$1.41 Million Loan For 22-Acre Development Site, Sidney, Montana -- June 16, 2015

Remember that story -- the one about no active rigs drilling in Montana, implying, certainly, that things were pretty quiet in eastern Montana.

A reader sent me this link. I find it absolutely remarkable.

If Williston is not at the end of the world, one can certainly see the end of the world from Williston. And if Williston is remote, Sidney is even more remote. Smaller, rural, quieter -- but the Bakken economy keeps moving along.

I find this quite remarkable. A press release:

Kennedy Funding Financial LLC has closed a $1.41 million loan to American Land Development-Sidney, LLC, owner of a 22.59-acre development site along E. Holly Street in Sidney, Montana.

The property consists of a total of 18 lots within the Sunrise Village subdivision in Sidney, with 11 lots currently zoned residential and the remaining seven lots for commercial use. The location is in east central Montana, near the state's border with North Dakota, within the oil-rich Bakken Formation and marks Kennedy Funding Financial's third loan in that region.

The site was zoned agricultural and utilized as a sugar beet farm and had no access to city water, sewer or services when it was acquired by American Land Development in 2013.

"The proceeds of the loan will be utilized to complete improvements to the road frontage as required by the Montana Department of Transportation," said Wolfer. "It is anticipated that the loan will be repaid from the sale of lots. This is also the third loan we have completed in this Bakken region, where the oil industry has spurred a sharp rebound in the housing market.

Previously, Kennedy Funding Financial had closed a $3.5 million loan for a multifamily property in Watford City, ND, as well as a $2.4 loan secured by a 96-acre industrial park in Killdeer, ND, within the Bakken Region.

Does that work out to $60,000 / acre?

Much more at the link. 

By the way, for those interested, it's an incredibly beautiful drive from Williston to Sidney in the spring, early summer when the sugar beets start to show, with the broad river valley -- the Yellowstone River just south of he confluence -- and the river to the east. I've taken that drive often with my dad.