University Hills Village opens newest building with pub, plans for additional development
Feb. 6, 2023
Soon, there will be nearly 500 apartments at University Hills Village, plus a large package of amenities, including a recently opened pub.
The 80-acre property west of USD – Sioux Falls and northwest of 54th Street North and Marion Road will bring on its fourth apartment building this month, adding 137 units for a total of 484.
The last building to open there was in 2020, “and we have filled that,” said Danielle Merrow, broker and owner of Dynamic Real Estate LLC.
“It’s our amenities building … which has the indoor pool, basketball court, golf and sports simulator, billiards and just a lot of gathering space for our tenants, as well as a beautiful courtyard.”
The outdoor space includes putting greens, bocce ball, bean bags and gathering areas with pergolas, fire pits and grills.
“It’s a gathering spot for the neighborhood,” Merrow said. “It is well used during the warmer months.”
University Hills Village is being developed by a team that includes Merrow, broker and owner of Dynamic Services and Dynamic Real Estate LLC, and Jarrod Smart, owner of Smart Commercial Construction Co.
The first building at University Hills Village opened in 2014. The new building brings a mix of mostly studio and one-bedroom apartments, with a limited number of two-bedroom units. It will bring the population of the development to about 700 people.
It includes a community room and common spaces, but one corner of the first floor is the pub. The owners of BB’s Pub N Grill opened Credo’s Pub in January, which specializes in pizza, burgers and chicken sandwiches while offering 32 draft beers and a full liquor license.
“It’s very much open to the public, but our tenants can go outside and go right into the pub, and it’s open to families,” Merrow said.
Those younger than 21 are welcome until 10 p.m. in the pub, which is open daily.
Credo’s owners also plan to open a 10,000-square-foot, full-service restaurant with a patio and liquor store at one of the commercial lots in University Hills Village. It’s expected to open in the spring of 2024.
“Credo’s came along at an interesting time because we were planning to make it fitness center space,” Smart said of the corner in the building. “So we had a plan prepared for the pub to go in, and then we had to wait six weeks for a permit, so that held some things up. And building four was interesting because the pandemic hit about the time we were digging the hole. So it’s been a long process, but we’re ready to open it now, which is great.”
Construction already is underway on the fifth apartment building in the development, which will mirror the fourth with additional mixed-use space. It’s scheduled to be done in late 2024 or early 2025. There are similar designs for buildings six and seven.
The development could support up to 10 apartment buildings, Smart said.
Design is “fairly typical of most high-end apartments: granite counters, the main level has 11-foot ceilings, the patio doors are 8-feet tall, and it’s a modern vibe inside,” he said. “It’s fresh with heated underground parking.”
A future park also is planned with more than an acre set aside as green space.
There are plans for more commercial building too. Kinder Academy along University Trail offers child care and before- and after-school care and plans to expand.
“Along Marion Road, we have another four sites that can build here,” Smart said. “Our initial development plan shows a hotel or another apartment building, but we want to be careful about that. If we can get mixed use, that’s strong for residents, and we don’t want to take that away.”
The developers would like to see a coffee shop in the area and other services such as a nail salon.
“There are a lot of people who work from home but like to get out of the apartment and go places,” Merrow said. “It’s pretty much 100 percent full in all three (existing buildings), and I think (our new building) is going to be in more demand.”
