The Fort Dodge Plan and Zoning Commission voted Tuesday afternoon to recommend a zoning change for a 10.3 acre parcel of land near the Fort Dodge Middle School from Agricultural to Residential Multi-Family to make some new apartments possible.
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As Steve Boote explored Mason City’s newly renovated downtown, wandered the cobblestoned plaza, perused the new storefronts and admired the sculptures, he knew an Opportunity Zones project would be successful there.
Owner of Talon Development LLC and Eagle Construction Inc., Boote has spent the last several years developing workforce housing, or affordable housing for residents who make less than an area’s median income, throughout the Dakotas. As his work branched into Iowa, his home state, as well as Wisconsin and Nebraska, he discovered the Opportunity Zones program.
The program was initiated at the federal level as part of the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and offers communities in participating states the chance to create jobs and spark economic development by encouraging long-term investment in low-income areas. These areas are known as Opportunity Zones and are connected to private investors through the program’s provided tax incentives.
“The program enhances what we do as a developer in trying to drive rent fares down,” Boote said. “Some of these projects wouldn’t be possible without this program.”
So Yankton Area Progressive Growth (YAPG) snapped their fingers and, like that, Westbrook Estates popped up along West City Limits Road, thus solving the plight of housing shortages once and for all. … Except, it was never so simple.
Yes, Westbrook Estates has risen from empty fields on the west side of town and is well into its second phase of expansion, but there were a number of challenges to overcome — challenges that anyone aiming to bring workforce housing to the area will face.
Recently, key YAPG officials sat down with the Press & Dakotan to discuss to project and the hurdles it had to overcome to become a reality.
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