NORTH SIOUX CITY — Construction is underway at one of the biggest developments in years in North Sioux City.
Crews began rolling in this summer at Union Crossing, the 86-acre housing and commercial project under development by a consortium of five local individuals under the banner of PBR Capital.
The site, formerly farmland, lies west of Interstate 29, along Sioux Point Road and north of the Shay Road, about a half mile from McCook Lake.
Developer Rick Wegher, one of the names behind PBR Capital, told The Journal that crews are working on site preparation, dirt work, infrastructure, utilities and pavement. Structures should begin taking form soon.
The elaborate, multi-year, multi-phase project could eventually add as many as 350 to 380 units of housing — apartments, townhomes and single-family homes — to North Sioux City, Wegher said.
By contrast, last year only eight new home-building permits were issued in North Sioux City.
“We’re hoping to see vertical construction the apartments yet this fall,” Wegher said.
Union Crossing, he said, will be a five-to-10 year undertaking.
North Sioux City Mayor Chris Bogenrief, a vocal supporter of the project who was elected in April on a growth-supporting platform, reiterated his previous statements that Union Crossing is something the city really needs. Union Crossing’s home prices are capped at $385,000, and are thus considered workforce housing by the South Dakota Housing Authority, which awarded a $2.7 million grant for the project.
“That’s much-needed in North Sioux City,” Bogenrief told The Journal. “Because we’re just so short on housing supply. And all our employers are pushing for us to build our housing supply. And so this is a great project for the city.”
Roughly 30 of Union Crossing’s acres are set aside for commercial development (apartments will also be built in the commercial section by a separate entity that purchased some of the land); Wegher declined to identify any future business occupants going there.
“I think, by the end of this year, or going into 2026, I think we’re only going to have five acres left for sale,” he said of the commercial part of the development.
Union Crossing ran into opposition when it was in the planning phase — two unsuccessful petitions were circulated to try and stop the $10 million tax-increment financing used to help finance it — but Bogenrief said April’s special election left the opposition largely locked out of local political power.
“That was just some members of the previous City Council,” Bogenrief said. “And, when they were not elected, those sentiments went away — in my opinion.”
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