MISSOULA — Wanting toward the long run and the city’s housing requirements, the Missoula Redevelopment Company this week agreed to devote $46,000 to purchase one of the number of privately owned structures remaining on a parcel of city-owned assets in the Midtown district.
The metropolis in 2017 ordered the assets from Montana Rail Backlink and has because redeveloped half the parcel into a popular park. The other 50 % incorporates quite a few properties, two of which remained privately owned, until a short while ago.
The city has extended-term options to redevelop that part of the residence in a blended-use progress that features housing. But in the meantime, it needs to hold the properties it owns in use right until a grasp system is accomplished.
“We had two tenants on the assets that owned their own properties but ended up leasing the land,” explained MRA Director Ellen Buchanan. “The structures on North Avenue we owned outright, along with the land.”
Camp Make-a-Desire and the Sovereign Hope Church both of those owned their constructing on the site but leased the land from the town. The church has moved out, using the outdated library for Sunday assistance when ready to transfer into the previous Coke plant on Third Road this spring.
An appraisal carried out on the old church setting up positioned its value at all-around $45,000. The city struck a deal with the church, enabling the city to obtain the creating while giving the church a lot-essential running profits.
“The town was looking for area we could use for unexpected emergency winter shelter,” explained Buchanan. “That’s a person of the locations we are now housing considerably less fortunate homeless people today for crisis winter season shelter this wintertime, which necessitated the church moving out.”
The city paid for the purchase of the church making from a servicing fund established by rents created from the Montana Rail Website link house. But as the metropolis has acquired other houses, such as the Sleepy Inn and the aged library block, the have to have for upkeep funding has elevated.
The $46,000 accredited this 7 days by MRA will reimburse the city’s routine maintenance fund.
“As we have acquired other properties, the will need for that maintenance cash has elevated, with enhancements we have to have to make in the previous library setting up in get to lease that place out and retain it occupied until finally we’re completely ready to redevelop that block,” Buchanan mentioned. “It will allow the town and MRA to have the overall flexibility to have that upkeep fund readily available when conditions crop up that we just can’t foresee.”
All 3 qualities – the Sleepy Inn, the aged library, and the MRL residence – are slated for eventual redevelopment, together with a part of housing. That will call for a master setting up process, which hasn’t yet started.
Though the church has moved out and the city now owns the developing, only Camp Make-a-Dream continues to be on-web site, and it however owns its creating. Buchanan reported the town has been talking to the organization about the future.
“It’s their intention to preserve working from that setting up until finally we’re completely ready to redevelop individuals remaining 8 acres,” Buchanan mentioned. “We’ve experienced conversations with them that have not gone very far because we really don’t know what’s heading to come about there.”
Buchanan reported the group likes the site and could be bundled in master setting up attempts as a redevelopment of the home nears.
“We could basically layout in place that will work far more competently for them if they grew to become aspect of a mix-used development beneath redevelopment that occurs on the property,” she explained. “But all that stays to be seen.”
Dale Bickell, the city’s Chief Administrative Officer, explained the city will probably begin setting up the site’s foreseeable future as soon as the pandemic passes and the aged church home is no for a longer period wanted as an crisis shelter.
Buchanan agreed, stating the city’s require for housing remains dire.
“I would suspect that as soon as we get by way of the environmental elements that are keeping this up appropriate now, we’ll be all set to go fantastic guns on accomplishing the setting up needed and start redevelopment on that, just because of to the strain to get housing on the ground,” she reported.