When the development plan was first presented to the planning commission it was under the pretense that the developer at the time who owned the property, Justin Johnson, would develop it as presented. After that, JJ sold the property to Tre who got private investors. When the SF City Council approved the open ended, interest free loan of $500K for demolition, Tre, once again, seemed to lie about the development plan. The shcity council approved the expense to taxpayers and now Tre are saying there is no plan, because they have no money. May I suggest a SF Heroes garden for the space?! Just like the Arc of Dreams, it would be a game changer for 18th and Minnesota.
Like the Dems in Congress, I ask the CC, what the Hell are you doing?!
UPDATE: Me wonders if the mayor bailed on this to remove his name from the project if it comes to fruition after he leaves office? Why is that important? Because there are rumors he may have conflicts with some people brokering the deal. If the Development Foundation and Chamber are able to sucker voters into this, since Paul will be out of office he can only hope the conflict flies under the radar. I know that is a stretch, because most insiders at city hall tell me he ‘just gave up’ after the extra penny tax got voted down, but I still know how this guy operates. He has made lots of $$$ being mayor, and I ain’t talking about his salary.
“I made a commitment to myself and to the community when I took office that I will not hand the next administration a half-baked anything that’s gonna put them in turd alley … I had an initiative that was left to me as a challenge, and I don’t want to do that to another mayor,” TenHaken said.
Well, Paul, we have been eating your turd sandwiches for 7 years, and to be honest with you, it ain’t working with my Keto.
Read the article, there is so much defeatism you kinda feel bad for the angry bird running our city. Poops was never going to get a convention center across the finish line because he hasn’t put anything across the finish line, nothing. He got handed an admin building with bad plumbing, and instead of making the contractor pay, he rolled over like a dog, same thing with the Midco, contractor screwed up, we paid. Bunker ramp, could have pulled out of the deal with a small fine, but rolled with it anyway and blamed Huether (reminds you of the guy in DC right now, all my bad decisions are the last guy’s fault.) Just admit it already Paul, you weren’t cut out to be mayor. No one will fault you for that, you just are not cut from a cloth that would understand. You ran a successful web design business overcharging your clients for websites that were produced using software (that anyone can buy) to design. I had someone tell me they charged him $5,000 for a simple website he could have created on his own for $199 in web development software. Paul, you are a fraud, and no surprise you are bailing on this. You bail on everything. Why not buy back your company and do what you are good at, screwing peeps over for overpriced websites a 7 year old could create.
But I have to admit, I was happy he dropped this idea, like he did with public art, mentorship, Lenin’s tomb at the zoo, covid, transparency, equal rights, 1st Amendment rights, and the list goes on. The only thing this guy has finished is a Mountain Dew. And that is all we need to know.
The development concept still is being finalized. When it was presented to City Hall a year ago, it included a mixed-use concept with residential above and Tre Ministries among the lower-level occupants, along with opportunity for other commercial tenants.
A final determination for the overall site design hasn’t been made and will depend in part on financing.
The site demolition was funded with support from the city of Sioux Falls. The city has a $500,000 deferred loan at zero interest available to Tre Ministries that allowed the site to be prepped for construction.
The remaining development will depend largely on donations.
As I understand it Tre got a gift or loan from some ‘corn’ folks to buy the property, then the city gifted $500K to tear down the property (0% interest deferred loan) in order to move forward with the project, now they are saying they don’t have enough money to proceed? WTF?
So did the council and administration KNOW in advance that they didn’t have a plan BEFORE they gifted this money? If they don’t even have money to build the place how the heck do you suppose they will pay us the $500K back!?
I TOLD SEVERAL COUNCILORS TO VOTE AGAINST THIS LOAN. I felt the organization was a little shady in what they planned to do, and I was right.
Suckered again by prosperity gospel folks, but no surprise when Pastor Poops is their main advocate, and I bet he knew they didn’t have a plan and hid it from the council. If I was the city council I would declare breech of contract and make them pay the $500K back immediately. Then they can sit on the empty lot as long as they want. We have to stop subsidizing religious organizations like The Dud House who is connected to a church worth BILLIONS and a SD Diocese that spent $16 million to restore the Cathedral. They have the money, and even if they didn’t, taxpayers shouldn’t be funding religious organizations they should be funding a mission. If we need more affordable housing for young folks, build it! If we need more job training opportunities in Sioux Falls, let’s fund it, but we have to realize anyone can accomplish anything with determination and hard work, the Bible is just a nice book to read once in awhile.
With the recent passing of a major developer many readers have been asking me the question,
How much did his company get in TIFS just in Sioux Falls?
I could only find numbers back to 2005 (TIFs were introduced in 1989). Since 2005 the developer received around $40 million in TIFS. The developer also has received TIFs in other SD communities, including RC and Madison and I think out of state. This is $40 million taken from property taxes over decades while residential in this town pay 80% of property taxes while these developers skirt their taxation duty. The developer has also received tax rebates from the city. Oh, and let’s not forget paying the mayor $1M over value for his DT building.
I will admit he did a lot to develop downtown,but we paid for a good chunk of it. I have never spoken with him, but I still remember the council meeting before the 2008 recession where they were promoting another tax scam on the residents of SF, and when we crashed, none of the promises were met by the developers. Shocker, I know. Or how the city sat on the Phillips Loft land for 10 years tax free then sold it to him after he received a TIF.
My condolences to the family, I’m sure his legacy will carry on, oh I know it will, some of these TIFs don’t expire until 2035.
The top 4 projects were either paid for by taxpayers or patients, and none of these projects will produce property tax revenue. I have often said the building permits need to be split-up between commercial, housing, institutional non-profit and government and show us what the private sector is really doing. It still puzzles me that you can boast about spending our tax and healthcare dollars and spin it into some big statement on growth. When non-profits and government are spending more on development then the private sector, you got problems. Then there is all the grift in the form of tax rebates and TIF’s for the private developers. All $1 Billion in building permits means to me is my taxes and healthcare costs are going up.
l3wis 