sioux falls citizens. most seem optimistic and willing to change their lifestyles. It will be interesting to see how the new zoning ordinance panes out in the next decade.

Gas prices change way Sioux Falls plans

Small neighborhoods, bike lanes part of strategy

Thom Gabrukiewicz
tgabrukiew@argusleader.com

a sizzling Sioux Falls afternoon, gas fumes rise from the nozzle as you fill up the tank.

The numbers on the pump spin by and there's a grumbling frustration that your money is evaporating with the vapors.

At $4 a gallon for gas, many folks in the area have reached their tipping point. Sioux Falls residents increasingly are using bikes and scooters, catching buses and moving closer to their jobs as reality sinks in.
Planners at City Hall see the price inflation as an opportunity to change people's long-term habits. It is more efficient to drive less, use alternative and public transportation and embrace a more compact version of growth known as "new urbanism."

For instance:

The first dedicated bike lanes were painted on some Sioux Falls streets this summer with more to come. The idea is to make it easier for bicyclists to share the road with motor vehicles.

The city is in the midst of the first revamping of its zoning regulations in 25 years with an eye toward more green space and less concrete. The Shape Sioux Falls initiative asked citizens about the kind of city in which they want to live.
There are more opportunities to move in and closer to the city's core where officials say residents can live, work and recreate in a smaller area.

Sioux Falls has many advantages over other communities when it comes to adjusting to alternative transportation. It's still a relatively small parcel of land - less than 10 miles across at any given point - with few freeways and a predictable grid of streets.

The trick is getting people to think about roads as more than the domain of speeding cars and trucks.
"We're trying to tell people, 'Share the road, share the road, share the road,' " said Sam Trebilcock, a transportation planner for the city. "We don't build a street just for cars, but for all modes of travel."

Quick changes

There is no better time in America - and Sioux Falls - to launch a reorganization of policy, said Armando Carbonell, chairman of the Department of Planning and Urban Form at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a planning think tank in Cambridge, Mass.

"When gasoline prices reached $4 a gallon, a psychological threshold appears to have been crossed," he said. "This has led surprisingly quickly to changes in vehicle choice and, based on recent differentials in real estate values, a premium on location efficiency favoring more compact, centrally located and transit-serviced developments. These behavioral changes reinforce other trends in demographics and residential preference that have been noted by planners."

The grim economic reality is pushing average Sioux Falls residents to embrace alternatives.

"For me, it's either bike or walk, or use the bus more," said Deb Christofferson, a communications technician at City Hall, who in the past two months began to use alternative transportation rather than her Chevy Suburban.

"If I need a gallon of milk, I walk. I love to walk. I'm definitely driving less. I feel like I'm doing my part."

Sales are up at bike shops in Sioux Falls.

"Definitely, there's more awareness out there," said Kyle Hoff, a salesman at Spoke-N-Sport, 313 W. 37th St. "It's tough to deny that gas prices are getting people riding bikes more."

It's not just the high gas prices that has people starting to dust off their neglected two-wheelers.

"Sioux Falls is an easy town to get out and back without a car," said Erik Nelson, owner of Prairie Cycles, 1116 S. Minnesota Ave. "It's easy. Everything's laid out on a grid. Get a block off a busy street and you just sail."

Bus isn't 'scary'

Bus ridership on Sioux Falls Transit is rising, too.

"You'd be surprised who's riding the bus in Sioux Falls," said Nadene Oppold, a pharmacy technician who doesn't own a car. "It's not scary. It's a great place to meet people, meet friends."

Mopeds and scooters have become commonplace on Sioux Falls streets. Scooters can get more than 100 miles to the gallon. And if the motor is less than 50 cubic centimeters and doesn't have a clutch or need shifting, a rider doesn't need a license in South Dakota.

"I enjoy it. I ride it around for fun," said Lynn Powell of Sioux Falls, who bought his used Chinese-made Manco scooter three summers ago for $500.

"I've put 700 miles on it this year, and I'm getting just shy of 100 miles to the gallon, 98.9 to be exact. It does a lot better at the pump than my pickup."

Way better. Powell, who is retired but works four days a week as a valet at Avera McKennan Hospital, has spent less than $30 to gas up for his scooter ramblings this year.

"At the pump, it's $50 to $70 just to fill up the pickup once," he said of his Chevy half-ton.

New urbanism

Uncertainty at the pumps creates an extraordinary opportunity for civic planners, Carbonell said: Plot and plan for a mixed-use landscape that doesn't rely on the automobile.

Called new urbanism, it's a movement that began in the 1980s. It promotes compact, walkable communities where people can work, live and play.

"To satisfy this anticipated demand for more compact living, planners are going to need to provide for more housing options at greater densities than have been typical in the recent past and more transportation choices, including transit, bike, and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods," Carbonell said. "This will require changes in regulation - zoning and in capital investment."

In Sioux Falls, the city already has in place a comprehensive bike plan, bus plan and pedestrian plan. Planners are looking at ways to revamp zoning laws to plan for more mixed-use areas where people can live and work without much travel, if any.

For bike commuters, maintenance workers in May began to paint shared parking and bicycle lanes - called the on-street bicycle facilities plan - on parts of Bahnson Avenue, West 32nd Street and Ralph Rogers Road. Next year, people will begin to see "sharrows," lanes where vehicles and bikes can share the road, on Dakota Avenue and Main Avenue downtown and 22nd Street from Phillips Avenue to Kiwanis Avenue.

In the future, the plan calls for the addition of dedicated, 5-foot-wide bike-only lanes.

"We want to get people to look at (the bicycle) as a travel option," said Trebilcock, the city planner.

Attitudes need to change, he said. In the bike plan, 25 percent of people surveyed said bikes should never be ridden on the street and 42 percent said bikes belong exclusively on the sidewalk. Most residents said bikes belong only on recreation trails.

"Bicyclists need to look at themselves as vehicles," Trebilcock said. "They need to be responsible on their bikes, they need to stop at stoplights. If they do so, they become predictable to drivers."

Catching the bus

Beyond the bike, the city pushes its buses, 12 fixed routes that loop throughout Sioux Falls.

Ridership on Sioux Falls Transit was up 2.37 percent in May, compared to the previous May, which is the most current statistical month available, said Debra Gaikowski, the city's transit planner. This year, bus ridership is up 10.45 percent from 2007.

"Ridership is the highest it's been in a really long time," Gaikowski said. "But that's a double-edged sword. Even with full buses, the price of gas affects the system. Fares are just a small portion of where our funding comes from."

The city's transit system operates on a $6.6 million budget for 2008. Patrons pay $1 per ride or $25 for an unlimited monthly pass. However, the Sioux Falls transit board has recommended to the City Council that fares be raised to $1.50.

In 2005, the transit system added bike racks to the front of buses, which allows people to bike to a transfer station and ride to work or to a stop and finish their commute by bike.

The city tracks those numbers as well. In 2006, 3,168 people popped their bike on the bus and rode. In 2007, the number was 5,145. Through May of this year, 1,258 people in Sioux Falls had bused themselves - and their bikes.

"We've been happy with those numbers," Trebilcock said. "It's a nice way of saying, 'Let's multi-mode.' "

Will it sell?

In the end, it is up to the public to embrace alternative transportation, embrace the idea of new urbanism.

It's clear that not everyone can or will get on the bus or pick up a bike.

"I'll continue to drive, but I'll drive a different car," said Cody Casey of Inwood, Iowa, as he filled up his 1980 Pontiac LeMans, with its 455 cubic inch V-8. "I just like the car 'cause it's fast."

Even at $7 a gallon?

"Yeah," he said. "Just not this one."

Will new urbanism sell on South Dakota's wide-open prairie, with its share of windy days and winters that border on brutal?

"We'll never get rid of the suburban-feel option," Trebilcock said. "But we need to give them the opportunity, the opportunity to bring those live-work-play options like what we have in the downtown area."

Reach Thom Gabrukiewicz at 331-2320.

http://argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll...NTPAGECAROUSEL

[NewDetroit1]

Why doesn't the city focus on the downtown first. Get more jobs and things to do in the downtown show how good it can be to live close and work close before they try to develop fake downtown suburban areas all over.

I feel like this is just going to end up one more thing to hinder the development of the downtown area.

[chimaresh]

the updated ordinance included changes such as improvements to the overall planning approval process. This includes a new in-depth development agreement which should allow developers and city planners to work in a more cohesive manner. none of these changes should bring about fake suburban town villages but rather gives the planners more flexibility to impose conditions and requirements on new developments and redevelopments such as the Pettigrew Heights project. there are several dt projects in the works and i think it will really take off once the new development in "uptown" gets off the ground.

[Justin_144]

Pettigrew Heights -area business owners, landowners and residents Wednesday saw a vision of how the neighborhood could look someday.

Architect Dick Dempster and intern Ryan Huber of Architecture Inc. gave a futuristic presentation on beautification ideas, such as a pedestrian overpass with a sign reading "Pettigrew Heights" at 11th Street and Prairie Avenue.

Street banners could be attached to light poles, Dempster said. Both 10th and 11th streets showed tree-lined boulevards.

Red pedestrian markers at corners could create more pedestrian friendliness, and street markets could be lit up, city planner Russ Sorenson said.

"The intersection really stands out," he said. "Those are some ideas to slow traffic down and identify safe pedestrian crossings."

The Pettigrew Heights Revitalization Committee has been meeting monthly for the past two years, stemming from the Mayor's Neighborhood Conservation Program started in 2006, Sorenson said.

Last April, residents and business owners talked about their vision for the neighborhood, Sorenson said. Their ideas went into Wednesday's program.

Sorenson noted the 11th Street and Duluth Avenue area targeted for revitalization. One proposal has mixed-use development. Residential housing could be on second and third floors and parking in the front and rear of the properties.

Jerry Noonan, who owns Computerized Management Systems, said 10th and 11th streets should be strictly commercial areas.

"We got to be careful about putting residential in," he said.

Another idea was to have businesses in a strip area be the same color, especially Munchies, Mr. Print and King's Casino on 11th Street.

Sorenson said businesses could turn to programs such as rental rehabilitation or historic faade easement.

Maggy Morrow, a Prairie Avenue resident who has lived in the area for 25 years, agreed with the concern about children living along 10th and 11th. She said such housing should be in the middle of the street or Ninth or 12th streets.

"It's people just not watching their children," Morrow said.

The next meeting is 3:30 p.m. Aug. 20 at First United Methodist Church, 401 S. Spring Ave.

Reach reporter Melanie Brandert at 977-3926.

[NewDetroit1]

Are there any renderings for this project?

[Justin_144]

Only thing i can find to date is this townhouse project going in.

[NewDetroit1]

Sorry for asking so much, but i cant get to sioux falls very often and am really interested the developments in this city.

So once more im going to have to ask for some pics of downtown developments or just new pics of downtown sioux falls.

Thanks for all the info and help.

[sfman08]

NewDetroit1 These are pictures of the Uptown at Falls Park on Phillips Avenue Project

[skate342]

Originally Posted by sfman08

lady in white pant suit walking champion purebread poodle loves uptown.

i need to dust of my camera and get some photos. i'll try to do that in the coming weeks.

[chimaresh]

http://www.keloland.com/news/NewsDet...cfm?ID=0,72425