$200M Sioux Steel project postponed in downtown Sioux Falls, no timeline provided

A massive redevelopment project planned for downtown Sioux Falls' Sioux Steel site has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Crews had been scheduled to kick off construction in August on the $200 million Sioux Steel mixed-use project, including a Canopy by Hilton hotel, a nine-story mixed-use facility and a parking ramp surrounded by apartment dwellings.

But Lloyd Cos., the developer hired to oversee the project, announced Wednesday it was moving back the timeline because of market conditions created by COVID-19.

Lloyd did not say how long the project would be delayed.

“We’re anticipating this is a short-term delay, but we also can’t put a specific timeline to it yet. We’re constantly reevaluating what the landscape looks like and where we believe conditions are heading,” Jake Quasney, Lloyd Companies’ executive vice president, said in an emailed release.

More:Sioux Steel's $185M development includes hotel, retail space and apartments

Lloyd has already received the approval of city officials and conducted a review of the project this spring.

But the project depends on buy-in from the hotel industry and future tenants that might fill of the offices of the mixed-use building. Both have been "significantly affected" by the coronavirus and resulting shutdowns, according to the announcement of the delay.

In fact, plans for offices in the development may change depending on how the pandemic shapes the industry and the needs of workplaces, Quasney said.

"We’re not putting the project on a shelf and forgetting about it,” he said in his statement. “The team is balancing the significant value that can be created by contracting for the materials and services involved in the project during the pandemic against the timing of when banks will have confidence in the various components of the project.” 

However, Hilton executives said they remain supportive of the project and are still committed to working with Lloyd.

There is a two-year construction timeline for the Sioux Steel redevelopment.