Dec. 16, 2019

Nordica Warehouses Inc. is already adding to its major warehouse presence at Foundation Park.

The Sioux Falls company plans to start working on a 105,000-square-foot addition to its property, which is just wrapping up construction and includes 200,000 square feet of space. And that could be just the start.

“We originally thought it would be three or four years before we added on, but before we got done, we decided we needed the other 100,000, so we started on that,” president Dan Afdahl said. “We’ll be building (phase two) over the winter and hopefully move in around the first of May.”

The property in northwest Sioux Falls includes rail access, which was key.

“The big draw to that site is that they are looking to take advantage of rail services out there, being able to have BNSF deliver product to their warehouse on a larger scale basis,” said Dean Dziedzic, vice president for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

The Development Foundation has been leading development of the 800-acre park that’s northwest of the interchange for interstates 29 and 90 and has interest from several potential buyers for the remaining land, which Dziedzic estimates totals several hundred acres.

For Nordica, it means being able to increase capacity of business that requires rail. Right now, only its downtown warehouse has rail access — and not as much as is available at Foundation Park.

“It’s very critical,” Afdahl said. “We’ve been turning down rail business for years because we didn’t have any capacity, so this will be very nice.”

The business has other smaller warehouses in town, and the plan was to consolidate much of the work at Foundation Park. But demand is so strong that for now the satellites are staying while even more construction is planned at Foundation Park.

“We have an option on a piece of land that’s adjacent to this piece, and we’re going to exercise that option at the end of this month, Afdahl said. “So in the spring we’ll be building another 200,000 (square feet) just like the building that’s virtually done now, with an option to add another 100,000 square feet.”

There are four more large sites with rail access available at Foundation Park, ranging from 20 to 45 acres.

“We have a good pipeline for 2020, including some existing projects that we’re currently working on,” Dziedzic said. “It’s steady, and we’re seeing rail and non-rail, larger projects and smaller 5- to 8-acre sites.”

The target industries for the site include advanced manufacturing, logistics and warehousing, and food processing, he added.

Existing businesses include Win Chill and Dakota Carriers.

“We have some interest from food processing companies, which have always been a target, but it’s mostly on the manufacturing side,” Dziedzic said.