The Watertown Development Company (WDC) is stepping closer to the creation of a new industrial park west of Mallard Point Business Park after a land sale and transfer was completed on Thursday.

The future industrial park, located on the south side of U.S. Highway 212 and west of I-29, near the newly announced Terex Utilities location in Mallard Pointe Business Park, includes the purchase of approximately 73 acres of land south of Wal-Mart, with the other 23 acres coming from land that the city already owns in that area, totaling 96 acres.

The park is expected to lead to large-scale job creation and a big economic boost for Watertown. Historically, parks that have been developed in Watertown have created many new jobs for the community. The new site will also keep Watertown on the radar of companies looking to expand to South Dakota.

Even though the infrastructure of the park has yet to start, the behind-the-scenes work of gaining tenants is revving up.

Chris Schilken, Watertown Development Company Executive Director, said the WDC has already begun marketing the area and it’s capturing the attention of companies and site selectors. “Since the announcement of the Terex Utilities expansion in Mallard Pointe Business Park, we have had a lot of interest from companies who want to be near them, so we felt it was pretty important to get started on marketing the new park.”

Watertown Mayor Sarah Caron said the park would have a big impact on the area. “The acquisition of this land and development of it into a new industrial park is timed to meet the needs of Watertown’s growing industrial base.  It will provide a great location for expansion of existing businesses or attraction of new ones, so we are very excited to move forward with it.”