How Salem is making lemonade from lemons with new housing development
By Megan Raposa: Sioux Falls Simplified
The Salem Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) will break ground this week on a new housing development on the site where a nursing home was destroyed in a 2022 derecho weather event.
Simplified: The Salem Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) will break ground this week on a new housing development on the site where a nursing home was destroyed in a 2022 derecho weather event.
Why it matters
- When the Colonial Manner Nursing home had its roof ripped off and windows broken in a 2022 derecho – with winds similar to a tornado – the SEDC purchased the land.
- SEDC made that purchase in part with grant funds from the South Dakota Housing Infrastructure Financing Program (HIFP) – a statewide program to help communities bring in more housing by helping subsidize construction of the needed infrastructure.
- The development will bring a total of 18 new single-family and multifamily housing lots on the southeast side of town. In addition, there are five lots on Center Avenue that already have infrastructure in place.
"This project is a big win for Salem," SEDC President Jeremy Grady. "We hope it attracts more families to our growing community."
Tell me more about the project
The lots are located in southeast Salem near the intersection of Center Avenue and Hill Street.
- One lot of the five that already have infrastructure in place is already sold.
Up to $750,000 of the funds to purchase the land and get it ready for development came from HIFP. The remaining financing is coming from community donations, First Dakota National Bank, the REED fund, and housing lot sales.
What happens next?
The SEDC will break ground on the project Friday morning.
Developers expect the infrastructure for the remaining lots to be completed by early 2026