MISSOULA, Mont. — The city of Missoula and developers Wise Enterprise Group entered into an agreement to develop the property at 601 W. Broadway on Wednesday. The agreement includes the protection of a 20-foot easement along 250 feet of Clark Fork River on the property as an extension of the Riverfront Trail.
Back in September, City Council approved a rezoning of the property to the central district like most other downtown properties. The easement is required as part of that rezone.
“One of the requirements of the rezone was that they come to an agreement with the city on this trail construction,” said Jordan Hess, chair of the Missoula Land Use and Planning Committee.
The trail will connect with West Broadway and run behind the property connecting with the city’s trail system to the east.
“On the north side of the river right now there’s a trail that goes through most of downtown, and then it kind of dead ends once it goes under the Orange Street bridge,” said Hess. “So this will be a portion of that that will get the trail up to Broadway from down by the river.”
Hess said the city has an ongoing commitment to continue the development of the trail system that’s been in the works for decades. Extending the Riverfront Trail to the property on 601 W. Broadway is just one part of that commitment.
“It creates a win-win for everyone, where the developer has an amenity where right outside their development there’s a trail system, and residents throughout the community have an amenity where they can connect to the rest of the Riverfront Trail system.”
Hess said the rezone of the property was good because the city is trying to standardize zoning districts so there’s more predictability for the public and developers.
The next step is for the developers to submit their building permit. There aren’t any official plans for what the property will become, but in preliminary meetings they said it will likely be a mixed-use development with retail and housing.
