April 26, 2021

Another massive building appears to be on the way to Foundation Park.

A building permit under the working name “Project Puma” was approved Friday for a 336,700-square-foot building at 5051 W. Foundation Court.

It was issued to Minnesota-based R.J. Ryan Construction and labeled as a package-sorting facility.

The address corresponds to land that was co-listed by Bender Commercial Real Estate Services for Indianapolis-based Scannell Properties, which may end up developing two buildings on the site for owners or tenants.

The 60-acre site was listed late last year, and marketing efforts included a concept for a building.

While Scannell hasn’t finalized a lease or sale on what’s dubbed Project Puma for more than half of the site, that leaves “basically 20 acres of ground with a concept building of 200,000 square feet for a warehouse or distribution use,” said listing broker Rob Fagnan.

“We’re now attracting national developers to our market, and Scannell is one of the most aggressive industrial developers right now across the country,” Fagnan said. “It’s huge for them to plant their flag here.”

This is how a second building could be situated on the remaining land. Project Puma is just under 40 acres immediately to the west.

The latest project and additional interest from other users builds on the momentum created at Foundation Park by the Amazon fulfillment center, said Dean Dziedzic, vice president of economic development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

The structure of the deal is unique for the park, with a developer doing a build-to-suit building and multiple brokers helping list the  opportunity.

“It exposes Sioux Falls to a much larger market,” Dziedzic said. “Historically, the foundation has sold land strictly to the end user, where this is a true build to suit, and it’s with a national developer, and I think it’s a good thing. And I give credit to our real estate committee that we’re open to entering into an agreement like this.”

Amazon’s fulfillment center is 640,000 square feet on the main level and expected to open in early 2022.

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