MISSOULA — A 13-acre parcel near Southgate Mall moved closer to public ownership this week when members of the City Council voted to accept the property if the Missoula Redevelopment Agency completes the purchase.
The 6-2 vote cast by the city's Housing, Redevelopment and Community Committee sends the issue to the full City Council in the coming weeks. It currently has the backing of the mayor, the Missoula Economic Partnership, the Midtown Association and other stakeholders.
“If the city buys it and puts the infrastructure in, we're in a position to collaborate with a developer to go in the direction we want to go in,” said council member Gwen Jones.
The property has sat vacant for at least 24 years though it's more likely that it hasn't seen any activity since the 1970s. The property formerly served as a lumber mill but now sits vacant in the heart of the Midtown district, and hopes for redevelopment are high.
A number of plans have focused on the property's needs and that of the surrounding area including a lack of connectivity and the absence of parks and public spaces. They also identified the potential for housing, including senior housing, and retail and commercial opportunities.
The latest Midtown Master Plan, adopted earlier year, was even more specific on the property's potential to serve as a vibrant cornerstone for the area.
“The master plan envisions this transition area as having the widest mix of uses including residential, office, retail, manufacturing and restaurants,” said Annette Marchesseault with the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. “It also emphasizes the lack of open space and parks in Midtown, just as previous plans did.”
The property is currently divided into a number of parcels owned by the Beach family and Southgate Mall Associates. One appraisal conducted by the city identified an “as is” value of $6.5 million while a second appraisal that included proposed improvements placed the value at $8.3 million.
But the Missoula Economic Partnership negotiated a below-market purchase price of $5.8 million. The Missoula Redevelopment Agency's Board of Commissioners last week approved purchasing the property at that price using available funding from Urban Renewal District III.
The board also recommended that the city accept the property once that purchase is made. This week's committee vote brings the city closer to doing so.
“We want to make sure the money we're investing has the opportunity to be catalyzed with private development,” said Mayor Andrea Davis. “The whole point of this is that we have the opportunity to negotiate with someone who has the development expertise to do the type of project the community has envisioned.”
Several area residents expressed support for a “more vibrant” use of the property and the inclusion of parks and open space. The property isn't currently fenced and has served as a defacto open thread of land in an area that lacks it.
But they also expressed concern over what they see as the project's current vagaries.
“It would be nice to know, first off, what we'd be looking at going in there,” said resident Katie Thompson. “I would hope for the chance to see the specifics of what's being considered.”
If the city acquires the property, a master plan would follow and include public input. The recent Midtown Master Plan also included robust public input before proposing the property's potential uses.
But the planning process can't move forward if the city doesn't own the property, members of City Council said. As it currently stands, there's no guarantee that a private owner wouldn't fence it off or build a warehouse – both of which are contrary to the community's goals for the site.
“These two parcels are owned privately. The city has no control over what happens there,” said council member Mike Nugent. “We can't master plan it without owning it. We can't tell someone else what to do with their private land. We have to take this step before we do all those other things.”
