Missoula riverfront hotel plan advances as downtown input opens

Missoula, Mont. — A riverfront property near Orange and Front streets moved closer to redevelopment as the city also asked for public input on the downtown SAM project.

The site had been owned by the city for close to 40 years, according to Ellen Buchanan, director of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. Plans called for a hotel with roughly 180 to 200 rooms, meeting space, structured parking, riverfront trail upgrades and a public plaza connecting Front Street to the Clark Fork River.

Buchanan said the project had reached a key point as plans moved ahead.

“We have finally hit this milestone of of selling the property and having developed the agreements in place and being ready to move forward as partners in the redevelopment of the first piece of the riverfront triangle. It's just got so much going for it. And one of the things that this project will do is that Orange Street has for decades been a barrier street,” Buchanan said.

She explained the hotel would likely need about a year of design work followed by another 18 to 24 months of construction.

At the same time, the city is poised to move ahead with the downtown SAM project. The plan would change travel through parts of downtown, including Higgins Avenue, Main and Front streets, bike facilities, curb ramps and access to the riverfront trail.

City senior project manager Megan McMeekin said public feedback would help shape the design.

“This is our public right away space and getting our public input that has knowledge in this downtown setting. They're seeing the things that maybe we aren't seeing from our design standpoint. So getting public comment in so that we can understand how to design this project is really critical,” McMeekin said.

The SAM project goes before City Council next Wednesday. If approved, work could start as soon as this fall on the riverfront trail and ADA ramp portions, with Higgins Avenue work likely beginning in spring 2027.