SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Sioux Falls isn’t the only city in eastern South Dakota with big building numbers.
Building permit values in five cities near Sioux Falls increased by a total of at least $167 million from 2020 to 2021.
The permit values depend on how much each city charges for resident, commercial and remodeling permits and the size of each project. For example, the city of Tea places a value of $70 per square foot on projects but the actual cost and value is higher than that, said city planning and zoning administrator Kevin Nissen said.
The city posted about $45 million total building permit value for 2021 but the actual value of projects is higher because of the outdated value per square foot assessed by the city, Nissen said.
The city changed it’s per square foot amount for 2022, he said.
So did the city of Brandon.
Melissa Labahn of the city’s planning and zoning department said the fee structure had not changed since 2005 until the council changed it for 2022.
Brandon posted a total valuation amount of $34.8 million for 2021.
Harrisburg’s total valuations increased by about $25 million from $52.9 million to $78.2 million.
Hartford’s dipped from $10.6 million to $7.7 million in 2021.
The numbers in Crooks aren’t as large as the other four cities but value permits reached at least $5 million in 2021.
Harrisburg, Tea and Brandon butt up to residential and other property that lies within the city of Sioux Falls boundaries.
Hartford is about 15 miles away and while Crooks’ city boundary has technically extended to the Sioux Falls Foundation Park boundary, the core of the city is still farther from Sioux Falls residential areas.
A large project in any city can cause a lopsided gain in valuations but data from at least 2019 shows that valuations and permit numbers are at steady increases.
What’s driving the increases?
If you built in Hartford, Harrisburg, Brandon, Crooks, or Tea in 2021, you aren’t alone.
Housing, both single-family residential and multi-family, were big drivers of any permit value increases.
Residential values for single-family housing reached about $3 million in Crooks. At least another $1.4 million was reached in multi-family housing construction.
In Harrisburg, residential building permits totaled about $58.1 million of the $78.2 total valuations.
New single-family homes accounted for $34.5 million in valuations. Another $21.5 million was generated by multi-family residential construction.
Brandon had $16.2 million residential permit values as 86 permits were issued for single-family homes. The city issued one permit for multi-family housing.
Tea issued 98 permits for single-family housing and another 132 for multi-family housing. Single-family residential permit values totaled $15.5 million while multi-family totaled $14.4 million.
Twenty-one single-family permits, three two-plexes, two trailer homes totaled $5.7 million in valuations in Hartford.
Annexing for the future
Annexation can be a piece of any growth in construction and building permits.
Tea and Crooks recently annexed property to expand their borders.
The city of Crooks annexed property roughly 1 1/2 from its previous border.
“We did an annexation right up to (Sioux Falls ) Foundation Park,” said Crooks Mayor Butch Oseby. “It just makes business sense.”
The growth in Foundation Park which includes the Amazon warehouse and Schwan’s Asian frozen foods plant will likely lead to additional growth in the park and interest near it.
The annexation includes the property near the I-29 intersection by Crooks, Oseby said.
For now, the annexed land is in a rural service district which means farmers can continue to farm the land and taxes do not change, Oseby said.
But, if in the future, a landowner wants his land re-zoned, the city of Crooks can change the zoning and gain from the change, he said
Tea did a similar annexation of an I-29 corridor, Nissen said.
“There’s been a lot of development by the interstate,” Nissen said.
Development includes a new convenience store, a drive-thru coffee business, a glass business and others.
