BOX ELDER - New residential subdivisions springing up around the edges of Box Elder have turned the city into one of the fastest growing communities in the Rapid City area.

In fact, in February, Box Elder issued more residential building permits than Rapid City or Pennington County.

Box Elder issued 17 residential building permits in February. Rapid City issued 13, and Pennington County issued 11, according to permit records.

New homes are under construction in Thunder Plains, Prairie View Estates, Stealth, Creekside and the Northern Lights subdivisions, all within the city limits of Box Elder. And dirt work is under way on the new Cheyenne Pass subdivision just west of Radar Hill Road.

"We're doing a lot of building," John Dodds said. "It's really been decent here."

Dodds owns Dodds Construction. On Thursday, he was helping his son, Cory Dodds, owner of Accurate Building, put up roof trusses on a new house in the Prairie View Estates subdivision.

He said both he and his son have concentrated on building and selling homes in the Box Elder area in recent years. Dodds said he just finished one house, which is for sale, and he's soon starting two more.

Box Elder's recent growth can be attributed to lower-priced land, proximity to Rapid City and increasing employment at Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Last fall, the Air Force cut the ribbon on its new Financial Services Center, a facility that will centralize the handling of pay vouchers, travel vouchers and other paperwork for all of the Air Force. Later, a 24-hour call center will be added to the facility. The center will eventually employ as many as 775 military and civilian workers.

Center personnel are among those buying new homes in Box Elder, said Glen Kane, a developer and president of Box Elder Economic Development. In addition, he said, the city has been aggressive in courting new development.

"A lot has to do with the fact that there's a shift in thinking in Box Elder," Kane said. "Builders like it because government entities are easy to deal with. … They are solution-oriented people."

And Rapid City builders and developers are taking notice of Box Elder. Mandalay Homes, one of the largest home builders in the Black Hills, recently started constructing homes in Box Elder.

"We just bought lots four months ago, and we've had quite a few sales already," said Scott Mueller, Mandalay president. "It's a new market for us. We saw that other builders were doing well there, so we decided to join them."

Developer Doyle Estes, who is creating the Northern Lights subdivision just east of Elk Vale Road, said he has sold five lots in his "front porch" community. He said Kasky Homes has agreed to buy 52 lots and will be the exclusive builder.

Northern Lights is an unusual project in that each home will have an alley, with garages in back and big front porches up front.

The 240-acre development is designed for 600 homes and 140 townhouses.

By population, Box Elder is much smaller than Rapid City. The Census Bureau estimates Box Elder's population at 3,078 in 2006, compared with Rapid City's 62,715 that year.

The fact that Box Elder is outbuilding Rapid City can be attributed in part to the slowdown in Rapid City construction. In Februrary 2006, for example, Rapid City issued 28 building residential permits, more than twice the number issued last month. In 2006, more than 300 new homes were built in Rapid City.

Kane believes there is enough developable land for another 3,000 home sites inside the city of Box Elder. With that many homes, and Box Elder's proximity to Interstate 90, commercial development will likely follow, Kane said.

Exit 67, built a few years ago to move commerce out of Ellsworth's flight path, remains undeveloped. Kane believes that will change. "We're just waiting for someone to pull the trigger," he said.

Can the city of Box Elder keep up with the water, sewer and infrastructure needs of the growing community? "There were concerns, but we are overcoming those," Kane said. The city has been taking steps to ensure it can provide those services, he said.

And Box Elder is hardly a boomtown, he said. Other parts of the country soar higher and fall farther, but the Rapid City area economy has always remained stable, he said.

"After 30 years in Rapid City, I can tell you we just don't boom," he said.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com.