Hindsight is 2020.
For Sioux Falls, 2020 was summed up by the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon coming to the city, a merger upheaval at Sanford and more.
The new year will only expand on those storylines using the lessons learned from the past year and applying them as Sioux Falls continues to grow and change in the new year.
From COVID-19 recoveries to metro area growth to the introduction of a cannibus industry in South Dakota — here is a look at six stories we will be following closely in the new year.
Pandemic, Amazon, mergers and DDD: The biggest Sioux Falls business news in 2020
Sioux Falls recovers from COVID-19
While the story of 2020 was looking at how COVID-19 was impacting people, communities and businesses across the world, 2021 will focus on the recovery from the global pandemic.
For Sioux Falls businesses, that means taking stock of how the pandemic has affected the community and how it changed Sioux Falls — for better or worse.
Restaurants, retail and other service industries have suffered the most this year, with several eateries closing in 2020 and many just trying to stay afloat.
More:Here are the 26 restaurants and bars that opened in Sioux Falls this year
But it’s not just restaurants that will have to recover from COVID-19. The pandemic has impacted nearly every facet of life, and the changes brought about by it will have lasting impacts.
Will a shift to work-from-home in the pandemic remain and mean empty office shells for commercial real estate in town? How long will a lack of tourism and business conventions affect the Sioux Falls economy? How much longer can local restaurants and bars hang onto a lack of business?
The Argus Leader will keep an eye on how COVID-19 has shaken up the Sioux Falls community, and what that means for residents, the economy and the city’s growth moving forward.
National brands coming to Sioux Falls
The year 2019 had Jersey Mike’s come to Sioux Falls. 2020 gave us South Dakota’s first Chipotle and the announced arrival of Amazon to the city.
Dave & Busters is still planned for Lake Lorraine, bringing the popular adult arcade and restaurant to the west side of Sioux Falls, and Chic-fil-A plans to join Chipotle alongside 41st Street by the Empire Mall still.
It’s not a question of if national brands have their sights set on Sioux Falls — it’s a matter of when.
Which national brand will be the next to join the Sioux Falls market?
‘Chipotle is my life’:Online ordering reduces crowds at Chipotle opening, but fans still celebrate
Sanford Health enters new leadership era
It’s no secret that Sanford Health had a tumultuous end to 2020. With an announcement of a $15 billion merger, abrupt departure of Sanford President and CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft, upheaval of the planned merger and more, 2021 can only look up for the Sioux Falls-based healthcare system.
The new year also represents a new era for Sanford Health, under leadership of Bill Gassen.
The 40-year-old president and CEO began his career with Sanford Health in 2012, climbing the ranks from corporate counsel to chief human resources officer and chief administrative officer in 2019.
While the Intermountain Health merger might be stalled, there are plenty of areas to watch for the healthcare system’s growth: construction plans, developments along the “Sanford Mile” in northwestern Sioux Falls and more.
More:Sanford Health tries to move beyond month of upheaval
Sioux Falls developments expand
This past year put downtown development plans on hold, but 2021 still may be the year where long-awaited downtown developments get off the ground.
With construction of Railyard Flats expected to be completed in 2021, the mixed-use development for apartments, retail and office space is the next in a series of building projects that will transform the landscape of downtown Sioux Falls.
Another massive downtown project that was planned for 2020 pre-pandemic was the redevelopment of the former Sioux Steel campus on East Sixth Street along the Big Sioux River. The $185-million enterprise is planned to bring apartments, restaurants, retail and a Hilton hotel to the area.
Cherapa II also started its process in late 2019, clearing political hurdles for approval alongside Railyard Flats. Maybe 2021 might be the year the continuation of the Cherapa development comes to fruition.
Growth on Sioux Falls’ outer edges
It’s no secret Sioux Falls is bursting at the seems. Development is rife in every corner of the city.
The “Sanford Mile” and Amazon are generating construction in the northwestern corner of Sioux Falls, surrounded by apartment complexes in anticipation of the tech-company’s added job growth to the region.
And the southwestern edge of the city keeps booming, too. Apartments and further development continue to pop up along 85th Street in anticipation of the I-29 interchange at 85th Street.
Dawley Farms continues to expand on the eastern part of Sioux Falls, adding major retail brands to the development, flanked by residential developments as the city sprawls. The completion of Veterans Highway in 2020 also adds easy access to the eastern part of Sioux Falls from I-90.
As Sioux Falls keeps growing, with few residential lots available in coveted areas of town like southern Sioux Falls, that growth seeps into surrounding cities such as Harrisburg, Brandon, Hartford and Tea.
Development isn’t just within downtown Sioux Falls — the growth is past city limits.
The story continues below.
Marijuana legalization introduces new market
In a twist that was characteristic for 2020, South Dakotans approved recreational marijuana in the state, opening up a new market to grow in South Dakota.
According to experts that talked to the Argus Leader in February, South Dakotans can expect the new industry to bring additional revenue to the state and add jobs to the market if it passes through challenges in court.
Colorado, the first state that sold recreational marijuana, topped $1.5 billion in revenue for medical and recreational marijuana in its first three years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City.
For South Dakota, the state’s Legislative Research Council predicts that gross marijuana sales in the state would reach $49.3 million in the first year, and it would nearly triple to $145.6 million in its first three years. Those sales could generate about $9.5 million of tax revenue in the first year and would climb to $28 million in three years.
For those interested in getting into the cannabis market themselves, it’ll likely take millions of dollars to launch a commercial pot business.
More:Arguments filed in suit against legal marijuana in South Dakota
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