SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO-AM) It may take 20 years to fully develop the downtown rail yard property in Sioux Falls, but it will be worth waiting for.
"Developed to its full potential this project could result in over a $150 million in additional private investment in the core of our city," Community Development Director Daren Ketcham told City Council on Monday, in its monthly update on the ten-acre property.
Ketcham told Council that groundbreaking for the first project could happen in spring of 2018.
Cary Thompson with Omaha-based RDG Planning and Design cast the latest vision for the rail yard property. He said it could have up to 50,000 square feet of retail, 80.000 of office space, and up to 250 housing units, linked together by a pedestrian promenade, loop road and bike trail. He said it might even include a large indoor/outdoor market.
The city of Sioux Falls last fall reached a deal with BNSF, with the help of $40 million federal dollars, to buy the key ten acres in the city's core.