North Sioux City will receive $11 million in state aid to help build 300 workforce homes and a 330-acre business park.
"This will be nice homes, a quality place to live, quality neighborhoods," said Andrew Nilges, executive director of the North Sioux City Economic Development Corporation. "They're not going to be the $450,000-, $500,000-type houses. It's ones that are a little bit more affordable that anyone working at any of our local employers could afford."
The South Dakota Board of Economic Development approved a $10.5 million loan and $500,000 grant for the development corporation.
The loan will be used to purchase the land: 330 acres for the Graham Business Park and 90 acres for the housing. The grant will be used to develop road work, water pipes and a sewage system within the business park.
“South Dakota remains open for business and I applaud North Sioux City’s proactive efforts to ease the path to business and residential development,” Gov. Kristi Noem said a news release. “Having build-ready sites will save time, energy, and money not just for companies, but also for new residents, looking to move to our great state.”
Businesses have been telling the development corporation that workers are struggling to find affordable places to live, Nilges said.
He said his group is working with the South Dakota Housing Development Authority to determine pricing options. It will also study what mix of housing — single-family homes, apartments, duplexes, etc. — is needed.
There's still plenty of time to come up with plans and hire a developer since the development group won't close on the land until January 2023, Nilges said.
Nilges said the city needs a new business park since the current one is nearly full.
The Graham Business Park is divided into 100-acre and 230-acre parcels. The development group will close on the smaller section in January 2022 and on the larger one in January 2023.
The park will be filled with warehouse, manufacturing, IT, value-added agriculture and other larger, industrial spaces, Nilges said.
The development is located near the airport on the far west side of the city. North Sioux City is in the far southeast corner of South Dakota, bordered by state parks, the Missouri River, Nebraska and Iowa.
