Lake Area Lofts Breaks Ground in Watertown, Bringing 110 New Housing Units Near Lake Area Technical College
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The landscape near Lake Area Technical College (LATC) is about to change drastically. Local leaders, college officials, and community members gathered this week to celebrate the official groundbreaking of Lake Area Lofts, a 110-unit residential housing project designed to support the region’s increasing student and professional populations.
The development site is directly north of E-Z Stor, located at 1015 1st Avenue Northeast, Watertown, SD, on the west side of the road.
The Housing Challenge
As Lake Area Technical College continues on a steep growth trajectory, the demand for local housing has become an urgent hurdle. LATC President Tiffany Sanderson spoke at the ceremony, outlining the college’s goal to pump more than 1,000 skilled graduates into the regional workforce annually starting in 2030.
However, a legislative constraint has made accommodating these students a challenge.
“At Lake Area Tech, we are not able by state law to own residential housing,” Sanderson explained. “And so we have to work with private developers in order to provide housing for our students. This project is the epitome of what that partnership can look like.”
A Visionary Investment
The driving force behind Lake Area Lofts is Jimmy Nguyen, an entrepreneur and investor whose journey has taken him from Vietnam to Texas, and ultimately to Watertown, South Dakota.
Caren Hanten, Manager of EZ Properties, spoke on Nguyen’s behalf, detailing his long-term commitment to the city. After initially investing in real estate and salons in Dallas, Nguyen’s investments began migrating to Watertown. He has since launched or acquired several local businesses, including Oscar’s Nails and EZ Storage.
“At some point, he realized that if you keep investing in Watertown, opening businesses in Watertown, buying property in Watertown, and spending all of your time in Watertown, you might as well admit you’re from Watertown,” Hanten joked. She emphasized that the 110-unit project is not just a real estate venture, but a deep investment in the people and future of the community.
A Generational Ripple Effect
Mayor Reid Holien also took the podium to commend the sheer speed and dedication of the construction teams—noting that the crews behind him were still actively moving dirt during the speeches. He praised the development as a critical piece of Watertown’s economic puzzle.
“If you give a young person who is coming in here seeking an education a good place to live, they just grow that much more attached to the community, to LATC, and they enjoy being here,” Mayor Holien stated. “They probably stay here afterwards because they don’t want to give up the community they’ve grown to love... I really do think that this does have repercussions that go on for decades in the future.”
Collaborative Execution
Bringing a project of this scale to fruition requires an extensive coalition of local organizations. The groundbreaking ceremony highlighted several key partners who helped turn the vision into reality, including:
· The City of Watertown: From the Mayor’s office to the building, engineering, and fire departments, who streamlined the development process.
· American Bank & Trust: Led by Market President Mike Paulson and Vice President Eric Danforth, who provided critical financial backing and support.
· APX Construction Group & Create Design and Develop: The architectural and construction teams responsible for bringing the residential units out of the dirt and into the Watertown skyline.
With golden shovels officially turning the soil, the Lake Area Lofts project moves into its active construction phase.
