Missoula is moving closer to approving its Southgate property purchase

MISSOULA – A 13-acre parcel near Southgate Mall moved closer to public ownership this week when City Council members voted to accept the property if the Missoula Redevelopment Agency completes the purchase.

The city’s Housing, Redevelopment and Community Committee’s 6-2 vote sends the issue to the full City Council in the coming weeks. It currently has the support of the mayor, the Missoula Economic Partnership, the Midtown Association and other stakeholders.

“If the city buys it and puts the infrastructure in, we will be in a position to partner with a developer to move in the direction we want to go,” said Council Member Gwen Jones.

The property has been vacant for at least 24 years, but it is more likely that there has been no activity since the 1970s. The property previously served as a sawmill, but now sits vacant in the heart of the Midtown neighborhood and hopes for redevelopment are high.

A number of plans address the needs of the property and those 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 about the property’s potential to serve as a vibrant cornerstone for the area.

“The master plan envisions this transition area to have the broadest mix of uses, including residential, office, retail, manufacturing and restaurants,” said Annette Marchesseault of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. “It also highlights 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, which 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 Board of Commissioners last week has approved the purchase of the property at that price using available funding from Urban Renewal District III.

The board also recommended that the city accept the property once the purchase is made. This week’s commission vote moves the city closer to this goal.

“We want to ensure that the money we invest has the opportunity to be catalyzed by 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 execute the type of project that the community envisions.”

Several area residents expressed support for a “more vibrant” use of the property and the addition of parks and open space. The property is currently unfenced and has served as a de facto open plot of land in an area that does not have this.

But they also expressed concerns about what they see as the project’s current vagaries.

“It would be nice to know first what we would expect there,” said resident Katie Thompson. “I hope I get a chance to see the details of what is being considered.”

If the city acquires the property, a master plan with public input will follow. The recent Midtown Master Plan also included robust public input before proposing the property’s potential uses.

But the planning process cannot proceed if the city does not own the property, City Council members said. As it stands now, there is no guarantee that a private owner wouldn’t fence it off or build a warehouse there. Both conflict with the community’s goals for the site.

“These two plots are privately owned. The city has no control over what happens there,” said Councilman Mike Nugent. “We cannot control 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 these other things.”