Post office, Alliance moving to new plaza

If all the pieces and paperwork fall into place, Brandon’s post office will be moving to the proposed Alliance Plaza development at Splitrock and Aspen boulevards in 2018. 

Landowner Alliance Communications is working with Van Buskirk Companies to develop the property just north of the busy intersection, said Ross Petrick, Alliance’s general manager.

“We’ve been approved for funding for a new facility, and Alliance Plaza looks to be the location we’ll be moving into,” Postmaster Kelly Lehfeldt said.

Current plans for Alliance Plaza include two free-standing buildings and a larger, multi-unit building in the middle of the complex property with the potential for several commercial tenants.

The post office is looking at leasing the east building proposed for the corner of Aspen and Kirkwood boulevards.

“It’s two-and-a-half times the size of our current space,” said Lehfeldt, who has been advocating for a bigger facility since 2013. “I’m more than ecstatic. We’re hoping to be in there by November. No way can I do Christmas here again.”

Built in 1991, the Brandon Post Office was intended to serve that purpose for just 10 years, she said. Twenty-six years later, quarters are quite cramped. 

“I know they’re running out of space,” Petrick said. “If all goes as planned, I don’t see why we can’t have the first tenant signed up here in early January and ready to go on construction here in the spring.”

Presently located in the Sunshine Foods complex, Alliance’s Brandon branch office will relocate into the multi-unit building, Petrick said. The regional co-op has several offices, with headquarters in Garretson.

As for other tenants, Alliance is choosing carefully.

“We could have filled it all up by now, but the board is very adamant about finding the right tenants. We’re being a little bit picky as to what we want to do,” Petrick said.

He said he’s received a number of inquiries about leasing, and Alliance is open to dividing up lots and units to fit the community’s needs. He said the finished product could resemble the Splitrock Boulevard plaza that houses beautique and Gypsy Trading Co.

“There’s been a lot of interest, but we want to make sure it’s a good fit for the community. We have a few feelers out there,” he said.

Alliance also has feelers on what the community wants at that corner, including a restaurant (“That would be wonderful,” Petrick said), and an urgent care medical center (“That’d be nice. We’re all shipping ourselves over to Sioux Falls for a cold or the flu,” he said).

“We will obviously keep them in mind and focus on what is good for the community going forward. But we do not have any of those types of facilities or businesses that we can publicly say are coming in to this area at this time,” Petrick said. “We are first focusing on developing the land and gathering interest from businesses and individuals planning to build or relocate to that area.”

Alliance Communications acquired the property at Splitrock and Aspen boulevards in stages, beginning about 20 years ago. Approximately eight years ago, a former martial arts studio was razed after it was found to be filled with asbestos. Petrick said the final piece of clearing the property – removal of the gas tanks and cleaning up the Ferrell Gas property this fall – took longer than expected.

“It’s such a great location. It’s nice to finally see something going there, and Alliance’s plan is going to make that corner look amazing,” said Kim Cerwick, CEO of the Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce. “Brandon is such a great, growing community. It’ll be fun to see what businesses fill up around the post office and Alliance.”