Dakota Dunes developing one of last undeveloped tracts

Preliminary interest also indicates apartment buildings might also be sprouting up in the area, one of the site's developers said.

"We've had a little bit of activity, nothing's sold," said Nathan Connelly, a developer and listing agent for the 37-acre unnamed mixed-use development on the northern edge of Dakota Dunes and west of Interstate 29.

Initial plans called for 30 residential lots and six to eight commercial lots. The residential plans could change, Connelly said, because both local and out-of-town apartment developers have shown interest in building there.

Builders have completed 20 "storage condominiums," commonly referred to as "toy box" storage units, typically used for campers, boats, cars and other large items, and 14 of them already are spoken for, Connelly said. Another 10 will be built this summer.

Also completed in the development is the extension of Flurie Road linking North Shay Road on the west side of the development and Sioux Point Road on the east.

"That's probably the biggest deal on this whole thing is that road going back in," Connelly told the Journal in August. "(It) serves a ton of residents back there. It's going to cut their travel time drastically."

Connelly said recently the street should be open in early spring.

NAI United President Chris Bogenrief, who is also a listing agent for the properties, said in August the plans were to develop single-family housing that was a little more affordable than in other areas of the Dunes.

"There's really not many lots left in Dakota Dunes. It's pretty much developed. So this is opening up a new area that actually was not in the initial master plan," Bogenrief said.

Connelly said the site is appealing to apartment developers, as well.

"It is a nice spot, and it's very quiet and private," he said.

In January 2020, a group of investors led by developer Bart Connelly, operating under the name Dakota Dunes Land Holdings LLC, announced the $5.4 million purchase of most of the remaining undeveloped tracts of land in Dakota Dunes. The deal included parcels in the northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest corners of Dakota Dunes, along with the 118-acre Two Rivers Golf Course. 

The new development is one part of the undeveloped land in that purchase. 

"Over the last couple years, they've been planning how to best develop the unused parcels," said Bogenrief, who helped put together the deal to buy the land in 2020 and was retained to market the properties. 

The land had formerly been owned by Dakota Dunes Development, a unit of MidAmerican Energy, which began developing the upscale planned community in the southeast tip of South Dakota in 1988.