BROOKINGS – A proposed site plan for the Brookings Marketplace land will be available for public viewing during an open house from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Monday at the City & County Government Center, according to a press release from the City of Brookings.
There will be no presentation, just several displays of the site plan and personnel from Bender Commercial Real Estate available to answer questions, say organizers.
“Stay as long as they want, talk as long as they want, and we look forward to seeing some people,” said Michael Crane, president of Bender Midwest Development. “This is an opportunity for the community to look at it and give us some input.”
The Marketplace is 26 acres nestled in the northeast corner of Interstate 29 and Highway 14 with the Wiese Addition just north of it. The city purchased it from the South Dakota Department of Transportation.
The project is being proposed by Brookings Marketplace LLC and a team of developers from Brookings, Sioux Falls and Minneapolis.
“The open house is the next step in a process that began in January when the Brookings City Council retained our team to prepare and implement a development strategy and plan for the site,” said Michael Bender, president of Bender Commercial Real Estate and partner in the Brookings Marketplace LLC.
“We are excited to share our ideas with the community,” Bender noted in the press release. “When completed, the Marketplace will offer Brooking residents access to a variety of new retail and dining options. The Marketplace will also create public spaces for gathering and outdoor events.”
The site is irregular in shape, leaving room for an interstate on-ramp on the west and an already-developed area with Whiskey Creek restaurant and My Place hotel to the southeast. A road curves north and south through the Marketplace. The plan is to develop the larger western part first and use the northeast corner for future development.
The site plan has spots for junior box stores and retail stores ranging in size from 35,000 to 10,000 square feet. Two hotels share the northwest corner. Retail locations range from 14,000 square feet and less. Restaurant space starts at 8,000 square feet and decreases in size. There’s space for a convenience store and lots of parking for all of it.
A waterway for runoff on the property was seen as an opportunity by Bender, Crane said.
“Our thought is to try to utilize that drainage area as an amenity and part of that would include perhaps providing space for outdoor events; maybe a small amphitheater and other places for people to gather and do other things when they’re in the Marketplace area,” Crane said.
The site plan shows an event lawn, a playground, a plaza and shelter area.
“It’s been sort of an evolutionary process to get us to this point,” Crane said.
After the meeting Monday, Bender will file the zoning application with the planning commission by July 17 so the site can be re-zoned.
Crane said no businesses have signed a letter of intent to move in yet.
“We have several that we are in discussions with. We had a good reception at the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) conference in Las Vegas, and we continue to work the local, regional and some national,” he said.
“My goal is to have a couple letters of intent, at least, signed this calendar year so we can begin to move forward in the spring,” Crane said. “We’ve been very pleased with the reaction.”
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
