HOM relocating to Town Square
By Dave Dreeszen, Journal staff writer, Copyright 2008 | Posted: Sunday, March 16, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- A group of investors has purchased the Town Square retail mall and has leased the former Younkers portion of the downtown Sioux City building to HOM Furniture.
Coon Rapids, Minn.-based HOM plans to relocate its Sioux City store to the two-story building at Fourth and Pierce streets, tripling its showroom space. The expanded home furnishings store, expected to open later this summer, will take over the 60,000 square feet on two levels that Younkers vacated in February 2007.
"It's great to see large-scale retail activity in downtown Sioux City again,'' said Chris Bogenrief, president of United Commercial, which is leasing the Town Square space for the new owners. "It enhances the diversity of downtown, which is already the region's hub for finance, government, culture and entertainment.''
Bogenrief said the remaining 35,000 square feet of space in the former Town Square, adjacent and attached to the new HOM store, will be converted from a big box into a mix of office and retail by wrapping both the east and south facades of the building with glass and awnings. The second floor most likely will be converted to 17,000 square feet of "Class A'' office, while the 17,000-square-foot main floor likely will be a mix of retail and office, he said.
The entire space has direct skywalk access to an adjacent city-owned 680-stall parking ramp, as well as the rest of the downtown commercial distirct.
Bogenrief said the former Town Square fills a need for large-scale, high-quality office space downtown.
"The space is ideal for a call center or administrative offices, but also has great retail potential along Pierce and Fourth streets. Once Fourth Street is completely reopened through downtown, the traffic should experience a substantial increase and provides new opportunities for even more retail.''
Bogenrief noted the recent success in finding tenants for the last vacant, large-scale dowtown space, the former JCPenney store. A 300-employee Northwest Airlines reservations center opened last fall on the second floor of the three-store structure at Fourth and Jackson streets. The city, which owns the building, also plans to relocate the Public Museum to the first floor.
The relocation of HOM Furniture's store later this summer also creates a new retail opportunity for HOM's existing 20,000-square-foot showroom at 125 Nebraska St., Bogenrief said. The one-story building is perched between Nebraska and Pierce streets, with visibility to Interstate 29 and plentiful parking in a large lot that also serves customers at a Walgreens store.
HOM founder Wayne Johansen will be available later this week to provide additional details on HOM's plans for its expanded Sioux City store, a company spokesman said Friday.
HOM has stores in Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Hermantown, Minn., Eau Claire, Wis., and throughout the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. Johansen started the business in the early 1970s as a gift shop in Duluth, Minn. In the 1980s, it evolved into a chain of waterbed stores known as the Waterbed Room, which later became Total Bedroom.
In the 1980s, the company diversified into oak furniture, home office and leather upholstery to become HOM Oak and Leather, and later HOM Furniture.
Younkers' 60,000-square-foot department store anchored Town Square from the time the retail mall opened in 1986 until Younkers' owner, Pennsylvania-based Bon-Ton, closed the downtown store in February 2007. Younkers, which ended a nearly 60-year run in the downtown business district, still has a local store at Southern Hills Mall.
Town Square's new owners, an investment group based in Minnesota, acquired the property from Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson in a deal closed last week. As of Friday, the transaction had not yet been filed at the Woodbury County Courthouse, and the purchase price was not immediately available.
Coon Rapids, Minn.-based HOM plans to relocate its Sioux City store to the two-story building at Fourth and Pierce streets, tripling its showroom space. The expanded home furnishings store, expected to open later this summer, will take over the 60,000 square feet on two levels that Younkers vacated in February 2007.
"It's great to see large-scale retail activity in downtown Sioux City again,'' said Chris Bogenrief, president of United Commercial, which is leasing the Town Square space for the new owners. "It enhances the diversity of downtown, which is already the region's hub for finance, government, culture and entertainment.''
Bogenrief said the remaining 35,000 square feet of space in the former Town Square, adjacent and attached to the new HOM store, will be converted from a big box into a mix of office and retail by wrapping both the east and south facades of the building with glass and awnings. The second floor most likely will be converted to 17,000 square feet of "Class A'' office, while the 17,000-square-foot main floor likely will be a mix of retail and office, he said.
The entire space has direct skywalk access to an adjacent city-owned 680-stall parking ramp, as well as the rest of the downtown commercial distirct.
Bogenrief said the former Town Square fills a need for large-scale, high-quality office space downtown.
"The space is ideal for a call center or administrative offices, but also has great retail potential along Pierce and Fourth streets. Once Fourth Street is completely reopened through downtown, the traffic should experience a substantial increase and provides new opportunities for even more retail.''
Bogenrief noted the recent success in finding tenants for the last vacant, large-scale dowtown space, the former JCPenney store. A 300-employee Northwest Airlines reservations center opened last fall on the second floor of the three-store structure at Fourth and Jackson streets. The city, which owns the building, also plans to relocate the Public Museum to the first floor.
The relocation of HOM Furniture's store later this summer also creates a new retail opportunity for HOM's existing 20,000-square-foot showroom at 125 Nebraska St., Bogenrief said. The one-story building is perched between Nebraska and Pierce streets, with visibility to Interstate 29 and plentiful parking in a large lot that also serves customers at a Walgreens store.
HOM founder Wayne Johansen will be available later this week to provide additional details on HOM's plans for its expanded Sioux City store, a company spokesman said Friday.
HOM has stores in Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Hermantown, Minn., Eau Claire, Wis., and throughout the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. Johansen started the business in the early 1970s as a gift shop in Duluth, Minn. In the 1980s, it evolved into a chain of waterbed stores known as the Waterbed Room, which later became Total Bedroom.
In the 1980s, the company diversified into oak furniture, home office and leather upholstery to become HOM Oak and Leather, and later HOM Furniture.
Younkers' 60,000-square-foot department store anchored Town Square from the time the retail mall opened in 1986 until Younkers' owner, Pennsylvania-based Bon-Ton, closed the downtown store in February 2007. Younkers, which ended a nearly 60-year run in the downtown business district, still has a local store at Southern Hills Mall.
Town Square's new owners, an investment group based in Minnesota, acquired the property from Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson in a deal closed last week. As of Friday, the transaction had not yet been filed at the Woodbury County Courthouse, and the purchase price was not immediately available.
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coolit wrote on Mar 16, 2008 3:31 PM: