MISSOULA - Several acres of private land in downtown Missoula went back on the market last week, and with plans for a nearby parcel now moving forward, redevelopment interest may build.
The real-estate listing by Colliers in Boise comes less than three months after Averill Hospitality announced plans to redevelop the adjacent city-owned Fox parcel at the corner of Orange and Front streets in the Riverfront Triangle.
The surrounding private parcels cover 5.2 acres and are listed by Colliers for $15.2 million. The current owner is identified as Farran Realty Partners.
“We are hopeful that redevelopment in the Riverfront Triangle Urban Renewal District will be catalyzed by the recent sale of the Fox site to Averill Hospitality,” the Missoula Redevelopment Agency said in a request for comment on Monday.
After the pandemic sank one developer's plans to place a hotel and events center on the Fox site in 2020, a new team with Capital V Partners in 2022 said it intended to purchase and redevelop all seven acres, including the Fox site.
By that point, the partnership said it had spent months conducting due diligence on the property and redevelopment seemed imminent. However, few updates followed and by year's end, Capital V Partners vanished from Missoula's redevelopment landscape.
Brian Averill with Averill Hospitality and Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis discuss plans for the site. (Martin Kidston/Missoula Current file)
Nearly three years lapsed before the city, in June, announced Averill Hospitality's plans to purchase and redevelop the city-owned lot. Construction is roughly one year away but movement on that front is expected to spark renewed interest in the surrounding 5 acres.
“The hotel will serve as an ideal venue for conferences, weddings and special events, bolstering the city’s reputation as a premier destination for gatherings,” the Colliers' listing states. “Even more exciting than that, we anticipate the pending development of this beautiful facility, and its surrounding grounds will be a beacon to attract additional investment in this area.”
City officials also believe the arrival of Averill has or will prompt interest in the surrounding property. Most of those parcels have sat vacant for years and the buildings that remain are in various states of disrepair.
“The property belongs to a development group who had hoped to develop, but then changed their plans. They've been trying to sell the parcel(s),” one city official said. “Maybe they have relisted thinking that the hotel development will be attractive to a buyer for their property?”
