Economy part of reason construction was dealyed.

A new development is in the works at the corner of South Louise Avenue and 69th Street.

Work is set to begin within the week on a long-awaited Lewis Drug store at the southwest corner of the intersection, said Mark Griffin, president and chief executive of Lewis. The store should open in late fall.

A Lewis has been planned at that site for several years but has been put off for various reasons, including the economy. Lewis originally had planned to open the store in 2004.

"We've been looking at it for over five years waiting for the right conditions and right growth conditions, and we feel that it's there right now," Griffin said.

The store will have about 35,000 square feet of selling space that will have all the typical Lewis retail departments and a pharmacy. It will be Lewis' sixth full-size store in Sioux Falls.

Griffin said the company has been focusing on building stores in other markets and developing its smaller Lewis Family Drug stores concept, which put the construction of the Louise site on the back burner.

"We also wanted the neighborhood to grow up, so to speak, in terms of housing and population, and it's filled out rather nicely to a point right now we're excited to be out there," he said.

Though the down economy also created a speed bump, Griffin said he's optimistic and that he's seen some positive evidence of sales increases.

Lewis owns six acres at the corner, and Griffin said the site will include other tenants when it's fully developed, though he wouldn't elaborate on what businesses that might include.

Lloyd-Rickert Development also is working to develop a 14-acre site directly south of the Lewis land.

Raquel Blount, vice president of commercial real estate at Lloyd Cos., said she is marketing the site and has one business she is actively negotiating with.

The development of the Lewis site could help spur interest in their project as well, she said.

"It helps a lot because Lewis generates so much traffic and great exposure," she said. "You have a lot of businesses that want to be there because of that."

DiAnn Burwell, who owns a B&G Milkyway at the intersection, is excited to see the development moving forward. She said the added traffic will help her business as well.

"It needs to start developing out here, and that's going to be one of the first stepping stones to getting that started," she said.