A PLACE TO CALL HOME

New Housing Development Makes Dream Home A Reality

On the north side of Lennox, homes are springing up in the new Countryside Subdivision at a rapid pace. In 2022, a total of _____ new houses valued at ______ were built in the new development, helping the community smash its previous annual building permit record. When completed, the Countryside subdivision will boast nearly ____ single and multi-family homes and cover over eighty acres of land. While construction in the new neighborhood is now full steam ahead, the journey to get the development going was full of starts and stops.

Andrew Kuyper, Senior Mortgage Banker at Plains Commerce Bank and longtime Lennox area resident, joined the Board of Directors for the Lennox Area Development Corporation (LADC) when the Countryside Development was still just an idea.

“The organization was just finishing up the Meadows Subdivision on the south side of town when I was appointed in 2018,” he said. “They had secured a right-of-first refusal on more land to the north for another, larger housing development, but the group wasn’t sure how to get things started.”

The main challenge in getting the development started was financial. Engineers estimated that the first phase of the project alone would cost $2 million, far more than the non-profit LADC could afford. Board members spoke with homebuilders from across the region to see if a private company would be better suited to take on the project, but early conversations proved fruitless.

“I realized pretty quickly that the LADC shouldn’t be looking for a homebuilder, we should be looking for a developer. We needed someone who could do the complete build out, the streets, sidewalks, curb and gutter, all the utilities, not just build houses.”

Luckily for the LADC, Kuyper knew who to turn to. As a mortgage banker, Kuyper had gotten to know Kelly Nielson, owner of Nielson Construction in Harrisburg, who had experience in developing new housing subdivisions in smaller communities throughout the greater Sioux Falls region.

“I pitched the idea of coming to Lennox to Kelly, and he loved it,” Kuyper said. “We could offer the land at a competitive price, and we had a clear need for more housing in the community based on market studies. However, we learned that financing the project was going to be tricky.”

To be able to afford the purchase and development of the land, Nielson requested an incentive known as Tax Increment Financing (TIF). TIF allows developers to borrow against future property tax revenues in a new development to help pay for public infrastructure. Under state law, TIF revenues count against a municipality’s constitutional debt limit, and the City of Lennox was unable to afford the project. The LADC, Nielson Construction, and the city all quickly pivoted.

“We requested that Lincoln County grant the TIF since they have a greater debt limit, and we faced a lot of skepticism at first,” Kuyper said. The LADC, the City of Lennox, and the Lennox School District mounted a lobbying campaign to persuade county officials to support the project. Advocates emphasized that new housing in Lennox wouldn’t lead to population decline in other parts of the region. With an expanding school district, growing major employers like Sioux Steel and Wilson Trailer, and more people moving to smaller communities surrounding Sioux Falls in search affordable housing and rural lifestyles, Lennox needed the Countryside Subdivision to meet existing demand.

After nearly eighteen months of work, Lincoln County approved the TIF, and Nielson Construction broke ground on the development in October of 2021. Kuyper credits teamwork amongst different community members for the success of the project.

“We had the right people involved. If you look at who’s part of the LADC, the City of Council, and the School District, you’ll find that we have a nice mix of people with a variety of different backgrounds, connections, and experiences. Everyone had a vested interest in the community and the knowledge needed to move things forward. Most importantly, we had a lot of folks who wouldn’t take no for an answer. We always found a solution.”

Today, Kuyper and the LADC are looking to take advantage of the momentum created by the growth in housing.

“Lennox has historically struggled to attract and sustain dining and retail businesses. With all the new housing coming in, our population is steadily getting closer to about 3,000, which is when I think we’ll really start to see more opportunities for more of those kinds of businesses and amenities to come to town. Additionally, when we think about attracting another big employer, you need to have enough housing to accommodate their workforce. The Countryside Subdivision will open a lot of doors for Lennox.”