Martin Kidston
(Missoula Present) With tens of millions of {dollars} in personal funding slated for downtown Missoula, new year-round air service to Chicago and a profitable marathon weekend within the books, the native economic system could also be waking from its post-pandemic doldrums.
Barb Neilan, government director of Vacation spot Missoula and the Tourism Enterprise Enchancment District, mentioned two latest successes – the announcement of a $100 million growth on the Riverfront Triangle and air service to Chicago – are sturdy indicators of financial development.
“There are such a lot of great tasks taking place and so they’re all taking place synergistically. It is type of like they had been all meant to occur on the identical time,” Neilan mentioned. “You are seeing corporations just like the Averill’s which can be prepared to make these bigger investments. And the airport – that is been a partnership that would not have occurred if not for all of the folks concerned.”
Final week, Averill Hospitality announced plans to redevelop the Riverfront Triangle right into a 180-bed lodge with a 15,000 square-foot convention house. The challenge, estimated at $100 million, additionally consists of parking and a public plaza related to the river.
Lower than an hour later, Missoula Montana Airport introduced day by day, year-round service to Chicago on American Airways. The announcement comes lower than two months after the airport accomplished and opened the second section of its roughly $110 million terminal challenge.
“We have recognized for a very long time that the enterprise neighborhood has been requesting extra flights,” mentioned Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis. “Missoula is a spot folks need to be, each residents and guests alike. We have been actually intentional about creating locations. Place making actually is a factor that is not solely good for the neighborhood, however good for enterprise.”
Earlier this yr, Story Home additionally announced plans to open a 47-acre movie and tv campus on the previous Roseburg property. The location’s reawakening helped ease Roseburg’s determination final yr to shutter its particleboard plant.
Missoula’s unemployment price stands at 2.5%, just below the statewide unemployment price of two.8%.
“You are seeing our neighborhood beginning to come collectively behind these tasks,” Neilan mentioned. “Nobody group could make these occur by itself. The best individuals are in the best positions to start out catalyzing the neighborhood and transferring issues ahead.”
Brian Averill, head of Averill Hospitality, mentioned Missoula stays a very good place to take a position. His firm additionally owns and is reworking its Double Tree Inn property on Madison Avenue. Regardless of some financial headwinds reminiscent of increased rates of interest and development prices, he described his tasks as strong.
“The tourism business has been fairly strong in Montana,” Averill mentioned. “When you have a terrific location, a terrific product and also you mix all that with the care of our friends, our employees and the neighborhood we dwell in, it exhibits and it in the end offers a better expertise.”
As for the upper prices he mentioned, “We’re acquainted and navigating that proper now. We’re very accustomed to it. It (Riverfront challenge) will float very properly.”
Regardless of the promising indicators of financial motion, Davis mentioned town will proceed to deal with different cussed elements of economic system, primarily the excessive value of housing and points round affordability. However that additionally has seen some progress in latest months.
Amongst them, town has partnered with Ravara and the North Neighborhood Improvement Corp. to assemble the state’s largest community land trust, which can ship 45 attainable condos – every earnings restricted in perpetuity.
Additionally, Averill Hospitality will present $3 million to town’s Inexpensive Housing Belief Fund. The $4 million sale of the Riverfront Triangle may also go to the fund, making the $7 million complete funding the most important contribution to the fund thus far.
Town’s new Land Use Plan and code reform (which is ready to start this yr), are anticipated to assist transfer the dial on affordability by streamlining growth and eradicating crimson tape. In the long run, that would assist deal with points round affordability, metropolis officers have mentioned.
“We’ll continuously be monitoring and massaging the opposite parts of our neighborhood that is impacted by development, and largely that being affordability,” Davis mentioned. “We’re keenly centered on that.”
