All but one of the available luxury suites in the addition to the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center have been snapped up by local businesses for three- or five-year commitments, well ahead of the facility's opening later this year.

"When the project was proposed, we talked about having the suites sold within 18 months after opening. Here we are, eight or nine months out, and we nearly have them all sold," Brian Maliske, civic center general manager, said. "I think it says something about how supportive the community has been."

When completed in December, the arena addition will seat about 5,000 people for hockey games, 5,700 for basketball games and nearly 7,000 for concerts or other stage events.

Eight-seat suites, for $21,000 a year, have been leased by Dream Design International and J&J Asphalt.

Twelve-seat suites have been leased by Fisher Beverage, J. Scull Construction, Red Rocks/Mandalay Homes (ownership group), and Dr. Larry Teuber and The Spine Center. Those skyboxes cost $31,000 a year.

Fourteen-seat suites for $35,000 have been leased by Zandstra Construction and the Rapid City Journal.

Eagle Sales leased a 16-seat suite for $39,000 a year.

Tom Helland, president of Eagle Sales, said he hasn't decided whether to enter a three-year or five-year lease, but he's excited about using the suite when the facility opens to entertain customers, employees and friends.

"And also, to show support for the project and the city, to be honest with you," Helland said. "The civic center and the city have taken a big chance, and they need people to purchase suites, and that's part of the reason we're doing it."

Helland said he has an operation in Chamberlain and covers the Pierre market, which has a youth hockey program. Many of the customers who have kids participating in hockey might like to come see a game.

"I'm a hockey fan. I grew up in Minnesota, so I was a North Stars fan before they left," he said. "We're excited about the hockey team and the possibilities for the civic center and the city. I think it's going to be a great addition to the town, and we're going to make Sioux Falls jealous again."

Jerry Wagner, of J&J Asphalt, said hockey tickets in the club level sold out so quickly his company decided to jump at the opportunity to lease a suite. Wagner said the children and grandchildren of one of his partners play hockey, and Wagner is just starting to learn the sport.

"I think it's something we've needed for a long time that we haven't had the opportunity to do - the facility and the skyboxes," he said. "I think it's going to be exciting."

Wagner said J&J Asphalt likely will go with a three-year lease. Considering the investment, the company plans to use it as much as possible, either themselves or by leasing it out.

"We don't have a conference room in our office and facility, so I'm hoping we'll use that a lot for some of those private meetings we want to have," Wagner said.

Annually, suite rental means $275,000 in revenue, not including ticket revenue and concession revenue.

In addition to leasing the skybox space, lease holders must buy tickets for the entire suite for all hockey games and have first option to buy tickets to other events. If a renter does not want to buy tickets for a particular event, the civic center will help them sublease the suite to another party.

Each of the nine businesses has put a $5,000 down payment on a suite. In April, each will sign a three-year or five-year contract and pay half of the cost of the first year. The remainder will be due on Dec. 1, when the facility is scheduled to open.

At the end of the lease period, the renters will have first option to renew the lease for another three-or five-year term, at whatever the going rate is at that time.

The civic center has three other suites available, a 14-seat box, a 16-seat box, and a 20-seater.

Three entities have expressed interest in a long-term lease of the 14-seat box but have not made a commitment. Maliske is waiting to see if other marketing opportunities develop for the box.

The remaining two suites are not being used for long-term leases. Instead, they will be rented out on an event-by-event basis. Prices have not been se,t but they would include a box rental plus the cost of all tickets to the particular event.

"There might be a wedding party that wants one. It might be somebody's birthday. It might be the girls' night out. I want to rotate those two boxes to give the community the opportunity to enjoy a suite," Maliske said.

City officials are understandably proud, considering the criticism generated when the suites - or skyboxes as they have come to be known - were added to the project two years ago.

When the suites were added to the project in 2006, the city estimated the additions cost an extra $4 million in what eventually turned out to be a nearly $25 million project. Some people scoffed at the notion that the suites would be sold.

Alderman Tom Johnson said the critics who said the city would never lease the boxes were absolutely wrong and should admit as much.

"I challenge those folks to come back and tell me and the other council members who support this how stupid we were. I think they were wrong, and the dollars and cents prove that," Johnson said.

Johnson said the about $300,000 in revenue generated from skybox leases alone, not counting ticket or concession revenue, tells him the boxes will pay for themselves within a few years. It also shows, in his opinion,that the council made the correct decision despite being roundly criticized.

"As I heard through this whole process, skyboxes were for the richest people, and you wouldn't be able to rent them. And that is wrong. The other accusation is that we built the Taj Mahal, which I don't think we did."

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com