SPEARFISH, SD – The Spearfish City Council approved a $1.4 million Spearfish Economic Revolving Fund (SERF) loan Monday, making way for the remainder of the City-owned Atlas building to be leased.
“We are working on a very exciting prospect for our community and the Atlas building,” Kory Menken, executive director of Spearfish Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), said, describing that the agency is working with a prospective client to occupy the remaining 17,550 square-feet of the Atlas building as professional office space. Though he couldn’t share the specifics, he described the potential tenant would employ 50 professional jobs with solid pay and benefits, representing both current jobs retained in Spearfish, as well as relocations.
Menken explained the client has expressed interest in a 20-year lease, with no early termination and the option to renew. The estimated cost to finish the interior of the building and construct professional office space is approximately $1.9 million. SEDC would apply approximately $500,000 toward the construction, and the request before the City Council was to approve a $1.4 million SERF loan at a 2-percent interest rate and 20-year term, which SEDC would utilize for the remainder of the project.
The SERF program, a municipal financial resource created in 1992, provides short-term, low-interest loans to manufacturers/service exporters expanding or relocating to Spearfish. There are no minimum or maximum loan amounts.
The SERF fund currently has $1.7-$1.8 million, Menken said, describing that should the City Council approve the loan, approximately $300,000 would be repaid in interest, and with monthly payments, the SERF fund would quickly be replenished. He added that typical loan requests are between $50,000 and $100,000, so even before the monthly payments begin, there would be funds available to interested businesses applying for a SERF loan.
In addition to completely filling the Atlas building (which is currently 50-percent occupied), attracting a long-term tenant, retaining/adding jobs to the community, and putting SERF dollars back into the local economy, the additional lease funds would significantly decrease, if not eliminate, the City funding SEDC currently receives, Menken said.
The City Council unanimously approved the request.
“We appreciate the partnership,” Menken said, thanking the Mayor and City Council.
Construction within the Atlas building, located at 120 Industrial Drive, would not begin until a lease has been signed with the prospective client.
