City approves new land use agreement at Riverfront Triangle
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) A new land use agreement between the owners of several Riverfront Triangle properties and the city will still deliver on public amenities while giving the developers more flexibility in developing the site, the city said Wednesday.
The original land use agreement, completed in 2017, had grown obsolete under current market realities and the city's new Unified Development Code. The new agreement with Riverfront Triangle Partners retains key elements of the original plan but addresses several issues that had become a barrier to redevelopment.
“It was creating impediments to creating public benefits the city wanted to realize, and impeding redevelopment,” John Adams, the city's strategic projects manager, said of the original agreement. “It relied on obsolete code, created barriers for the city in proceeding with the design and construction of the plaza and Riverfront Trail, and for the developers, it created a lack of predictability and flexibility.”
The original agreement required the development of office, retail, conference space and a hotel on the properties, among other things. It prohibited surface parking, set some design standards and recognized future plans to place a pedestrian bridge over the Clark Fork River.
The new agreement still retains a landing spot for the future bridge and secures room for the extension of the Riverfront Trail. If the developers build the trail to specific dimensions, Adams said, they'll gain more options in developing the western portion of the property where West Front Street limits space.
The new agreement also enables the city to design a proposed public plaza within the development.
“I think this is the farthest along we've gotten with a realistic plan,” said council member Gwen Jones. “It's been a long learning curve trying to do something significant with an incredible piece of property. I really hope it gets done.”
The Riverfront Triangle covers roughly seven acres in downtown Missoula. The city owns roughly one acre where Averill Hospitality plans to build a new hotel and conference center next year.
The remaining parcels are owned by Riverfront Triangle Partners. Adams said the new agreement lends more predictability to the amount of revenue to be directed to the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund when the properties are developed.
Because the collection of parcels lack adequate utilities, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency will likely direct tax increment to fund the public portion of the infrastructure work. The agency requires that any beneficiary of tax increment must donate 10% of the award back into the housing trust.
“We think this will deliver revenue to the trust fund that the city can apply where it will best leverage attainable, affordable housing,” said Adams. “Getting that north riverbank park completed is also really important. I think it's a big win.”
The city's sale of property to Averill Hospitality for its hotel and conference center is also expected to inject revenue into the housing trust. The land sale is set at $4 million and the developer has pledged to donate 1% of the hotel's food and beverage sales into the trust, generating around $300,000 a year.
Now that the hotel project is a go, city officials expect redevelopment interest in the surrounding Riverfront Triangle parcels to be high.
“This still puts us on a path where the groups at the table are working in alignment to find good outcomes for all Missoula,” said council member Mike Nugent.