McKenzie County Farmer - Latest News

Steve Hallstrom
Special to The Farmer

The local housing program that will bring nine new homes to Watford City is progressing well, according to city officials.
Watford City Mayor Phil Riely has been in office since 2018. He tells the Farmer that nine homes are currently under construction and are expected to be completed by the end of 2025, but hopefully by fall.

“The opportunities in Watford City, McKenzie County, and western North Dakota are endless,” said Watford City Mayor Phil Riely, in an interview on AM 1090 The Flag. “If you want to make money and support your family, the best way to support your family is to bring them with you. Nobody wants to come out here alone. One thing we realized early on is we were going to have a housing shortage, so we’ve done several things to fix our housing issues. We’ve tried several different programs (and we’ve worked on some new programs) with the McKenzie County Commission and the Watford City Housing Authority, and we have nine homes under construction which should be ready for occupancy…in 2025.”

Watford City has been one of the fastest growing cities in the region. According to Census Bureau data, in 2010, the city had a population of 1,822. That number jumped to 7,944 in 2020. The most recent number available is that the city has a population of 6,020. While the oil and gas industry drives much of the residency, civic leaders have worked to make the city a desirable place for those who work in any sector.

“It took a lot of work to build a community that people wanted,” said Riely. “We didn’t want a transient community. The people that were leading Watford City at that time could have sat back on their heels and said, ‘You know what? Let’s just let this cycle through.’ But they didn’t. They got active, they talked to investors, they talked to community members. We got hotels, we got restaurants, we got extra shopping. So, what we did here in Watford City is we took the ball, and we ran with it as hard and as fast as we can. We broke a lot of glass ceilings, and we busted a lot of windows, but look at that now.”

A review of current MLS listings shows 17 homes available within a 10-mile radius of downtown Watford City. Only seven listings are within city limits, ranging in price from $135,000 to $644,900. According to Zillow, there are no homes currently available for sale in Arnegard. The Watford City housing authority has invested nearly $4 million to build the nine houses which Riely says are in various stages of construction currently. Over the next few months, they will be listed for sale in hopes that the day they are finished, people can start moving in. He doesn’t think that’s a stretch.

“We’re not too concerned about it. If you talk to the hospital, they could fill 10 homes tomorrow.”

True story, says McKenzie Health CEO Pete Edis, whose company has actually bought a number of townhomes, apartments and single-family homes. Owning property, he says, has helped provide housing for employees while keeping rents reasonable.

“I never expected that I would be in the housing business, as a hospital CEO, but I am. We have about 70 housing units, but we need more, just because some of our travel staff don’t have room for. (When we hire someone) what we do is try to assess their needs. They will tell me what their looking for and then we’ll go on a hunt. If we don’t have an apartment or a house, then we will go out looking for one.”

When asked about the local commitment to addressing the housing issue, Edis says he is absolutely satisfied.

“Anytime you put a group of people together there are different ideas on how to address the need, but the nice part of it is that everyone’s voice is heard and ultimately the decisions that are made are made with good input. Mayor Riely and I were discussing some ideas recently, like the city building homes. I could see the health system building homes. Now, do I want to be in the housing business? No. Do I need to be? Probably. We have a program where we can bring people in and build them a house or sell them a house that’s being built and work with them on the down payments and so forth, but it’s another thing to have 10 houses available where we say ‘Okay come to Watford City. We’ve got some houses available; do you want a blue one or a white one? Two car garage or three’? I think that should be one of the goals is to have some inventory available.”

When asked how his world would change if the city had 10 “spec homes” built?

“I think we could fill them overnight,” said Edis.

Many workers commute to Watford City from Sidney, New Town, and Williston. Apartments in town are generally full as well. But the city currently has 100 buildable lots, according to Riely. And the county has more than that.

“The county had the insight to not only make things available in Watford City, but you can also build in Arnegard. You can build in Alexander. You can build around the county, and there are down payment incentives too.”

The challenges of building residential property in McKenzie County are no secret. There is a shortage of builders and skilled labor like electricians and plumbers. Interest rates are high and so are the prices of building materials. The Bakken Area Skills Center will eventually churn out these kinds of professionals, but that will take time.

“It’s not just North Dakota, you know, it’s kind of a nationwide shortage, but it’s kind of fun. When those guys do move here, they become instantly busy. The only thing we wish we could really get is some project coordinators out there that really do mass construction and track housing. You know, Watford City could use something like they did in Dickinson in the State’s Addition (a 258-unit apartment complex). We could build 45 homes and have them filled before the cement is cured on the footings.”

The city and county are teaming up to offer down payment incentives to buy or build. Those will come in handy with the high costs of construction in the county, compared to buying a house in Bismarck or Fargo.

“Everybody says we’re 20 percent higher,” says Riely. “I don’t know if that’s a rule of thumb or just what people say, but it’s tough here to build a house, all-in, for $350,000 if you’re going to build anything that people want to live in. We’re trying to do anything we can to get rooftops built within the city and I know Alexander is working on the same thing, too.”

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