Brookings Advocates for Small Business and Market Freedom

The entire article is worth a read if you are interested in this topic, but here are two key points from this 2013 Ken Curly article. (Or you can stop down at the Brookings Library and find it on microfiche) .  1) The early appraisals from the DOT which go back to around 2001 appraised the front 10 acres of the DOT (now Marketplace) land at $100,000 per acre ($2.29 per SF) and the back land behind it at $15,000 per acre ($0.34 per SF).  So, there was a time when both the City and the State recognized that the frontage land was much easier to develop and therefore much more valuable.  The City themselves once recognized over 20 years ago that this prime frontage was worth $2.29 per SF before they purchased it.  2) Prior to paying the DOT paying $1,600,000 to purchase the land from the State, the “City of Brookings was so eager to get the DOT to move, the council purchased land to the north of its [DOT] location for $20,000 per acre and then sold it to the sta...

 

As a point of comparison, it is good to remember that Aldi constructed a store in Watertown and purchased the land for $8.60 psf - without government subsidy.

Through receipts and documents provided by the city of Brookings after legal requests under the Freedom of Information Act, we now know that over the past 10+ years, the city of Brookings has spent more than $550,000 on the Marketplace Property. $16,000+ sending City Managers, Mayors and Councilors to Las Vegas for Retail conferences $78,000   paid to out-of-state developer Woodsonia Development Group                            ($28,500 in 2013 & $49,500 in 2018) $140,000 paid to out-of-town developer Bender Co                           ($25,000 in 2017 & $115,000 in 2017) $124,899 in known engineering costs, soil borings, wetland mitigation credits, etc $200,000   purchasing 10 acres of land at $20,000/acre and immediately selling to the State              ...

The sale of land at the Brookings Marketplace is a complex subject with various thoughts and opinions circling around. First, we as citizens can all be thankful that the council and city leadership has taken time to try and add transparency to this process, which has historically been lacking. The problem is that a bad deal is a bad deal. And we as citizens should demand better.   Apprised value In 2022, the city has the 26.25 acre parcel appraised at a price of $1.20/sq ft for the entire parcel. The appraiser citied several factors for the low price (less than the city purchased it for a decade ago) including: A)       The difficulty of developing a large tract of land B)    The cost of installing utilities C)    The ongoing costs involved with holding the land over time. Since that initial appraisal, several factors have changed: A)       The city has moved from selling all 26.25 acres to only selli...

Early voting has started. Be sure to stop in early and cast your vote. A NO vote stops the cities amended agreement which sells Ryan Co the prime 10 acres of the marketplace property far under market value.  Notice of Deadline for Voter Registration NOTICE OF DEADLINE FOR VOTER REGISTRATION   Voter registration for the Special Referendum Election to be held on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, will close on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.  Failure to register by this date will cause forfeiture of voting rights for this election.  If you are in doubt about whether you are registered, check the Voter Information Portal at  www.sdsos.gov  or call the Brookings County Finance Office at (605) 696-8250.   Registration may be completed during regular business hours at the City Clerk’s Office, County Finance Office, Secretary of State’s Office and those locations which provide driver's licenses, SNAP, TANF, WIC, military recruitment, and assistance to the disa...