Latest round of South Dakota housing infrastructure aid totals $19 million

South Dakota Searchlight
·3 min read
An apartment building under construction on June 13, 2023, in eastern Rapid City.
An apartment building under construction on June 13, 2023, in eastern Rapid City.

The South Dakota Housing Development Authority Board signed off on another $19 million in housing infrastructure funding for 19 projects on Tuesday.

The ultimate beneficiaries of the grant funding will include seniors in Watertown, students and residents in Vermillion, along with home buyers or renters in Worthing, Miller, Beresford, Centerville, Canton and Aberdeen. One project will see grant funding used to develop a now-shuttered nursing home in Salem into 27 homes and eight apartments.

Now in its third month of awards for the $200 million program, the housing board has signed off on grants and loans totaling more than $77 million for 46 projects across South Dakota.

The money was allocated in 2023 by the South Dakota Legislature, after late-session tweaks to a 2022 bill meant to create the program sparked questions about the housing board’s legal authority to award the funds. It’s meant to help address a workforce housing shortage in South Dakota by helping developers cover the swelling costs for street construction, water and sewer lines, street lights and other infrastructure-related building expenses.

Chas Olson, the Housing Development Authority’s director, told South Dakota Searchlight in October that the $200 million cash infusion represents the agency’s most substantial single funding pool. The authority also helps finance affordable housing projects, largely funded through federal grants, and administers the state’s first-time homebuyer and repeat homebuyer programs.

“$200 million is by far the largest funding allocation we’ve ever gotten,” said Olson, who’s worked for the HDA nearly a decade and ascended to its directorship after the resignation of former director Lorraine Polak in late March.

The board will consider more applications for housing infrastructure funds next month.

Housing infrastructure awards, November 2023

  • Lakes of Willow Creek Second Addition, 74 single-family lots, Watertown: $1.34 million

  • Aurora’s Addition, 55 single-family lots, Sioux Falls: $746,701

  • Bak Property Housing Development, 59 single-family lots, Beresford: $1.02 million

  • Briggs Development, 16 single family lots, Plankinton: $209,701

  • Freedom Estates, 68 single family lots, Box Elder, $808,869

  • Greater Huron Cul-De-Sac, 13 single family lots, Huron: $269,667

  • HAPI 2nd North Subdivision, 66 single family lots, Aberdeen: $1.52 million

  • Harmony Hill Development, Challenger Way-West, 137 single family lots, 40 senior housing units, 20 twin homes and 160 multifamily affordable housing units, Watertown: $1.41 million

  • Harvest Pointe Development Project, 18 single-family lots and four twin home lots, Centerville: $483,968

  • Jack Powell Addition Development, 13 single family lots and 110 multifamily units, Vermillion: $1.42 million

  • SEDC Residential Development, 27 single-family lots and eight multifamily units, Salem: $755,000

  • Union Cross Development, 136 homes (including a mix of single family, triplexes, fourplexes and a duplex), North Sioux City: $2.71 million

  • WEDC Housing Lots Project, three single family lots, Worthing: $70,9270

  • Liberty Park Phase 4, 24 single-family lots and 51 multifamily units, Box Elder: $533,220

  • Northern Lights Subdivision, 23 single-family lots and 30 multifamily units, Box Elder: $517,254

  • PEDCO Properties, 32 single-family lots, Pierre: $457,433

  • Monarch Village Subdivision, 82 single-family lots and 200 condominium units, Canton: $3.72 million

  • Ridgeview on Foster Housing Development, 54 single-family lots, Mitchell: $1.03 million

  • Rustler Lot, 12 single-family lots, Miller: $178,790

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Latest round of SD housing infrastructure aid totals $19 million