Developers unveil expanded plan for Missoula’s Riverfront Triangle project

Mixed-use development will be one of the largest urban infill projects in Montana history.

Just a few years from now, Missoula’s Riverfront Triangle http://www.RiverfrontTriangle.com will be a vibrant hub of community and commerce, a place where future generations will live, visit, work, shop and play.

That was the message today from local developers and civic leaders as they announced plans for a $150-million development that will transform 7 acres — approximately the equivalent of three downtown city blocks — into a new western gateway to downtown. The Riverfront Triangle project will be one of the two largest urban infill and capital investment projects in Montana history (the other being Missoula’s Old Sawmill District), and will include the largest conference center between Spokane and Billings.

"The Riverfront Triangle is a place where more than a century of urban history intersects with Missoula’s natural centerpiece, the Clark Fork River," said Pat Corrick, principal with Hotel Fox Partners, the Missoula development company that will lead the project. "Our plan embraces those inherent site qualities, creating both literal and metaphorical bridges that will strengthen community connectedness, elaborate on local architectural vernacular and extend Missoula’s growth as a regional hub of commerce and culture."

The plan for the Riverfront Triangle was publicly unveiled at today’s meeting of the Missoula City Council Committee of the Whole. Hotel Fox Partners simultaneously launched a new website, http://www.RiverfrontTriangle.com, where project information and updates will be posted.

Key components of the high-density, mixed-use development include:

• A 23,000- to 35,000-square-foot conference center.

• A 175-room branded hotel and a 60-room boutique hotel.

• 200 workforce / market-rate / senior rental units.

• 50 for-sale condominium units.

• 50,000 square feet of purpose-built office space.

• 35,000 square feet of anchor and boutique retail space.

• Two restaurants overlooking the Clark Fork River.

• 800 parking spaces.

It will also provide significant new public open space and a vital extension and connection of Missoula’s river trail system on both sides of the river. The plan includes construction of a new pedestrian bridge across the Clark Fork River.

The Riverfront Triangle project will have far-reaching impacts, supporting more than 800 construction jobs and more than 500 new permanent jobs in the next 10 years, according to studies by Dr. Patrick Barkey, director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana, and Bill Krueger with Conventions Sports & Leisure International, a leading event center consulting firm.

The conference center will extend the project’s impact to every business in town, by drawing 120,000 – 150,000 visitors to Missoula each year. Altogether, the Riverfront Triangle development will result in $32 million in output (net new sales) annually for businesses across the community.

Redevelopment of the Riverfront Triangle has been a community priority for a generation. In 2003, Missoula Redevelopment Agency produced a Riverfront Triangle Redevelopment Master Plan that envisioned a downtown district "alive with a diversity of peoples, public places, activities and uses."

In December of 2011, Hotel Fox Partners was selected by the Missoula City Council to plan a hotel and conference center on 1.8 acres of city-owned land at Orange and Front streets, in the heart of the Riverfront Triangle. Subsequently, Missoula Mayor John Engen asked the developers to explore the possibility of expanding the scope of the project — and, in particular, building a much larger conference center than originally proposed.

The developers entered into negotiations with St. Patrick Hospital’s parent Providence Health & Services, which owns most of the remaining real estate in the Riverfront Triangle. Earlier this year, an agreement was reached for Hotel Fox Partners to purchase that property from Providence. Developers have also purchased the commercial property on the southwest corner of Orange and Broadway streets from a private owner. As a result, the Riverfront Triangle project now encompasses the entire area bounded by the Clark Fork River and Orange and Broadway streets.

"This plan significantly increases the scope and scale of the project we submitted to the city in 2011," said Dieter Huckestein, a principal with Hotel Fox Partners. "The project has quadrupled in scope, investment and timeframe. Much work still lies ahead. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with local citizens, community organizations and government leaders to assure that this project honors and reflects the many hours of community visioning that have already been invested in the Riverfront Triangle."

About Hotel Fox Partners

Hotel Fox Partners is a Montana-based development team with both local and international experience. Partners include Averill Family Hospitality, owners and operators of the Lodge at Whitefish Lake; Dieter Huckestein, former chairman and CEO of Conrad Hotels and past president of the International Hotel & Restaurant Association; Farran Realty Partners, a Missoula real estate and investment company that recently completed the Corso Apartments on Russell Street; CTA Architects Engineers, Montana’s largest and oldest architecture and engineering firm; and WGM Group, a Missoula-based firm specializing in civil engineering, land use planning, surveying, civil engineering, environmental and water resource projects.

About the Riverfront Triangle Project

In December of 2011, Hotel Fox Partners was selected by the Missoula City Council to plan a hotel and conference center on the 1.8-acre Fox Site at Orange and Front streets. Since then, the project has grown to encompass high-density, mixed-use development on 7 acres of downtown real estate. When completed, the estimated $150-million project will provide a diverse mix of employment, guest lodging, office, meeting, residential and shopping options; honor Missoula’s unparalleled beauty, vibrant culture and rich history; and expand the downtown core with a dynamic new western gateway. http://www.RiverfrontTriangle.com