April 25, 2022

A recently renovated downtown building is attracting a variety of offices and retailers.

The Johnson Building, which is on the southwest corner of 11th Street and Second Avenue, was formerly the Stewart Building and most recently was the headquarters of the Sioux Falls Ministry Center before it moved east to the Empower Campus.

New owners Justin and Chrissy Johnson extensively renovated it inside and out, said Raquel Blount of Lloyd Cos., who has the space listed for lease.

“We still have space available, but the activity level on that particular building has really gotten strong just because of the phase of rehabilitation that it’s in. Basically, it was a full remodel,” she said.

“They gutted the interior, adding new glass windows, tuck-pointing on the building, making the exterior more modern and just visually enhancing it. The common areas are complete, so when people tour the building, they can get a good feel for the look and feel of the building. There’s all new carpet, wallpaper, the only thing that remained intact was the iconic curved stairwell to the second floor, which is really cool.”

The first floor has leased nearly 1,500 square feet to Preach-es, an apparel and shoe store owned by Jonathon and Kristina Vazquez.

Jonathon is a pastor who came to Sioux Falls from California six years ago and decided to follow his passion for clothing and sneakers in starting a business.

“Our slogan is ‘Practice what you preach.’ Whatever you’re talking about, make sure you’re living it,” he said.

“It’ll be higher-end luxury for women, men and children. I have a lot of friends into fashion in New York and California and Miami, and in Sioux Falls we’re like two to three years behind the wave of fashion culture, and with us bringing these higher-end brands, I’m really hoping we can help push not just Sioux Falls but South Dakota in regards to our fashion trends.”

He envisions the store serving a community role, with merchandise displayed in racks that easily can be moved to host events or panel discussions.

Preach-es starts with a heavy online following from selling sneakers; its Instagram account has more than 23,000 followers.

“I spend two to three hours a day studying shoes,” Vazquez said. “And that’s been blowing up — the reselling of shoes, exclusive shoes. It’s a multibillion-dollar industry, so a lot of the shoes we will sell will be higher end or more sought after.”

He was attracted to the Johnson Building in part by the number of lofts being built around it.

“I just feel like that whole area is growing, and over the summer sometimes they play movies, and every time I pass, it just seemed alive with people walking around, so I felt like it was the right opportunity,” he said.

Preach-es plans to open in July.

Another first-floor space will become a real estate office for Discovery Realty Group, which is a real estate team led by Destinie Marshall that started six years ago as part of Keller Williams Realty Sioux Falls.

The 1,500-square-foot office will start with five people and have room for up to 15.

“I’d been watching this building for a while,” Marshall said. “I liked the central location, and my business is very surrounded around investors and being downtown, first-time homebuyers and being involved in downtown Sioux Falls, so moving from the south side to downtown just made sense because most of my team lives or works already downtown, and it’s where we spent most of our time.”

The rest of the first floor is designed for similar smaller shops and offices.

“We’re negotiating with retail and service uses,” Blount said. “It’s a great opportunity. Everyone is looking for the smaller bays. It allows an opportunity to get into business and get their product marketed and out there.”

On the second floor, the law firm Evans Haigh & Arndt already is open, and designing the office led to a second tenant: Lenae Design, which is moving from Main Avenue.

Lenae Schwartz started her business seven years ago and worked with the law firm on its office space, which introduced her to the building.

“I knew they were planning to rehab this building but hadn’t been in it, and now we’re going to be neighbors,” she said. “I’m super excited.”

Her office is 1,850 square feet and overlooks an Avera office building and part of the Big Sioux River, plus allows extra space for storage and conferencing, she said.

The firm has ranged from three to five people and works on both residential and commercial design projects.

“It’s been fun because we’ve been able to not just be pigeonholed into one type of project,” she said.

There is about 8,000 square feet of flexible office space remaining on the second floor, Blount said.