SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Why does the City of Sioux Falls think the public/private partnership for the parking ramp and mixed use at the former Copper Lounge location downtown is a big deal?
According to community development director Daren Ketcham, the project is a facility that will bring in tax dollars.
"That private partner (Legacy), they're going to be paying property taxes," Ketcham said. "They're going to be generating sales taxes. They're going to be generating entertainment taxes. These are things that none of our other parking assets do."
While it's not a "done deal" yet, Ketcham says we're likely to see more public/private projects downtown in the fuuture like the mixed use parking ramp/hotel/shops at the former Copper Lounge location on Phillips.
"As land gets scarcer, I think we'll see more and more of these types of opportunities," Ketcham said. "It may not happen immediately, but over the next decade we should ceraintly see some more of this."
Whether the new private/public partnership for mixed use and parking on Phillips Avenue creates 300 new spaces or over 500, it's only part of the parking solution downtown.
"We know that we're going to need a couple thousand more spaces in downtown in the next 20 years," Ketcham said. "You know, the public's not going to be able to supply all 2,000 of those spaces."
The project is located at the site of where a building collapsed, killing one person and injuring another last December.
Ketcham made his comments this morning on The Greg Belfrage Show.
