MISSOULA — A Northside housing development launched in 2015 will begin Phase 3 development this year, offering 71 apartment units in three buildings.
The $9 million project on Rodgers Street will receive $75,000 from the Missoula Redevelopment Agency (MRA) to help fund a sewer extension and sidewalk, along with landscaping in the public right-of-way.
“We look forward to getting this project going and finishing up the site so we can move on to other projects in the area,” said project developer Mark Edgell.
The development, known as Scott Street Village, broke ground in 2015 and included 24 single-family homes and six townhomes in Phase 1. The second phase began years later and included 18 townhomes and six single-family homes.
A third phase was planned all along, though it initially included fewer apartments tucked in the western portion of the development. But market conditions have since changed, along with the city’s dire housing needs, prompting the developers to revisit their Phase 3 plans.
“They came up with a project that will include three buildings with 71 apartments,” said Chris Behan, assistant MRA director. “Instead of studios and one-bedroom units in the original concept, it will include a variety of different apartment types.”
MRA has contributed to a number of Northside projects over the years, including a master plan for the entire North Reserve-Scott Street Urban Renewal District and around $525,000 for infrastructure work associated with Scott Street Village.
That investing jumpstarted other projects in the area. Just north of Scott Street Village, a 200-unit apartment project is in the works, which also received MRA funding.
To the south of Scott Street Village, a nine-acre housing project is also taking place. The city purchased that property for $6 million last year and recently partnered to build several hundred market-rate homes and 70 permanently affordable housing units.
With the surge in redevelopment and housing in the area, the city also is looking to the future of the area’s transportation grid. For years, Scott Street was the primary route, shepherding garbage trucks and industrial vehicles to the Northside.
But as the area transitions to residential and commercial, the city is looking to move those large vehicles elsewhere. However, the details are yet forthcoming.
“As this area starts to develop, particularly with the Scott Street property to the south of this development, there will be another right-of-way,” Behan said. “We’ll be able to work on Rodgers Street and make it what it was intended to be as a neighborhood street.”
