The Flandreau Housing Corporation will likely take a different approach to a new multi-family affordable housing project after plans with an initial developer fell through.
The proposed apartment complex on Broad Avenue, intended to provide new, more affordable apartments, hit a roadblock when the regional builder withdrew recently due to financing concerns.
A previous housing study showed that the decades-old problem has many young professionals and older residents especially, often leaving town for better housing options elsewhere, is now one that the City and Flandreau Housing Corporation are looking to address themselves.
The Housing Corporation board first met with Meierhenry, an attorney/developer from Sioux Falls, several months ago to discuss funding options for projects like this. Ongoing conversations continued with Meierhenry while several other developers were contacted to see if they were interested. Mayor Dan Sutton said that unfortunately no other builder is interested at this time.

Meierhenry has since expressed an interest in the project. His plan is to bring a proposal back to the Flandreau Housing Corporation board for review for consideration. That will likely happen in the coming weeks.
The City and Meierhenry now aim to spearhead the project along with several community members that have offered support if needed through seed money.
The proposed development would include 16-24 units and is expected to be in high demand — city officials expect rental applications will come in before construction is complete.
The housing development, City Administrator Cohl Turnquist said, is driven by a genuine commitment to serve the community’s needs. City officials would look for someone else to either buy or take over management once the development is built.
Has built housing development throughout the state, multi-family in communities across the state.