The bottom line for 2022 for Sioux Falls businesses is continued labor shortages, supply chain issues and inflation.
But as the city emerged from the pandemic, large businesses like Amazon have also reopened in the northwest corner of Sioux Falls, while the downtown skyline has continued to change rapidly thanks to record building projects.
From the Sioux Steel District to the upcoming Sanford Health merger and the ongoing crisis in childcare, here are seven stories we’ll see in the new year.
Watch the ever-changing skyline of downtown Sioux Falls as it becomes a hub for retail, restaurants, offices and residential apartments.
The five-building Sioux Steel District project will include three major building sections, including a hotel/conference center, a nine-story office tower, and a parking ramp with retail packaging.
The nine-story office building and parking ramp are due to open this summer, while construction of retail space and apartments is expected this fall.
Earlier: The Sioux Falls skyline is changing dramatically as the Sioux Steel and Cherapa Place projects are still underway.
Bee Loved Kitchen, a vegan cafe and food service, was the first retailer to announce plans to open in the Steel District.
This year, Twin Cities restaurateurs Josh Thoma and Kevin Fitzgerald are also introducing Burger Dive, Smack Shack seafood restaurant and an unnamed taco/tequila concept in the Steel District this year, as well as opening a high-end restaurant at the new Canopy by Hilton hotel. will open in 2024 when completed.
The parking lot will be the first of four Cherapa Place new buildings. When it opens this spring, it will have 650 parking spaces, as well as apartment buildings and condominiums surrounding camouflaged garages.
Due to open this September, Bancorp’s Cherapa Place building will be a 10-story office and retail tower with luxury apartments on the top two floors. It will house the corporate offices of Bancorp, ISG, Eide Bailly and MarketBeat.
Other buildings will offer a variety of options, including apartments, suites, offices, retail and restaurant space, underground parking, and indoor and outdoor entertainment in hopes of creating a pedestrianized downtown area.
Amazon’s five-story, 640,000-square-foot fulfillment center began operations in the fall of 2022 but will be fully operational this year.
The company plans to reach full production capacity by March, when about 1,500 jobs will be created in the Sioux Falls area.
The multi-million dollar plant in northwest Sioux Falls will have the capacity to ship over 8 million units per week, with 60 to 80 trucks moving in and out every day.
It holds about 92 million different items, all smaller than a microwave, and will serve Sioux Falls in addition to serving North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Nebraska. Residents are provided with an express transportation service.
Amazon delayed its reopening last summer and Sioux Falls officials said they were aiming for 2024, but the company kicked off its initial phase of operations in October.
Dillard’s sells a variety of merchandise such as designer clothes, shoes, cosmetics, linens, and other bridal registry items. The opening of a major fashion retailer is scheduled for this fall, which is very important for the Empire Mall.
Work has begun on the expansion of the former Younker space of 40,000 sq. feet, bringing the total area of ​​the new store to 140,000 sq. ft.
At a time when the new retail and online shopping landscape is challenging for traditional malls, Empire Malls continues to thrive despite the departure of many major department stores such as Youngers and Sears in recent years.
MORE: How Empire Malls is fighting massive retail store closures and other national mall threats
Free windows in Empire Mall are a rarity, even despite the year-round closure and change in the range of stores. It was also announced last summer that Macy’s at the mall would be bringing the Toys R Us experience back to Sioux Falls.
The arrival of Dillard’s will be another major avenue for the city’s already popular shopping scene.
Minneapolis health systems Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services announced their intention to merge in November. The goal of the merger is to make care more convenient, accessible and consumer-centric, and to expand access to virtual care.
The two systems are hoping to close the deal sometime in 2023, but seeing how the deal progresses, especially after some resistance, will be big news.
Fairview is part of Fairview’s M Health System, which includes physicians from the University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota.
Sanford Health is the largest rural healthcare system in the US, serving over 1 million patients worldwide. The new unified system will include about 80,000 employees in more than 50 hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
Public opposition has sprung up around the topic, with some of the strongest concerns coming from the Minnesota Nursing Association, which wondered about earlier financial concerns in both health care systems and feared the merger could lead to layoffs.
Recently, the editorial board of the Star Tribune stated that “the ceding of future key institution U (Minnesota) to an organization (Sanford) with little experience in running a major league academic medical center is troubling.”
However, while the new joint system will be headquartered in Sioux Falls, the two systems will retain their regional presence, leadership and board of directors when combined, according to Sanford health officials.
The Attorney General of Minnesota is also investigating the merger to see if it was a good idea.
There is a growing demand for affordable housing in South Dakota, especially as the city of Sioux Falls continues to grow.
Housing affordability in early December was the lowest since 2012, according to the National Home Builders Association, as interest rates continued to rise near 6% and high inflation.
According to the Sioux Empire Realtors Association, the median home sale price in the Sioux Falls metro area, which includes Lincoln and Minnehaha counties, will be $265,000 in 2021, up 17% from last year, and reach $310,000 by 2022.
According to the South Dakota Association of Realtors, the state’s median home sale price rose 54% from 2018 to 2022, while median household income rose just 17% over the same period.
To address this issue, the Sioux Falls City Council has approved a TIF neighborhood that local developers hope will help create affordable housing in East Sioux Falls. The project, called East Ridge, will offer 65 homes with a target price of $232,000 to $323,000 in what the developers call “labor-accessible housing.”
Several other developments are currently underway to accommodate the city’s growing workforce, including the Marion Crossing development in northwest Sioux Falls.
Last month, the South Dakota Housing Agency awarded more than $13 million to a range of housing projects and programs across the state, including the FortyOne Flats project in Sioux Falls, which will provide housing for individuals and families of 41 or fewer. from the average income in the area.
Glory House, which will also provide housing for ex-prisoners, is another recipient of Sioux Falls funding, as are Habitat for Humanity and the Southeast Development Foundation.
The parenting crisis remains a concern for many, from families to business owners, city leaders and government officials.
A 2022 Argus Leader survey found that the number of family day care centers has dropped by 15 percent over the past five years, and staffing issues have led to long waiting lists for other day care centers. In addition, a study by Sioux Falls Thrive found an affordability gap in Sioux Falls of as much as $636 million a year.
But this year may see some practical long-term and short-term solutions to help ease the state’s childcare crisis for families and employers.
In October, the Sioux Falls Childcare Collaborative appointed two full-time coordinators for the program’s sixth month. Their goal is to create a “toolbox of possible solutions” for employers and us to help with this problem.
Rana DeBoer, one of the facilitators, said they are seeing business progress in the community and are looking for effective solutions.
A new statewide business collaboration led by Early Learns of South Dakota was also launched in mid-November to find business solutions.
In early fall, the South Dakota Department of Human Services held several community hearings to provide information on how to use lump sum funds for the public child care system. Funding runs through September 2024, so it’s reasonable to expect DSS to announce its funding plans next year.
It’s also worth noting that Gov. Christy Noem has proposed extending paid family leave for government employees and creating incentives to help private businesses provide the same, so it’s worth seeing how the legislature handles childcare.