By Jodi Schwan

A downtown project that was going to be owner-occupied town homes is shifting its approach.

The Residence across from Sunshine Foods at has sold its first seven units and is building more, but the rest of the project will start as rental units.

“We really are building the same product as we always anticipated, but due to the absorption rate of the first what we can’t do is just build a seven-unit building and then (wait) and do another seven-unit building. We have to build all 21 at once due to the topography, and this is an issue we knew about,” said developer Clint Ackerman of Signature Cos.

“The sales went a little slower than expected but pretty close to what we anticipated.”

The new units will be lease to own and be converted to condos for financing, he said.

“They will still be town home-style units, but described as a condo. That will help affordability a bit and allow us to get the whole project up and completed, and hopefully over a three-to-five-year period they will all be owner occupied.”

The Residence in downtown Sioux Falls.

He has not set rents yet. He expects units to start becoming available by late June, with all of them done by fall. They will be two- and three-bedroom units with attached garages and share a small green space in the center of the project.

People who have purchased town homes there so far are “kind of across the board,” Ackerman said. “You’ve got young professionals, single people looking to buy more affordable units and the retired generation that wants to live downtown.”