HURON — Creation of a tax increment financing district (TIF) that will pave the way for the new Iverson Auto Ford and Chrysler dealership and the second phase of the Wheatgrass Village apartment and town home complex in Southtown has been approved by the City Commission.
Eagle Construction of Sioux Falls, developer of the first 69-unit apartment building and two six-unit town home structures, is working on plans to build a 72-unit apartment complex and another dozen town homes on the same 10.2 acres.
Construction could get under way yet this fall on the $8 million project. Dirt work has begun on the $5.4 million Iverson Auto dealership, which will sit on 4.5 acres along Highway 37.
It’s the sixth TIF to be approved in Huron in the past 32 years. The first in the city and in South Dakota was for the Crossroads parking ramp in downtown Huron.
The apartments won’t qualify as subsidized or low-income housing, according to Planning Director Barry Cranston.
The developer contract with Eagle Construction prohibits any future sale of the property to any entity that would use it as such, according to David McGirr, president and chief executive officer of Greater Huron Development Corporation.
In the case of both projects, the TIF dollars represent 15 to 16 percent of their costs, so they are critical to the construction of the new Iverson Auto dealership and Wheatgrass Village housing complex moving forward, he said.
The tax increment district is expected to be for $4.8 million. Eligible expenses include site preparation, paving, landscaping, sewer, water, storm sewer, professional fees, project interest and contingency funds.

By state law, the payback period must be 20 years or less. However, typically TIF projects pay off in less than 20 years because property valuations and property taxes increase periodically.
Construction of both phases of Wheatgrass Village is helping to alleviate a housing shortage in Huron. Phase one was completed in 2018 with 100 percent occupancy coming in nine months, exceeding the developer’s expectations, McGirr said.
It’s why the company now wants to proceed with the second phase. Phase three, with no timeline yet established but which could possibly come down the road, is construction of another 24 town homes, he said.
But Eagle Construction wants to get in the ground now for phase two, with occupancy expected to come a year from now, he said.
The TIF district proposal has undergone a number of reviews, first by city staff, the TIF Project Review Committee and the City Planning Commission. Final sign off will come from state officials.
In other business, commissioners:
• Appointed five city employees to the Huron Get Fit Committee, including Sarah Rogers and Klay Min, police department; Julie Pomerico, inspections/engineering; Kristin Cronin, finance; and Danyelle Casper, library.
• Awarded CHS Farmers Alliance of Huron the bid for a six-month supply of propane at 89 cents a gallon.
• Awarded Flatland Concrete of Huron a $108,031 bid for reconstruction of the west parking lot behind City Hall.
• Approved an agreement with the state Department of Transportation, Office of Air, Rail and Transit, for upgrades at the airport, including runway end identifier lights, runway and taxiway signs and LED lighting on one runway.
Total project cost is $708,338, with a federal share of $637,505 and the state and city shares at 5 percent, or $35,416 each.
• Approved a plat in Prairie Green Addition for Paul Moriarty.