May 19, 2021

Kevin Tupy is adding another downtown building to his holdings.

He will be the new owner of the Young & Richards building at 222 S. Phillips Ave.

“From my perspective, downtown is where you want to be in terms of real estate,” Tupy said. “With everything going on, it’s just exciting to be part of the growth. And how often does a building come on the market downtown? Not often.”

The owners of Young & Richards Flowers, who lived above their store, are retiring and moving to Minnesota.

Tupy already has secured a tenant to replace the shop: MK Threads Boutique, which will be moving from the Jones421 Building.

“It’s so exciting,” owner Kelly Grovijahn said. “It’s just such a unique building. The walls are so beautifully rustic-looking, and the natural light that comes in from the back makes it a really neat space. We’re going to take our look and really elevate it.”

She’s out of room at Jones421 and has been using some space from her across-the-hall neighbor, BluMoon Designs. The handcrafted accessory and home decor business will be moving too and have an area for inventory within MK Threads, Grovijahn said.

“It’s crazy,” she said. “We would have never thought after the COVID year that we’d be growing like this, but it’s awesome. I credit it to our customer service and really building a community. I think we offer something different than every other boutique in Sioux Falls.”

She said she’s excited to join the growing number of boutiques along Phillips Avenue, including neighboring Chelsea’s Boutique.

“We don’t carry any of the same brands, and we’re excited about that, so there’s no crossing over merchandise, and it will be a totally different experience,” Grovijahn said.

The upper level is a 3,000-square-foot apartment that Tupy said he plans to refresh.

The building dates back to 1912.

“The owners took fantastic care of the building, and we’re looking forward to being good stewards far into future,” he said.

The apartment offers two bedrooms plus a large office that could add a closet and be another bedroom, said Raquel Blount of Lloyd Cos., who has it listed for lease.

The kitchen is made for chefs with a butler’s pantry, warming and cooling drawers and other extras.

A rate hasn’t been set yet.

“I’ve already had a couple people call,” she said. “There’s wood detail reclaimed from a mansion in Chicago, so you don’t want to take away that character. But they are going to do some paint and maybe do some counter work for a freshened-up look.”

It also includes a sizable rooftop deck.

Tupy closes on the building June 11, and the apartment would be available after that, Blount said.

“In those situations with that type of property downtown, things do tend to move quick,” she said. “You have to jump on it, or someone else is going to. We had a lot of interest in people buying that building.”

The underground parking also was appealing, Tupy said.

“It’s very unique … there’s room for probably seven cars,” he said. “And the other side of the basement is a really nice workshop area which could be potentially an arcade or theater room.”

Tupy is the founder of Cresten Capital Holdings, which also owns the historic Beach Pay and Telford buildings downtown.

Longtime downtown flower shop to close with owners’ retirement