Nov. 6, 2023

The first month in business at a new, larger location has been good for the longtime east-side bar and grill The Alibi, its general manager said.

“There’s been positive response from both the regulars, and also people that are new to the establishment within the area really like it,” Todd Burns said. “It’s been great.”

The restaurant moved to be one of three businesses in a new retail center a little to the north and west of its former location. It joins the Silver Dollar Casino, which was already open, and soon The Scapegoat, a new restaurant specializing in artisan pizza that’s scheduled to open in a couple of weeks.

“As this area continues to blossom, we’re going to be part of that neighborhood and growth, and we look forward to all of our new neighbors moving in,” Burns said.

They’re already moving in. Many of the city’s 381 permits for new single-family home issued this year are in the 57110 ZIP code, and hundreds of multifamily units are in various stages of developing and leasing.

“I think we are meeting expectations,” said Clint Ackerman, owner of Signature Cos., which is developing multiple east-side properties, including 180 acres north of Arrowhead Parkway and west of Six Mile Road.

“Commercial and multifamily is ahead of schedule or ahead of expectations, so we focused on getting that done and slowed down the residential. … Now, a majority of our activity is on the east side of Sioux Falls.”

His own business is invested there too, recently opening its new 30-person office in the development known as The Willows.

Casey’s General Store is planning to open a location at the northwest corner of 10th Street and Arrowhead in the next 30 to 45 days.

“We have more people looking to the east, probably another 10 acres of commercial,” Ackerman said. “We have a day care looking, a smaller event center and an investor group looking at a retail pad.”

He also has developed hundreds of apartments and town homes, with more residential coming: owner-occupied town homes, single-family and a new community of 57 lots meant as single-family rental homes.

“Des Moines has small rental single-family communities, Omaha has it, Fargo has it, and we thought we’d give it a try,” Ackerman said. “We think they’ll go pretty quickly. Given the price of homes today, we think it’s going to be a very viable project.”

The northeast is taking off in part because of nearby retail and office activity at Dawley Farm Village, he said.

“Residents don’t want to be on top of retail, but they want to be close,” he said. “That’s why the west side grew for so long … and I think that’s why residents are migrating to the eastern portion of Sioux Falls.”

Growth of retail, services

Soon, there will be more retail too. The Foss Fields development, which goes from Arrowhead Parkway to Madison Street along both sides of Veterans Parkway, is drawing interest from retail and office uses, said listing agent Ryan Tysdal of Van Buskirk Cos.

“You can definitely tell there’s momentum there,” he said. “For the last 15 years, we’ve been patiently waiting for Dawley to stabilize … and we would come in next, and over the last 18 months, the phone is ringing, and that was not happening a half-dozen years ago.”

There’s residential happening all around the development, he said.

“The Foss property doesn’t feel nearly as on the edge as it did a decade ago because you have development happening on all four sides of it,” Tysdal said. “We are negotiating multiple deals with medium and large retail users for the stretch that goes north from Menards.”

Similar to Dawley Farm, the retailers often are looking at a second or third location in the market, he said.

“You’re seeing other retailers and restaurants following that trend,” he said. “They love the residential development. They’re impressed by the sales of homes and the demographics of the area and the growth. It all plays into the pieces of the puzzle coming together.”

There’s ground work starting for a new 20-acre multifamily project in the development ahead of a spring groundbreaking, as well as office users and senior housing groups looking, Tysdal said.

There’s potential that retailers could break ground next year to open in 2025, he added.

“That’s lightning speed in our world,” Tysdal said.

Before that, though, Lewis Drug plans to open adjacent to a new Sanford Health clinic on the northwest corner of Madison Street and Veterans Parkway.

The two are coordinating a February opening and will be attached as they are on the west side near 41st Street and Ellis Road.

“We’re quite pleased with that size, and we think the market is too,” Lewis Drug CEO Mark Griffin said. “I think we should have good success over there because the neighborhood doesn’t have a lot going on until you get to 10th (Street). There’s a lot of rooftops. If they’re not up yet, they’re going to be.”

Those people are patients too, Sanford Health is projecting. It added outpatient physical therapy to its 26,500-square-foot clinic, which also includes 34 exam rooms for family medicine, pediatrics and women’s services. There also will be a lab, radiology and ultrasound services in  the clinic.

“It’s on time and on budget, and it seemed to go really smoothly,” said Kris Denevan, executive director of facilities and support services. “Most of the activity is on the inside — they’re doing a lot of casework installation, flooring installation, painting the walls, so a lot of finishing touches.”

The parking lot and final landscaping are planned to be done in the next few weeks, along with exterior lighting and outdoor patio area for staff. The first patient is scheduled to be seen in February 2024.

“So we’re getting really close, and it’s exciting,” Denevan said. “I think it will be nice on that side of town, quickly off the interstate and off Veterans Parkway. It’s got beautiful glass windows overlooking the rolling hills to the east. It’s higher than you realize when you drive by. It’s a nice little beacon on the hill.”