JDA housing programs working

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

After seeing no new single-family homes built in Watford City in 2017, new homes are finally popping out of the ground thanks to two innovative housing programs, the Housing Development Subsidy Program and the Shovel-Ready Lot Program, administered by the McKenzie County Job Development Authority.
“The Shovel-Ready Lot Program is the start of the circle of growing the number of new homes in Watford City and of growing the city,” states Dave Pankow, Stenehjem Development construction manager. “The goal is to build enough inventory of new homes so people can buy a new single-family home or be able to move up to a different home.”
According to Pankow, as part of the Shovel-Ready Lot Program, 79 lots for single-family and twin homes are being developed in the Fox Hills subdivision next to the new Fox Hills Elementary School.