Small home neighborhood among projects to earn infrastructure awards in January

John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight – Another $10 million of subsidies will flow to various housing projects across South Dakota after Tuesday’s meeting of the state’s Housing Development Authority Board.

The board has now awarded $106 million of the $200 million in loans and grants made available by the Legislature in 2023 to support the construction of roads, street lights and other infrastructure in new housing projects.

Chas Olson, the authority’s director, told the board that 95 applications have been submitted since the Housing Infrastructure Financing Program became operational last summer. Taken together, the applications add up to $139 million in requests.

One of the projects approved for funding Tuesday will see a developer partner with Rapid City real estate agent Rob Poeppel to build out a neighborhood with 82 smaller-than-average homes. Poeppel needed approval from the Rapid City Council to build the homes at the planned size, as the lots for them are smaller than current city zoning allows.

Last fall, Poeppel told South Dakota Searchlight that the plan was to build 165 small homes, which he called affordable options for first-time homebuyers and downsizing retirees.

The current development plan, presented to the board Tuesday in an application for a $3.35 million infrastructure grant, will include 82 small homes priced between $140,000 and $180,000, and 74 average-sized homes priced between $300,000 and $400,000.