‘A monumental day:’ City, developer announce Riverfront Triangle project
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) Calling it a transformative project, the long-anticipated redevelopment of city-owned property in downtown Missoula is now poised to move forward, bringing event space, hotel rooms and other amenities to the dilapidated corner, which once served as a city dump.
Averill Hospitality and Missoula city officials announced the Front Street project on Thursday. The Montana-based development team placed the project's value at more than $100 million.
“What this site will do for the surrounding area and do for the community, we're pleased to be a part of that,” said Brian Averill, head of the development team. “There's about a year's worth of design time from start to finish. But I would anticipate (groundbreaking) just after a year's time.”
As planned, the project will include a new parking facility, 180 hotel rooms and roughly 15,000 square feet of conference space. It may also include residential condominiums and a sweeping public plaza on the riverfront.
The project goes before the Missoula Redevelopment Agency's board of commissioners in early July, followed by City Council later that month. The city will complete a purchase and sale agreement, a development agreement and a land-use agreement over the coming weeks, clearing the project for construction.
“The city has owned this property for decades and decades,” said Mayor Andrea Davis. “We've long wanted to turn it into a redevelopment in this part of our community to extend downtown and see this as a vibrant part of our downtown.”
A boost for downtown Missoula
The property traces its roots back to the 1890s when it served as the city dump. In modern times, the city was gifted the property in 1984 and took down a number of old structures on the site, including a gas station and the former Fox Theater.
It has sat vacant ever since.
The first city-sponsored plan for the property's redevelopment emerged in 2003, but it wasn't until 2017 that City Council approved a master development agreement for the site. One project was set to break ground in 2020 when the pandemic hit, essentially killing the effort.
Given the challenges over the last several decades, Thursday's announcement sent ripples of anticipation through the downtown district.
“There's not often times that you have opportunities to do large projects like this in a city center environment,” said Linda McCarthy, executive director of the Downtown Missoula Partnership “Our community has been envisioning for a long time connections to the waterfront, vibrancy and economic vitality in this space. It's an opportunity that's now going to become a reality.”
McCarthy said the project achieves a number of goals in the Downtown Master Plan and will serve as a catalyst for the development of surrounding parcels. While the city parcel includes just 2 acres, the surrounding “Riverfront Triangle” encompasses roughly seven acres, all of it now for sale.
Barb Neilan, executive director of Destination Missoula, said the project will boost downtown businesses and help accommodate the tourism industry – one of the city's largest economic drivers.
“This place-based project is unique and a welcome addition to the hospitality industry in Missoula,” said Neilan. “It will really be a perfect complement to what we already have in downtown. It's going to give us the opportunity to attract larger-scale conferences and additional travelers into our community.”
Project to grow the Affordable Housing Trust Fund
While the project will boost the city's business sector, it will also bring new connections to the riverfront trail and pad Missoula's Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
In its agreement with the city, Averill Hospitality will add a 1% assessment on rooms, food and beverages, and pay the collected sum into the housing trust. It's expected to generate around $300,000 a year over 10 years, or $3 million in total.
The city's $4 million sale of the parcel to Averill will also go to the trust fund, bringing the project's total contribution to around $7 million – the largest in the fund's history.
“This is the first major project where the city has the ability to work with our private partners to fund substantially the Affordable Housing Trust Fund,” said Davis. “It's something we haven't seen done here. It's voluntary and it's something they're introducing to our community, and I hope I see others do likewise.”
Public investment
After the City Council approves the agreements, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency will provide tax revenue for public infrastructure. That includes underground utilities, sidewalks and an 18,000 square-foot public plaza on the riverfront. The city may also have the option of purchasing parking.
The city's investment in utilities and other infrastructure is expected to catalyze the sale and redevelopment of the other properties within the Riverfront Triangle.
The amount of the investment remains undetermined.
“This new hotel represents a significant investment, not only in our city infrastructure and tourism economy, but our small business ecosystem,” said Chad Bauer, CEO and executive director of the Missoula Chamber of Commerce. “This project will bring new jobs, new visitors and new energy to Missoula. Most importantly, it brings a commitment to collaboration.”