Sioux Falls steel company picks partner to redevelop site

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Sioux Falls steel manufacturer is partnering with a local developer to transform the company’s downtown industrial site into a bustling commercial and residential center.

Sioux Steel on Thursday announced its partnership with Lloyd Companies to redevelop the manufacturer’s roughly 11-acre property along the Big Sioux River, the Argus Leader reported.

The steel company unveiled plans last year to vacate the site it’s called home for a century.

The first phase of the redevelopment project will include a hotel, conference center and offices, with construction to begin early 2020.

The property will be redeveloped into an “urban downtown village” with both daytime and evening destinations, said Luke Jessen, a development project manager at Lloyd Companies.

He said the Sioux Steel site will be anchored by the hotel and conference center, with office space, restaurants and a mix of residential options.

“The streets will be designed with an urban feel for sidewalk dining and retail concepts that can take advantage of the outdoors,” said Jake Quasney, Lloyd Companies’ executive vice president of development. “You’ll be able to come down and sit in a coffee shop or sit in a park, and it will all flow together in a way that feels natural, much like you’d see in more progressive urban communities.”

Scott Rysdon, Sioux Steel’s president and CEO, said the project may request tax increment financing from the city to meet future parking needs.

“The success ultimately depends on us working together to build those cultural, iconic experiences and in that way, we’ll build an engine for growth here in this city,” Rysdon said.