Some of Dickinson's housing crunch may be alleviated by March, since Roers Company broke ground on West View Apartments Wednesday.
Stark County officials sold the land to Roers Wednesday for $1.45 million.
"When we're finished there'll be about 85 single family homes, room for about 85 twin homes and up to 320 apartments and 13 acres of commercial land ...," said Larry Nygard, president of Roers Development.
West View Apartments will be located on the western edge of Dickinson, bordering 23rd Avenue West and Fairway Street.
The first two apartment buildings will be finished in March and April, with the entire project being completed within five years, Nygard said.
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"That's big for this community because they're going to address some of the housing needs that have been identified as infrastructure weaknesses for the community," said Duane "Bucky" Wolf, Stark County Commission Chairman.
The first two buildings are estimated to cost $6.5 million, Nygard said.
"We're moving dirt now and in the next couple of weeks we'll be starting foundation," Shane Roers, president of Roers West, said.
He added the project will likely be completed in four phases.
"We're in a hurry -- winter's coming," Nygard said. "The streets and the roads will be in before winter."
Wolf said bidding on the property was competitive.
"It started at $400,000 and it ended up at $1,520,000." Wolf said.
Roers is headquartered in Fargo and has ongoing projects in Minot Jamestown and Fargo.
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"There's a lot of things about Dickinson that are appealing," Nygard said. "It's got a lot of things that you look for in communities that are going to grow."
Residents can expect the one, two and three bedroom apartments to be large, with many modern conveniences, Nygard said.
"The rents will start at $700 a month and go up," Nygard said. "It's going to depend on the unit size and type."
Roers intends to construct, maintain ownership, and manage the apartments, he added.
"We do sell all of our single family lots to local Dickinson builders, so we're not building the homes," Nygard said.
The land Roers purchases is across the street from land purchased by St. Joseph's Hospital, where a new hospital may be constructed.
The portion of Roers' land closest to the hospital land will be for commercial development, Nygard said.
"We expect things like hotels and restaurants and health-related shops, those types of things," Nygard said.
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The Dickinson Press and the Herald are both Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
