USD Discovery District eyes expansion, city funding help

Megan Raposa -

Simplified: The USD Discovery District wants to add a 50,000-square-foot research facility to attract bio-science businesses as tenants to its northwest Sioux Falls campus. And while the numbers aren't yet on the table, an ask for city funding is coming.

Why it matters:

  • The USD Discovery District is an 80-acre research park that's more than a decade in the making.
  • The goal of the district is to create a space where students and industry intersect, and the new building would give bio-science businesses a place to set up shop.
  • City councilors will have to weigh if they're comfortable with the "if you build it, they will come" approach to development because no tenants are currently committed to the proposed space.
"I don't have anybody that's ready to sign on the dotted line," said Bob Mundt, president and CEO of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

But Mundt added that if he had a physical space available, he believes there are enough prospects out there to create 250 high-paying jobs in the new building.

What happens next?

We'll likely see a more specific ask come before the council in the coming weeks, especially as councilors look at what to do with surplus funds.