The Sioux Falls City Council set a date for second reading Aug. 6 on a rezoning request that would allow Empire Companies to build an apartment complex of roughly 380 units on about 21.13 acres south of West 60th Street and west of Beale Avenue.
Planning staff said the project would be located just south of Avera Heart Hospital and that neighborhood concerns at the planning commission focused on traffic, safety and the density of the development. Staff estimates the proposed development would result in about 2,400 square feet per unit, comparable to nearby apartment complexes.
Planners said the development’s traffic would be distributed across three access points: a new northwest exit onto 60th Street that the developer and property owner must construct before certain unit thresholds are built; the existing signalized intersection at Beale Avenue; and a third exit onto Beale Avenue expected to route some traffic south through existing residential streets. Staff estimated the proposed project could add approximately 2,500 vehicle trips per day to the 2,100 current trips on Beale Avenue, roughly bringing that corridor to about 48% of its 7,000‑vehicle design capacity under a conservative assumption about trip distribution.
The applicant will provide a traffic memorandum for the council’s second reading; staff said Public Works traffic engineers will also be available at the Aug. 6 meeting to answer questions. Planning staff noted environmental constraints on the site — including creek corridors and tree stands — that require a more vertical, building‑up design to achieve unit counts while limiting the building footprint.
Council members who spoke said they would visit the site and evaluate the traffic memo and engineering analysis before making a final decision. The planning commission recommended approval 5-0; the council set second reading for Aug. 6 and the vote to advance was unanimous.