The entire downtown Sioux Falls area has been slowly, yet steadily transforming over the past 20 years. However, two areas in particular will see tremendous growth in the coming five years: The Steel District and Cherapa Place. These dynamic developments plan to welcome businesses, restaurants and retail stores alike, aiming to appeal to all audiences.

“An active and vibrant downtown is key to attracting new talent and skilled workforce to the region and with the growth in downtown Sioux Falls, we can now promote live, work and entertainment space benefiting the entire community and every citizen to some degree,” said Bob Mundt, President & CEO of Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

One way in which the Steel District hopes to achieve this goal is by introducing new and fresh restaurants to downtown. A business duo out of Minneapolis, who already own several successful restaurants, has plans to open three restaurants on the Steel District campus. Along with the new entertainment additions, developers also plan on building apartments, condominiums and hotels to provide places to stay for the many people the development is expected to attract. Part of the $200 million budget is also going to convention spaces as well as office and retail spaces.

“This is something that’s going to be a legacy project. you’re going to be looking at this thing 50 years from now and go wow, whoever thought of that,” said Lloyd Companies founder Craig Lloyd.

Another expected monumental project is the Cherapa Place development. One of the buildings, originally planned to be nine stories, has grown to 10 in order to make room for the growing demand for condominiums as well as business and retail spaces. The design for the project also highlights underground parking and access to any of the four buildings without going outside via tunnels underneath the campus and a suspended walkway between the original building and one of the new ones.

“[Cherapa Place] is truly a campus, and I think all those structures will interplay with each other for a true live-work-play environment,” said Anne Haber, a partner in Pendar Properties. “We changed the scope of design to include amenities like more private courtyards. I think you’ll find the quality is going to be there and the aesthetics are going to be there.”

The exciting new additions the two projects will bring to the downtown area will appeal to everyone and will aid in Sioux Falls’ continued growth. Although the public will not be able to enjoy these changes until 2023 at the earliest, it is safe to say that they will be well worth the wait.