-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
This building now under construction along North 29th Street will be a four-story structure containing 94 apartments.

Walls appear to be rising from mounds of snow in a neighborhood on the eastern side of Fort Dodge as a new apartment building takes shape.

Located at the intersection of North 29th Street and Dodger Drive, the building will be part of a complex called District 29, which will also include townhouses. Future plans call for a second apartment building and more townhouses there.

The construction there is part of an ongoing resurgence in housing development in Fort Dodge, which also includes the new Williams Bend and Gypsum Creek Crossing neighborhoods.

Years ago, leaders of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance identified a lack of housing as an impediment to more economic growth. Recent developments like District 29 are aimed at eliminating that shortage of homes.

District 29

The building now under construction along North 29th Street will be a four-story structure containing 94 apartments. Studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units will be included.

Garages for the apartment residents are also under construction.

Five sets of five attached townhomes — 25 units in all — will also be constructed.

People are already expressing interest in renting apartments there, according to Kelly Halsted, economic development director of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance.

The area is named District 29 in recognition of its location along North 29th Street.

Eagle Construction, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is the developer.

The company plans to build another 94-unit apartment building and 25 more townhomes there.

Williams Bend

The development of the Williams Bend neighborhood launched the effort to eliminate the housing shortage.

In 2016, the city government and the Fort Dodge Betterment Foundation joined forces to buy the former Theiss farm in the north central portion of the city specifically so that the property could be developed as housing.

Construction started in 2018.

Since then 19 single family homes have been built there. Also, 14 bi-attached homes, a total of 28 units, have been built.

Three more single family homes and two more bi-attached homes are under construction.

“I think what the city and the Betterment Foundation have been able to do has been very successful,” said Dennis Plautz, the chief executive officer of the Growth Alliance.

The development is bordered by Williams Drive to the west, 25th Avenue North to the north, North 15th Street to the east, and 20th Avenue North to the south. A new section of 24th Avenue North was built between Williams Drive and North 15th Street to serve the development.

Gypsum Creek Crossing

The neighborhood consists of 33 acres south of 10th Avenue North and east of North 32nd Street.

It will consist entirely of bi-attached homes. Six buildings, a total of 12 homes, have been built.

Another 64 buildings, a total of 18 homes, will be built.

RJ Tide Development, of Sioux City, is the developer.

Construction of Gypsum Creek Crossing began in 2018.