MISSOULA — The City of Missoula has had its eyes on the property behind Bob Wards known as the Southgate Crossing property for the last two decades.
The land could be used for Missoula's next mixed-use development project and if approved, the city would buy the property for just under $6 million by using Tax Increment Financing (TIF).
“Through the work of the 2023 Midtown Master plan, through the work of the city...[the] Missoula Redevelopment Agency, and our partnership with Missoula Economic Partnership, we were able to negotiate the purchase of these tracts of land, and those sellers were completely invested in seeing the vision through the Midtown Master Plan," Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis said Wednesday.
"And so our partnership with Missoula, economic partnership, basically landed us to the point where we have an offer on this property today,” Davis continued.
The property could add housing, businesses, and public space to the community — three things that Davis says Missoula has needed.
“It means everything. It is incredibly satisfying to me to be able to work alongside our community and the city of Missoula, the city council and others in the private sector, to be able to put steps forward," Davis said. "The City of Missoula is not going to solve this issue on our own."
Missoula has experienced a housing crisis for the last few years, but with the redevelopment of different properties across the city, the aim comes to help with the affordability factor of housing in Missoula.
“It's going to take all of us as a community, but the city can do very important and essential things, and we have some incredible opportunities through being able to do strategic land purchasing, this community land acquisition like this, where we can use tools like Tax Increment Financing to put the necessary infrastructure in that helps attract private sector businesses and developers to help us build more affordable options and attainable options, and I mean both rental and home ownership as well,” Davis said.
Affordable housing has been a priority for Davis, who says that with this new project — and three others that are being built — the affordable housing aspect has been important with this project.
“So for me, I am incredibly satisfied to see three major things underway right now," Davis said. "And then when we can do community land purchases like this, where we can repurpose really keystone properties like this that offer the opportunity for there to be mixed-use, walkable and connected neighborhoods. It's everything that I hope for, and I'm extremely happy that we have all just underway."
Infrastructure in Missoula is another area of concern and it’s something that the city has been working to improve for future generations.
“It's incredibly important that the City of Missoula can offer that service and investment for the city and for the community into the future,” Davis said.
The city does have several tools to help get projects going before the private sector takes them over to finish.
“So we are very lucky that we have a vital tool in the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, through the use of Tax Increment Financing to invest in infrastructure to not only help address underserved parts of our community," Davis said. "But also then to attract the private sector to want to build and open businesses there and to build homes in those areas."
Davis says this is an exciting time for Missoula with the opportunities surrounding the Southgate Crossing property.
“Infrastructure has always been and continues to be, a high cost of development, and sometimes it is stifling what could be maximizing the potential of a piece of property like this," Davis said. And so this is why this is so exciting, is that that investment in infrastructure really does encourage the private sector and the public sector too."
The Missoula Redevelopment Agency board will meet on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, to see if the purchase of the property will be approved. If approved, the process moves to the Missoula City Council for a vote.
