Jan. 12, 2018

The iconic Gateway computer campus in North Sioux City has been sold to an investor.

Gerard Keating, who splits time between Nebraska and Florida, bought the 77-acre site this week from Taiwan-based Acer Inc. for $5.75 million.

The 750,000-square-foot building on the property is the largest in South Dakota, according to a statement from Keating.

The campus was built in six phases from 1989 to 1998 at an estimated $70 million cost.

The owner of Keating Resources, which invests in industrial buildings throughout the U.S., said his decision to purchase the property “was made easier based on the outstanding work ethic of residents of the Sioux City metro along with the entrepreneurial pro-growth tax policies of South Dakota.”

Keating said research led him to believe there might not be a better location in the U.S. for a business based on access to skilled labor, livability, low to no tax burden, low cost of electricity and a central U.S. spot for logistics companies to access population.

After buying the land, Keating immediately sold a 225,000-square-foot building on the south end to a local investor. He said he has a lease pending on a 101,000-square-foot portion of another building. An additional 200,000 square feet is available and can be subdivided. Keating estimates he can build 500,000 square feet on 28 adjacent acres.

The building will be repainted this summer with the well-known Holstein cow pattern and called the Gateway Business Center. Keating said he is leaving Gateway co-founder Ted Wait’s executive office vacant “with the hope Ted or one of his companies may return to perform magic one more time.”

Gateway employed almost 6,000 people at its peak in North Sioux City with a worldwide total of 25,000 employees in the year 2000.