SHARPS CORNER, S.D. (AP) – Ground has been broken for a housing community that’s been in the planning stage for about five years in Sharps Corner on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The housing project envisioned by the Thunder Valley Community Development Corp. will include more than 30 single-family homes, a grocery store, powwow grounds and other features. It’ll be located on the western half of the reservation in southwestern South Dakota.

The reservation is home to about 35,000 people and has a chronic housing shortage.

Development Corporation Executive Director Nick Tilsen says the project will enable families to buy and own their own affordable, eco-friendly homes.

Tilsen’s group recently was selected to manage the implementation of the “Promise Zone” designation of Pine Ridge from the Obama administration. The designation’s goals include increasing economic activity.