Rapid City seeing growth in apartment building | Local
Samuelson Development has spent the past 15 years building and managing apartments in Sioux Falls, one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.
Now, the construction firm has struck out for the west where it is seeing new opportunities and investing millions of dollars.
"We love the Rapid City market," said Matt Petersen, property manager for Samuelson Development. "Our research showed there was a high demand for luxury housing."
The company, which has about 600 properties in its portfolio, is spending about $16 million on the Copper Ridge Apartments project now under construction at 2000 Golden Eagle Road in southwest Rapid City, project manager John Samuelson said.
It is the company's first project in Rapid City.
The construction of those apartments, along with the Gateway Apartment project on Marlin Drive in southern Rapid City that has a permit value of $15.1 million, represents a resurgence in the construction of new multi-housing projects in Rapid City after the national housing market implosion of 2008.
In 2007, 18 building permits were issued for multi-family housing with a value of $18,863,915, according to the Rapid City Community Development and Planning website.
But in 2008, new apartment construction slowed to a crawl, Brett Limbaugh, director of Community Planning and Development Services for Rapid City, said.
Data from the Rapid City monthly and yearly building permit reviews showed the city issued a total of 11 permits from 2008 to 2011, with a total permit value of $8,585,405.
However, there was still a demand for apartments even as construction slowed, Limbaugh said.
Now that the nation is climbing out of the recession, apartment construction is on the rebound, he said. In 2013, 28 permits were issued in Rapid City for apartments, with a valuation of $33,816,125.
"Apartment construction is up throughout the nation and Rapid City is following in the trend," Limbaugh said.
Samuelson Development officials said they expect southwest Rapid City will continue growing over the next several years.
"We looked for a specific spot, and we feel that area offers a great view of the natural beauty of the Black Hills," Petersen said.
The Copper Ridge Apartments will feature two four-story apartments with a total of 150 units. One building will have 99 apartments, the other 51. Both complexes will offer a variety of floor plans, ranging from studios to three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments with access to a swimming pool, a community area and a gym.
Work began in October 2013 and is expected to be done by February 2015, Petersen said.
Petersen said the company hasn't decided what rental rates it will charge but comparable apartments in Rapid City such as Stoney Creek Highlands Apartment Homes, Harmony Heights Premier Apartment Homes and Founders Park Village show rental rates of $750 to $1,300.
Limbaugh said the apartment construction might lead to more residential and possibly commercial development in that area of the city, which has a vast amount of available space.
"I think there's tendency for development to cluster," he said. "There is a distinct possibility additional development will occur once these apartments are finished."
Limbaugh said the boom created by the Bakken oil fields has added to the demand for apartments in Rapid City.
"A lot of people from the Bakken oil fields live here," he said. "They go up and work for two or three weeks then come back. They aren't buying houses, they are renting apartments."
The Sioux Falls company has plans to build more apartments in Rapid City once Copper Ridge Apartments are built and leased, Samuelson said.
"This is phase one of a three-phase project plan," he said.
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