Missoula residents question Midtown Commons housing plans

Missoula, Mont. — Questions are growing in Missoula over whether a long-discussed housing project near the Bitterroot Trail will deliver the kind of housing some residents wanted.

The site is expected to become Midtown Commons, a large mixed-use development with hundreds of housing units. The plan also included apartments, condos, townhomes, single-family homes, commercial space, trail connections and a new public park.

At City Council public comment this week, multiple residents questioned whether the housing would be attainable for lower-income people in Missoula. Some also raised concerns about who the development is really being built for as housing costs continue to rise across the city.

Missoula Redevelopment Agency project manager Annette Marchessault said the project was not formally planned as income-restricted affordable housing. She explained that the goal instead focused on middle-income residents.

She also said the development would add public infrastructure and park access in an area she said does not have those resources now.

Marchessault addressed the pricing concerns directly.

“Now, you know, it's Missoula's housing prices are higher than any of us would like. And so when the developer talks about market rate housing, that's not something that, that's kind of dictated by the market. The way that the city has been able to, work with the developer to keep these prices in a range that, could, be, I guess what we would call attainable, economically attainable is the try to keep the development costs down,” said Marchessault.

The agency also responded to questions about whether planned public spaces would feel open to everyone. Marchessault said the park would remain a public park with public sidewalks and trail connections leading directly to the Bitterroot Trail and surrounding areas.

Officials did not give a firm date for construction to begin. They said planning for the housing, transportation connections and infrastructure was still moving forward.

Officials also said this kind of infill development had been envisioned for the site for more than 20 years.