CommonBond breaks ground on 'The Radiant'
CommonBond Communities, a nonprofit developer and manager of affordable housing properties with on-site services, has broken ground on The Radiant, a 42-unit housing complex near the intersection of LaCrosse and Omaha streets in Rapid City.
Once complete, The Radiant will feature 30 tax credit and 12 market rate units: 16 one-bedroom, 14 two-bedroom, and 12 three-bedroom. It is scheduled to open to residents in the summer of 2023.
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“I’m thrilled to celebrate this milestone,” said Deidre Schmidt, CommonBond Communities President & CEO, as she kicked off the groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 24.
CommonBond is based in St. Paul, Minn., and currently manages affordable housing properties in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
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The Radiant is CommonBond’s first venture in South Dakota. The nonprofit is expanding its housing and services model to Rapid City – the fastest-growing metro area in the Midwest, per the U.S. Census Bureau – at the invitation and with the support of community leaders working to address housing needs through the Collective Impact Strategic Housing Initiative and Rapid City Strategic Housing Trust Fund.
Schmidt described the Rapid City community as “fundamentally different” in its desire to find solutions to the lack of affordable housing.
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She noted the persistence of Sandy Diegel, former President & CEO of the John T. Vucurevich Foundation, in recruiting CommonBond to Rapid City, as well as those who took up the cause with Diegel – among them, the late David Lust, an attorney and key figure in the initiative; Liz Hamburg, CEO of the Black Hills Area Community Foundation; and Alan Solano, current President & CEO of JTVF.
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“It would be easy to say affordable housing is too big of a problem,” Solano said at the groundbreaking event. “As a community, we really have dedicated ourselves to trying to solve this problem.”
“It doesn’t end here,” Schmidt said, adding that The Radiant is just the first in a portfolio of properties that CommonBond has planned for the Rapid City area.
Below: The ceremonial groundbreaking for The Radiant housing complex on Aug. 24.
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A Public-Private Partnership
"This project is a prime example of private-public partnership," said Deidre Schmidt, CommonBond President & CEO, prior to the ceremonial groundbreaking on The Radiant affordable housing complex on Aug. 24.
Project funding was provided by:
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The John T. Vucurevich Foundation; the Black Hills Area Community Foundation; the City of Rapid City (Community Development Block Grant funds); South Dakota Housing Development Authority (HOME funds, Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and an allocation of low-income housing tax credits – LIHTC); Bridgewater Bank (construction loan and permanent first mortgage); and the National Affordable Housing Trust (LIHTC investor).
The Black Hills Federal Credit Union provided the property acquisition loan. JTVF will also provide funding to support resident services to help ensure housing stability.
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Housing Study Update
The results of a new housing study for the Rapid City market are expected to be released in October.
The City of Rapid City, Elevate Rapid City, John T. Vucurevich Foundation, and Black Hills Area Community Foundation worked in coordination to fund the study intended to help the community better understand current and future needs and inform a targeted approach to address those needs.
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UWBH Month of Caring
Community members will lend a collective "helping hand" to area residents and nonprofit organizations during the United Way of the Black Hills' annual Month of Caring this September.
UWBH Executive Director Jamie Toennies says 621 volunteers worked on 79 different projects throughout the Black Hills in September 2021 - an economic impact of $70,779!
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