Sioux Falls Couple Embraces Downtown Living As First To Move Into Their Building

Kim Hayes set a couple requirements if she was going to move to downtown Sioux Falls.

“I wanted to get outside from my own space – we had a Wheaton terrier at the time at that point and I knew we’d have to take the dog out, so I wanted a deck, and I wanted underground parking,” she said.
It wasn’t easy to find that fit more than 12 years ago when she and her husband, Bob, first moved downtown from their longtime home in central Sioux Falls.

“We did find a building and were the first to move in, so it ended up being a great transition, but over time we realized it wasn’t the best fit for us,” she said. “Things changed in the building, we didn’t like the customer service, but we wanted to continue to live downtown.”

Times definitely have changed since their first loft apartment search. Today’s downtown includes standout apartment communities, from the newly opened One2 on the south end of downtown to the amenity-filled Cascade across from Falls Park.

Kim and Bob found their perfect fit at The District Lofts, the brand-new apartments at The Steel District.
“The day it opened, we moved in,” she said. “I’m thrilled we were able to find something else downtown we loved. It’s such a good fit. There’s so much vibrancy and life down here in The Steel District. It’s just night and day.”

They moved into their new apartment on the northwest corner of the building the day it opened last summer.

“We have almost floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides of our living room, so the natural light is huge,” Hayes said. “And they’re wonderful Anderson windows, so we can watch the weather, we can watch the sunset behind the downtown skyline, we saw holiday lights going all the way up Phillips Avenue, and we still don’t hear a lot of outside noise.”

Their new home even faces Levitt at the Falls, “so we can throw our own private concerts for friends,” she said. “All the activity is really positive.”

When she wants to venture out of the apartment, she enjoys walking a short way across the skywalk to Brioux Falls, a coffee shop from “a really great family, with local beans and locally-sourced pastries, and we couldn’t be happier,” she said.
Take the elevator downstairs and they can walk into Big Sioux Burger for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or Dahlia Kitchen & Bar for lunch, happy hour, dinner or late-night bites.

“The other day we went to Ironwood for dinner, and we were maybe outside 30 seconds to get there,” Hayes said.

They’re now pet parents to Rosie, a French bulldog, and “by the time I take her out at 7:30 a.m., the sidewalks have been shoveled and de-iced already,” she said.
“That’s how well Lloyd manages the property. Plus we have a little dog park on east side of the building at Lloyd Landing and when Jacobson Plaza opens there’s a big dog park.”

They’re likely to be well used, she added.

“On our floor alone, there are seven dogs, and the floor isn’t full yet,” she said.

She’s also been impressed by how safe she feels.
“There are beautiful street lights everywhere, we have patrol service and you always see and feel their presence,” she said. “They’re walking the property, they’re walking the halls, they’re walking the garage, so we feel really safe.”

The District Lofts has steadily been filling up but has room for more residents, with studio, one and two-bedroom apartments available.

“We’ve welcomed over a dozen new residents since December and are looking forward to half a dozen March move ins,” property manager Megan Pederson said.
“With our unseasonably warm weather for a couple days last month, we got a peak of what spring days will bring.”

She welcomes three or four walking tours of the building every day, she said.

“With all the construction done, restaurants open, hotel open, Lloyd Landing complete and warm days in the future, I’m looking forward to a busy spring for leasing,” she said.

As Hayes has gotten to know her neighbors, she’s enjoyed the diversity of the community.
“I’m sure we’re the oldest, but there are tons of young professional couples, some with kids and some without. Everyone has dogs. And we have really enjoyed getting to know the people in the building,” Hayes said.

“Megan is really good about having little social get-togethers to help us get to know each other. She’s building a community and the infrastructure Lloyd has built into The Steel District encourages that community.”

That includes “a beautiful community room with a huge covered balcony” that’s even closer to the Levitt than her home, plus onsite businesses that make it easy and fun to be social.
“We just had a Galentine’s event and the boutiques downstairs, Pasque and Alcove, offered discounts, and it’s really becoming a lovely community,” Hayes said. “That was the vision of the Lloyds and you see it at The Steel District. It makes a huge difference. This part of the city is really, really something.”

To learn more about living at the District Lofts, click here.