July 13, 2023

At some point likely not long from now, the family farmland that helped form Ryan Tysdal’s past and present will enter a new future.

The 300 acres in northeast Sioux Falls known as Foss Fields are part of the family farmstead where Tysdal’s grandfather Cliff and his great-uncle, the World War II Marine fighter ace and former Gov. Joe Foss, used to fly airplanes.

“They had a runway through the cornfield where they would take off,” Tysdal said.

He grew up nearby, on the east edge of Sioux Falls, where his parents still live north of Menards.

“I literally watched the city grow toward us,” he said. “And I wanted to play a role in that.”

Tysdal recently was promoted to vice president of commercial real estate at Van Buskirk Cos., where he has served as a broker associate since 2017.

“The reality is he’s a very big force in commercial real estate in Sioux Falls. He’s a very hard-working guy. He puts in the time, he knows the people, and he understands the business,” said Mike Van Buskirk, president of operations.

“He’s one of the most successful in town, and we’ve recognized it with the vice president title.”

The path that led Tysdal there winds through the family property, which became an impetus for him to join the industry.

Originally, the Brandon Valley High School and Augustana University graduate “was going to be a band director,” he said.

He ended up getting a business degree at Augustana followed by an MBA at the University of Sioux Falls and spent a decade in advertising, split between media buying at HenkinSchultz and sales at Results Radio.

“Which, as weird as it sounds, provided a really good basis or foundation for a career in commercial real estate,” he said. “It’s a lot of the same clientele – heads of companies, small-business owners, CEOs – so in many cases it’s a lot of the same pool of clients when I moved from advertising to commercial real estate. There were a lot of parallels there.”

He’d considered entering the industry in 2008 – “and I’m glad I didn’t because I probably wouldn’t be here today,” he said. “There were no deals happening then.”

But the post-recession world of 2012 offered a different landscape, and traction seemed to be growing for Foss Fields, which Tysdal began brokering with his brother-in-law, Joel Ingle of C-Lemme Cos.

“We were under contract in 2012 with Sam’s Club,” he said, adding that when Costco entered the market, “the Costco deal killed the Sam’s Club instantly.”

It didn’t kill Tysdal’s appetite for the industry though. He joined Lloyd Cos. as a commercial broker and began building his personal brand.

“I joke it’s too expensive to look like everyone else,” he said. “People think marketing is expensive. It’s more expensive to blend in. I’ve always had a passion for branding and advertising, and that stands out in my personal branding. When you’re marketing property on behalf of other people, the better your materials and design and the work you do, I think clients benefit from that.”

It led to a growing resume of deals for him. In the past decade, Tysdal has worked with national and local tenants, including At Home, Five Below, Ulta Beauty, Scooter’s Coffee, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Dollar Tree, Ace Hardware, Burger King, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Caribou Coffee, Pizza Hut, AT&T and Little Caesars.

“It’s definitely not a career for someone without thick skin,” he said. “Real estate is an industry with a lot of noes and very few yeses. You have to be able to handle rejection and keep moving well.”

He remembers working many Saturday mornings early in his career when Lloyd Cos. founder Craig Lloyd would talk with him about the work.

“I felt like I gained about 20 years of experience by what I soaked in those first few years in the business,” he said. “I go back to having the right mentors at the right time makes all the difference.”

Growing a team

Now, he’s playing that role for others. Tysdal has grown a commercial real estate team at Van Buskirk Cos. that includes commercial brokers Autumn Kaufhold and Mike Knudson and administrative assistant Hope Reiff.

“There’s this fire under Ryan that keeps me and Knudson on the top of our game,” said Kaufhold, who met Tysdal when the two worked in radio sales.

“I believe Ryan saw something in me that would make a great commercial broker and always encouraged me to give it a try. He admired the way I built business relationships, and with his support, I knew this was a team I wanted to be part of.”

Knudson also spent more than a decade in marketing, where his path crossed with Tysdal.

“I love our crew,” he said. “Ryan is the veteran leader, so he is great to chat with over unique scenarios, issues that pop up, and just overall he knows everything that is happening in Sioux Falls. He is a wonderful leader. Autumn is a rock star. She has the best attitude and always fights for her clients. Hope is the glue that keeps us on track and on tack. She’s been an awesome addition to our team.”

Reiff worked with Tysdal previously in commercial real estate and did freelance work before joining the team full time.

“Ryan’s new position is very much earned and well deserved,” she said. “He is not only a team player but also a great mentor and teacher to those around him, including me. He has worked extremely hard throughout the years to be as successful as he is, and he continues to work just as hard or harder to continue that success.”

The overall team is “full of great, hardworking people,” she added. “What stands out to me about the company is that each person and each division wants the company to succeed.”

Even though each commercial broker is an independent contractor “and technically are competitors with each other, it doesn’t feel that way,” Knudson said. “Our group is very tight both professionally and personally.”

Kaufhold called it a “boutique approach” that is “all about client relationships,” she said. “We communicate well, and it’s a very cooperative atmosphere within our brokerage team.”

Tysdal said he hand-picked the team.

“A marketing eye is definitely a competitive advantage when leasing/selling real estate, and in addition, both (Kaufhold and Knudson) are incredible relationship builders throughout the community. People tend to do business with those that they enjoy being around, and that has definitely worked in their favor,” he said.

“Hope joined our crew in 2022. I worked with her years ago, and she is hands-down one of the most talented individuals I have ever had the pleasure of working with. With a rich design background, she has a unique skill set that dovetails well with the needs of commercial real estate.”

As a vertically integrated company offering development, construction and property management, commercial brokerage rounds out the offerings, Van Buskirk said.

“We want a focused group. It’s not giant with tons of people. It’s focused on high-performing people,” he said. “We get along very well; we’re good at collaborating and thinking through ideas.”

In Sioux Falls, “every developer has a niche,” Tysdal added. “There’s definitely room for all of us. It’s exciting to see some of the things I and the Van Buskirk brothers are talking about.”

Future focus

Looking ahead, Tysdal anticipates his team will have plenty of opportunities to tackle.

“It’s my goal to execute what I would describe as marquee projects in Sioux Falls, whether it’s retail or office or housing,” he said. “Things that decades from now you look back and you left your thumbprint on the market in a way that makes sense. That’s very important to me.”

That includes the property where it all started.

With development on all sides of it, Foss Fields doesn’t feel quite as much on the edge of town as it did when Tysdal started marketing it a decade ago.

“The time is now. The phone is ringing. Retailers are on board, and they view our site as the spot to be,” he said.

“But we’re mindful of wanting to see it develop in the best way possible and be a good addition to the community.”