Southeast surge: New retail, apartments coming to Cliff Avenue
By Jodi Schwan
A cluster of construction is getting started, beginning at 69th Street and Cliff Avenue and continuing south.
A new retail center at the southeast corner has broken ground, and leases are being signed. It’s being developed by Stencil Group and will include the company’s office.
The rest of the 9,000-square-foot building is planned as retail space.
“We’re really excited about the location and feel there’s a need for some retail services in the area,” CEO Nate Stencil said.
A new business, The Sauna Haus, has leased space in the middle of the building. The European-inspired concept will include eight dry infrared sauna suites and two salt rooms, which are new to the Sioux Falls market.
Each salt rooms will seat up to four people, who will sit on lounge chairs and listen to music while a generator disperses invisible medical grade salt into the room for 45 minutes. Salt rooms are promoted as a noninvasive way to alleviate allergies and other respiratory issues and improve skin.
The Sauna Haus plans to open this fall.
That leaves two end spots available in the retail center.
“One of them has the potential for a drive-thru,” Stencil said. “We’ve really been targeting different coffee shops and have had some good conversations. Ideally, that’s what we’d like to have. I think with the (Sioux Falls Christian) school and USF stadium that would be a welcome service in the area.”
Stencil’s largest offices are in St. Paul and Rochester, Minn. There are six employees in Sioux Falls who work out of a space near 49th Street and Louise Avenue.
“We’ve been expanding a little more in our home base, so this was a nice opportunity to piggyback with a good location and upgrade our current space,” he said.
Across the street, the northeast corner is on the market.
There has been some interest, but the owner wants to sell the entire parcel in one transaction, said Reggie Kuipers of Bender Commercial Real Estate Services, who has it listed.
The area would be a good fit for medical offices, additional retail and apartments, he said.
USF sells land
A major apartment project is coming to land east of Cliff Avenue and south of 77th Street.
It’s on land recently purchased from the University of Sioux Falls by Samuelson Development, which also owns the large apartment complexes Foxmoor, Stonehedge and Steeplechase in Sioux Falls as well as a project in Rapid City.
The new one will be called Spring Creek Luxury Apartments. The first phase will be 219 units on 8 acres, with one-, two- or three-bedroom options.
“It will be a four-story building with amenities like we have (in our other properties) in Sioux Falls,” owner John Samuelson said. “A clubhouse, outdoor pool, fitness room and all that.”
He plans to start construction soon and open the first units in late spring next year.
Samuelson also recently bought 16 acres there that will allow him to reach about 600 apartments over the next several years.
“That was where we first built was on that side of town, so we’ve been there before, and there’s a lot of good growth,” he said. “We’ll be just north of Highway 100 when it goes in, and with Walmart and more commercial going in, and Harrisburg, I think there’s just a need for multifamily in that specific area.”
Salon relocating
Nearby, a two-tenant building on the north side of 77th Street and Cliff Avenue will start construction in early August.
It will be owned by Steve and Karen Klooster, who operate Headhunters Hairstylists at 1810 S. Southeastern Ave.
“They’re getting consumed by the 26th Street road project, so the city has paid for their building and real estate, and this is the new site,” said Joel Ingle of C-Lemme Cos.
The building will be 4,200 square feet, and the salon will take a little more than half of it, with the rest left to lease, he said.
Headhunters is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2018.
It will be the fourth move for the business since it started in 1969. Steve Klooster bought it in 1977, a few years after he started working there. It has been at the current location since 1991.