Progress on Dawley Farm (Sioux Falls: 2010, houses, unemployment)

[Chris19]

I am impressed with the progress of the Target store and looks like there is work on the roads and parking lots. I am wondering if Kohl's will break ground soon on their store. I understood that they were going to break ground sometime this summer.

It will be a nice area when it gets filled up and hope that it will enhance shopping options for the east side along with the entire Sioux Falls area.

[Chris19]

The question is if anyone heard of any new tidbits with Dawley Farm and if Kohl's has broken ground on its new store.

[fsdflyer]

Kohls is breaking ground this fall. I don't know when Maurices will break ground on their store and I don't know if Panera is going in a seperate building or in the strip mall with Cartridge World and Subway. I wouldn't be surprised if AT&T opened up a store in Dawley Farm since they are taking over Alltel service in South Dakota. I would be watching for announcments from Red Robin since they announced about 20 new restaurants in 2010 I think, but they didnt release the cities.

I also would expect hearing something from Space Aliens Restaurant too if anything, and I would also watch if any announcments are made from Best Buy or Old Navy.

[MJ1986]

Originally Posted by Chris19

I am impressed with the progress of the Target store and looks like there is work on the roads and parking lots. I am wondering if Kohl's will break ground soon on their store. I understood that they were going to break ground sometime this summer.

It will be a nice area when it gets filled up and hope that it will enhance shopping options for the east side along with the entire Sioux Falls area.

Chris, it is exciting... I wonder why everything is so hush-hush. If you're going to build, wouldn't you advertise more?

[fsdflyer]

I dont know if you guys saw KELO News Story about progress slowing down across the city (Whoops I mean KELOLAND), but they make it sound like we are all dying in the economy! They also forgot to mention that Famous Footwear is also a committed tenant.

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by fsdflyer

I dont know if you guys saw KELO News Story about progress slowing down across the city (Whoops I mean KELOLAND), but they make it sound like we are all dying in the economy! They also forgot to mention that Famous Footwear is also a committed tenant.

I have seen the news story too. My take on the article and the slower start is with the economy, but the slower national economy is slowing down plans significantly by retailers to add locations. The place will get filled up or start filling up buy may be pushed back as good 1-3 years given the current situation.

Sioux Falls has actually been holding up well and the Empire Mall is holding its own compared to other malls. I have been to two malls in Colorado Springs recently and one has 25-30% of the mall vacant, which is not a good sign and it is an area that has been on the decline over the past 10-12 years. The other one is doing decent, but has a few more vacancies than the Empire Mall. There are some malls in Kansas City built around the time of the Empire Mall, circa 1970s, that are either dead malls and others with a high level of vacancies. The outdoor malls are stealing some of the thunder and many of the traditional malls are showing their age and are not modernized or freshened up. What does not help are the Circuit City stores and Linen N Things fold up with their finances being questionable.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by fsdflyer

I dont know if you guys saw KELO News Story about progress slowing down across the city (Whoops I mean KELOLAND), but they make it sound like we are all dying in the economy! They also forgot to mention that Famous Footwear is also a committed tenant.

I didn't get to see the news story cause I saw very little news this week. We really aren't thriving or in a boom, but I ran across the updated unemployment stats yesterday and our state/region is still hanging in there.

The Geography of a Recession - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

[Chris19]

My guess is that the recession and the linger effects such as the lagging job growth will go on for another nine months to a year, but have confidence that it will get better. The state usually feels the recession a little later than most and its agricultural economy makes the state as a whole operate a little differently than the coasts and the industrial Great Lakes region per se.

I would give it another good two or so years before Dawley Farm will really blossom and take off with one or two other similar retail developments following suit. It is a slow start but is a good sign for Sioux Falls if Target and Kohls have chose to build in Dawley Farm and they reduced their store opening and still commit to building in Sioux Falls.

[Chris19]

I would rather see Dawley Farm progress gradually as opposed to all at once. It is better that way so that it builds upon the Target and Kohl's in the next few years. There will be more to come, but it takes some patience from the shoppers, developers, etc. In an area such as the east side, where a lot of anticipated development and not as well known to the retail universe as the Empire all area, such development takes time and does not happen overningt, but it will come.

I can remember when Wal-Mart built in the area, they were originally going to build along Foss Ave. north of Arrowhead Parkway (and it was about 9-10 years ago) and the people in the nearby houses had a royal fit (justified for some reasons and unreasonable in others). Wal-Mart ended building in an open field south of Arrowhead Parkway and along Foss Ave around 2002. It took a few years, but it opened up the way for Culver's and Menards (2004-2005 ish) to come in with a few strip malls with services such as a Verizon store, HuHot, and a few specialty businesses.