Sioux Falls, SD (KELO-AM) What was once billed as the largest public-private investment project in Sioux Falls history is no more.
The private investors in the $40 million mixed-use development proposed for downtown called 'The Banks' have decided to pull out because the numbers don't add up anymore. The project is no longer economically feasible.
Sioux Falls Community Development Director Darrin Smith says this is only a setback, not a defeat. He says the city still plans to move forward with a public parking ramp at East 10th Street and Phillips and it will be designed to allow for private development on top of and around the ramp. Smith believes that mixed-use development will eventually materialize as a result of the ramp project.
Construction has been booming in Sioux Falls for years. That's the good news. The bad news is that all that construction has a tendency to drive up costs for building materials. It will likely have an impact on future projects - public or private.