Oct. 8, 2019

A former restaurant building that has sat vacant on the east-side Dawley Farm Village campus since 2013 is getting a new tenant.

It won’t be a restaurant, though.

Dakota Vision Center bought the property at 1100 S. Highline Place, which was home to Thatzza Pizza, and will move its east-side location there.

“We’re not sure,” east-side office manager Matt Gustafson said of when the new location might open. “We just acquired the building, and we will have to renovate. It could be anywhere from January to May depending on how long the work takes.”

The optometry clinic started in Sioux Falls 28 years ago and expanded into a retail center on Arrowhead Parkway three years ago, Gustafson said.

“It just keeps growing for us,” he said of business on the east side of the city. “We’re outgrowing what we’ve got.”

The new building is more than twice as big as the current space at 5418 E. Arrowhead Parkway, Gustafson said. The clinic will expand its examination space to be able to offer more testing.

Dakota Vision’s east location has two optometrists and five support staff members. One of the optometrists, Dr. Joel Quist, specializes in custom contact lens fitting for patients who need it.

“He can make a topography of the eye to make special contacts just for that person.”

While additional support staff will be hired, Gustafson said the partners haven’t decided yet if they’ll add another doctor.