Nov. 26, 2018

As Gage Brothers Concrete Products starts operations at its new northeast Sioux Falls headquarters, a plan for the land it occupied for a century shows how the area could develop into a mix of stores, restaurants, hotels or other commercial space.

Architecture firm ISG put a concept plan together for the property at 4301 W. 12th St. It’s being marketed by Lloyd Cos. and covers about 30 acres along Interstate 29.

“It’s a blank slate in the middle of Sioux Falls,” said Raquel Blount of Lloyd, who has it listed. “Sometimes, it can be difficult to see the vision with everything still on site, but it’s a tremendous development opportunity. It’s highly visible and highly trafficked.”

The concept shows how the site could lay out, including a round-about for moving traffic, with buildings of various sizes and potential uses, designed to take advantage of the proximity to I-29.

“The visibility from I-29 is incredibly important … so we wanted to make sure we were capitalizing on that and where we positioned buildings didn’t block views to other pieces within the site,” said Amanda Prosser, associate principal with ISG. “And we really wanted to focus on making sure the pedestrian was factored into every piece of this. It’s still very easy for vehicles to get in and out of the site, but it’s just as easy and comfortable for pedestrians or bicyclists to go through the site.”

The buildings could represent a hotel anchoring each side, buildings with multiple retailers, single-user buildings for retailers that need a large showroom or restaurants of varying sizes, Prosser said.

“There are a lot of opportunities, so we didn’t assign specific uses. It lays out a vision for what it could be. There’s a lot of space for many different users, but thinking about how they relate to each other and connect is incredible important.”

ISG is based in the Twin Cities and expanded to Sioux Falls earlier this year.

“We’re in four states with eight offices, so we’re bringing a new perspective to the marketplace, and we’re aware of trends in commercial and retail and hospitality spaces in the entire Midwest,” Prosser said.

Demolition of the existing Gage buildings will start next year once the entire operation is moved. Construction for the new development could start as soon as the spring, Blount said.

“We’re actively seeking retail, office, hospitality, multifamily and we have groups we’re having conversations with,” she said. “One would be a restaurant new to Sioux Falls. And we’ve talked to existing quick-service restaurants where this would be a natural additional store, and we’ve had some hotel interest.”