New 240-unit Aero Vistas apartment complex proposed on McHugh Lane in Helena

Development on a proposed 240-unit apartment complex on McHugh Lane could start this summer pending new infrastructure and city permits, a developer said at a Helena City Commission meeting Monday.

The project would be called Aero Vistas Apartments, developer Joe Nistler told the Independent Record.

In a pitch to Helena city commissioners, Nistler said the 18-acre project would ideally be comprised of 60 fourplexes, providing a mix of family-style layouts with two or three bedrooms.

Monthly rent could start at $1,750 for a two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom apartment with internet included, he said.

But before he can build, he needs a city permit, and before he can get a permit, he needs Helena city commissioners to approve the land it's on to use more than the previously allowed maximum daily of 10,000 gallons of sewer lift station water.

The land, which is about half a mile north of Custer Avenue on McHugh, was originally cleared for annexation in 2017 with a church in mind, according to city documents.

That plan didn’t come through, and as the land’s new owner Nistler aims to put the ground to residential use, the project needed Commission approval to change the land’s development rules — mainly in how much city water it could use and from where.

With various steps completed with the county and state, the amendments from the Commission were the “final administrative hurdle” before Nistler could begin getting improved infrastructure approvals and submit building plans to the city, Helena senior planner Ellie Ray said Monday.

Commissioners voted 5-0 to amend the land’s development rules on Monday, opening the door for Nistler to start the next steps in his application.

“(We) really appreciate your dedication to getting this project done,” Mayor Emily Dean said.

Nistler will need to put in supportive infrastructure before he can apply for a building permit, city spokesperson Amanda Opitz said Friday. An estimate included in city documents put road paving, sewer main connections and other infrastructure upgrades at roughly $1.4 million.

As of Friday morning, a permit application hadn’t been submitted. Construction cannot begin without a city permit, and designs and timelines may change with the permitting process.

“I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’m happy to do a little bit of development here in Helena and provide true affordable housing,” Nistler said. “Not subsidized, but true affordable housing.”

If all goes according to plan, Aero Vistas would be built in three phases. The first would involve constructing 14 buildings with 56 total units, he told commissioners.

He aims for those units to be available for rent by Oct. 15, he told the Independent Record.

Nistler is the proprietor of Nistler Construction and Design, which is behind multiple other housing projects in Helena such as Blackhawk Apartments on Ptarmigan Lane and Pineview Apartments on Cooney Drive, according to its website.