South Dakota Searchlight – 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.