In 2009, South Dakota State University began exploring options for development of land owned by the university. This project was detailed in a booklet titled "Northwest Quadrant Mixed-Use Development Feasibility Study."
In its full form, the 'NW Quad' development calls for many different components. Some expand on current university offerings, such as student housing. Other components expand into areas never before served by the university and which compete directly with private industry including senior housing, grocery store, fitness center, coffee house/cafe, convenience store, conference center, hotel, and more.
This plan causes concern for several reasons.
1. BASB maintains a strong opposition to public entities competing with local businesses. We realize that any growth experienced through development by SDSU of the NW Quad will likely be offset by a shrinking of current business.
2. All new components proposed through the study would be built on public land and would not be responsible to pay any property tax which is critical to support K-12 Education in Brookings as well as local government and services.
3. Private business being forced to compete in this environment creates an uneven playing field and will almost certainly cause harm to existing (and tax paying) small businesses in Brookings.
BASB hopes to bring this critical issue back into the public discussion and to facilitate further discussion to ensure that SDSU and the Brookings community can maintain the positive partnership which has been fostered for over 100 years.