HARRISBURG, S.D. (KELO) – Construction on a new housing development between South Sioux Falls and Harrisburg can officially begin now after a groundbreaking today.

A former cornfield just east of Harrisburg Adventure Elementary is now full of dirt as crews prepare for houses to soon emerge.

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“This is just another amazing neighborhood that’s going to be added to the community of Harrisburg,” Leap Chear, Vice-Chair of the Harrisburg Economic Development Corporation, said.

Kelly Construction is leading the development of Artessa Lots — a project of over 300 acres that will eventually have different types of housing available and later a commercial component on the north end. It’s also a development that will push the boundary between Harrisburg and South Sioux Falls.

“This is the first development that we’ll have that we’ll be able to reach across the street and shake hands with the city of Sioux Falls. So, it’s really exciting to get to that point,” Harrisburg Mayor Derick Wenk said. “We knew it was going to come someday, we just weren’t sure when it was going to be and today is the day.”

And community leaders hope to continue to see even more growth of Harrisburg.

“I can see this community growing 30-40 thousand people in a short period of time,” Chear said.

“You know, I started my fifth year as a mayor here and I knew the growth was going to come fast, but I just didn’t realize it was going to be this fast. It’s really cool to see us pushing our boundaries,” Wenk said.

Developers say the goal for phase one of the Artessa Lots project is to have 47 lots on the market this Fall already. We spoke more with Kelly Construction and Bender Commercial about this project last week, you can find that story by clicking here.