Mar 16, 2008

HOM relocating to Town SquareBy Dave DreeszenSiouxCityJournal.com

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.

Read complete article.