PROGRESS: New apartments in old Sioux City Bekins building are nearly filled

Yet residents also enjoy a lot of new amenities, like energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, windows and lights, dishwashers, washers and dyers in every apartment, stainless-steel appliances, an exercise room and a community room. Many still have that new-apartment smell. 

Clint Stencil, the Sioux Falls-based developer of the Hons Apartments, said in February that roughly 62 of the 72 apartments in the building have already been rented. Renters started moving in last August. 

The Hons Apartments gets its name from Stencil's grandparents, who lived in Sioux City. 

The Bekins building dates back to 1906 and was touted as the first structure in Sioux City constructed with reinforced concrete. The building for years was owned by Bekins Moving and Storage Co., a moving, storage and furniture operation started by brothers John and Martin Bekins in 1891 in Sioux City.

The old warehouse at Wesley Way and West Fourth Street caught Stencil's eye during a visit to Sioux City a few years ago, and he soon viewed it as a potential apartment building. He liked its proximity to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and other destinations downtown. 

"We've done several projects that are similar to this," he said in a late 2017 interview with The Journal. "I guess I just liked the location of it." 

Rent ranges from $850 to $1,100, from one-bedrooms to two bedrooms of different sizes. Few if any of the apartments match any other apartment in the building exactly, due in part to a unique layout designed by M+ Architects of Sioux City and because of the building's unique interior. 

City staff said last year the project has been about a $6.5 million investment and will create about $4.2 million in new assessed valuation.

A lawn was added in place of an old one-story addition to the building that was removed. To make a green space where before there was none, dirt was moved from behind the building, where crews carved out a parking area. 

"It turned out nice," Stencil said.

Not every apartment building has all the features of the Hons, like the washer-dryer sets in every apartment, though new apartments increasingly have commons areas and exercise rooms. Stencil said many developers today try to meet the needs of their tenants. 

"The number one thing in apartments is a washer and dryer in the unit," he said. "That's pretty critical nowadays." 

Stencil said he's continued to look at the real estate market in Sioux City for future projects, but so far he hasn't seen any. 

"Just haven't found anything that meets our eye at this point in time," he said.