By Carleen Wild
Moody County Enterprise
For decades, the need for more housing has been one of the most common comments made in community conversations — whether talking about attracting young professionals, keeping growing families in town, or making sure older residents have quality places to live as they age.
Now, one of the biggest housing steps in recent memory is officially moving forward.
The Flandreau Housing Authority met this past week with city leaders and representatives from Dakota Layers to discuss what’s being called the Broad Avenue Development, located on land now known as the Koch Addition.
The privately owned property was deeded to Dakota Layers this past week for the construction of two nine-unit apartment complexes, bringing 18 new rental units to the community.
Mayor Dan Sutton said final designs and cost estimates have been completed, with the hope of breaking ground quickly and seeing the first units available as soon as this fall.
“It will be a pretty aggressive timeline, they’ll be pouring slabs, you’ll see dirt moving over there, things coming back to the council for a road cost going into the development, but the developer is Dakota Layers and they are committed to this project as they have been with several other projects,” Sutton said.
For city leaders, the project represents more than just new buildings.
“I’m very excited about the project, I think it’s the thing we’ve heard the most about since I’ve been here, ‘we need housing’,” City Administrator Cohl Turnquist said.
“We need housing for young families, young professionals, for our elderly in town — this is a step in the right direction. Eighteen units, this is a big big step.”
To support the development, infrastructure improvements are also moving forward.
Turnquist said the Flandreau Housing Authority has committed $30,000 toward construction of a new 26-foot-wide asphalt roadway that will primarily serve the apartment complex. Additional road costs, expected to range between $60,000 and $90,000 and include curb and gutter work, will come before the city council at a future meeting.
The housing announcement comes alongside other visible infrastructure improvements coming to town.
Council members were also told this past week that bids for the city’s long-anticipated bike path project came in significantly under budget.
South Dakota Department of Transportation officials informed the city that Timmons Construction of Brookings was the low bidder at $393,455 — roughly 24% below the engineer’s estimate.
The city’s share of that project is expected to be just 18% of the total cost through grant funding secured in partnership with the Flandreau Development Corporation.
Because the project came in well below estimates, city leaders say there may be room left for aesthetic improvements along the path.
Construction on the bike trail is expected to begin in summer 2026 and take approximately six weeks.
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