This month I want to take some time and talk a little bit about one of our major undertakings for 2016 and 2017. As many of you know GHDC has acquired the land south of the Coborns grocery store. We are now entering into the final stages of putting together the financing that will enable us to begin construction of the roads and installing the sewer and water necessary to feed the interior lots for further development.
Our plans include creating a road running south from the main entrance of Coborns all the way to the 26th Street near the First United Methodist Church. We will also be installing 24th Street, which will run from SD Highway 37 all the way east to Idaho Avenue. We are hopeful that once we are through the necessary legal processes with the City’s new Tax Increment Finance Project Review Committee, the City’s Planning Commission and the actual City Commission themselves, we will have an approved project that will be ready to move forward. The goal would be to begin construction hopefully by mid-August, with the idea in mind to have all of the water and sewer installed along with the primary gravel base for all of the roads. We would then let them settle over winter with the intent of adding paving and gutter in the spring of 2017.
It is our intention to market this area for further development for retail and service industries. We have been approached by a number of businesses expressing their interest in considering the area as a location for things such as a restaurant or a hotel or other possible service industries. Unfortunately, until now, the development costs
for the interested parties have been too great to do on their own.
Over the course of the next three years, we believe that this development area will prove to be an outstanding new addition to our core business area on the south side of town. With this in mind we are moving ahead as quickly as we can to begin the construction to get the necessary infrastructure installed.
In closing, I’d like to suggest you read Brooke Sydow’s article later in this edition of Prairie Tracks. If you don’t know Brooke, she is GHDC’s Workforce Coordinator. Brooke has been busy with a number of things that I think you’ll find quite interesting, including the Third Annual 4th of July Karen Soccer Tournament, her recent seminar for online marketing, and the presentation by Spencer Beach to name just a few.
Have a great 4th of July!