Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight
A South Dakota board advanced rules on Wednesday that allow up to $30 million to be loaned from a state housing infrastructure fund to help finance airport projects in Rapid City and Sioux Falls.
The Housing Development Authority’s members approved the rules without any opposition. The rules implement a bill introduced at Gov. Larry Rhoden’s request and signed into law by him in March.
The law authorizes loans up to $15 million each to the state’s two largest commercial airports. The loans would carry 2% interest rates with repayment periods of 20 years. Repayments and interest must be returned to the housing fund to support future housing infrastructure projects.
Rapid City plans a concourse expansion adding five gates and more passenger space. Sioux Falls is building a new concourse that will provide up to five additional aircraft gates and 57,000 square feet of seating and circulation space. The projects are expected to cost more than $100 million apiece.
The Legislature and former Gov. Kristi Noem created the housing fund and program in 2023 with $200 million: $100 million for grants and $100 million for loans to support streets, sewer, water, and other infrastructure needed for housing developments. The package used $150 million in state money and $50 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds.
By late 2025, about $65 million remained on the loan side. The program has helped finance 87 projects expected to produce 7,464 single-family lots and 5,882 multifamily units.
The housing board’s rule change now goes to the Legislature’s Interim Rules Review Committee.