Current Project Updates and Events

July 22, 2024 Update:

The Scott Street closure near the Palmer St intersection has been extended to finish paving. Paving is now expected to occur on Tuesday with Scott St. reopening to traffic on Wednesday. Thank you for your patience!

The contractor has been asked to minimize work in the driving lanes to avoid traffic conflicts and congestion, to the extent possible. Signs will be posted, notifying of the closure, at least 3 days prior.

Thank you for your patience as additional streets and utilities are connecting in your neighborhood!

The Scott Street-Ravara Community Land Trust (CLT) housing project kicked off construction in March. This phase of the project will create 89 for-sale homes on land owned by a CLT. An estimated 53 percent of the homes will be income restricted for households earning 120 percent of Area Median Income. The 89 units are expected to be built in two phases, starting in the summer of 2024. A future phase of the project is expected to include development of market rate apartments and neighborhood commercial uses, south of the CLT development. Please see below for a timeline and explanation of current activities:

What is happening along Scott Street near White Pine Park in the Northside Neighborhood?

Construction at the Scott Street-Ravara housing project is underway! Earthwork began on March 18, 2024 to ready the site for construction. This included moving soil and creating an even site for construction to begin. City staff and meet with the contracting team on-site weekly to discuss timeline, operations, and feedback from residents in the neighborhood.

Below is a timeline of this step and future steps for this project:

• Initial earthwork is expected to conclude in mid-May 2024. During construction, contractors have been and will continue to put water on the soil to prevent dust from leaving the site.
• May – November 2024: Construction of public infrastructure for the Scott Street-Ravara mixed use project will take place. This includes completion of sewer and water mains, and extensions of Palmer, Charlo, and Shakespeare Streets. Please see this map for more information on site layout.
• June 2024 – November 2025: Construction of Phase I of the for-sale housing project. Phase I includes vertical construction (building the homes) for the Community Land Trust (CLT) portion of the project. An estimated 53% of these homes will be income restricted for households earning 120% and below of Area Median Income. Please see the North Missoula Community Development Corporation website (NMCDC) if you're interested in purchasing these homes.20240415_105910
• Fall 2025-Spring 2026: Landscaping and sidewalk work in the right-of-way along the new extensions of Palmer, Charlo, and Shakespeare Streets will take place.

White Pine Park Update:

• Earthwork to prepare for the extension of Palmer Street has started. This decreases the size of White Pine Park.
• White Pine park will remain open and usable until a new, larger park with more amenities is built.
• The City is in negotiations to purchase additional land for the new Northside park near Scott Street. Once a new park location is identified, Missoula Parks and Recreation will host a park planning process to engage residents in designing their new park.
• Until the new park is completed, White Pine Park will remain open for use. Ideally, a new park will be available for use in 2027. After the new park is developed, the land where White Pine Park is currently will likely be sold for development to help pay for costs of developing the new park.

Contact Information:

For questions and/or concerns about the construction activities of the Scott Street-Ravara project, please contact Kiah Hochstetler, kiah@gwevergreen.com

For questions about the redevelopment of the site, please contact Annie Gorski, Missoula Redevelopment Agency Deputy Director, gorskia@ci.missoula.mt.us, 406-552-6155

For questions regarding future home ownership at the Scott Street-Ravara Community Land Trust, please contact Hannah Kosel, hannah@nmcdc.org

Recent history:

March 14 Update: Mayor Andrea Davis and partners kicked off construction with a groundbreaking on Thursday, March 14, 2024. This marks the start of construction of the Community Land Trust portion of the project, Missoula's largest development of income restricted for-sale units.

Groundbreaking of the Scott St-Ravara project on March 14, 2024

Partner organizations who are making this project possible include Goodworks Ventures and Ravara Development, the North Missoula Community Development Corporation (NMCDC), City Councilors, key community members, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency Board, and City staff.

March 4, 2024 Update: City Council approved a resolution that allows the Ravara Project and infrastructure improvements for this project to move forward, including the intent to bond for the project using Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds. In addition, Council approved the Scott Street Workforce Housing project agreements which allows construction on the project to begin. Construction of the infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, etc.) will likely begin in late March 2024.

The Scott Street-Ravara housing project took a large step forward on Tuesday, February 6 when the Montana Board of Investments (BOI) loan committee approved funds for public infrastructure at the site. A low-interest rate loan of $2.8 million dollars was approved to help fund streets, sidewalks, and utility extensions that will serve the entire development. This is the first approval in the state by the BOI that utilizes the newly formed Montana Housing Infrastructure Revolving Bond Program.

This project is one of Missoula’s top priorities and has been in the planning stages for the past two years. When complete, the Scott Street-Ravara project is expected to include 89 new home ownership units, 51% of which will be income qualified for families earning less than 120% of Area Median Income ($83,040 and below for a 2-person household). Additionally, the master plan for the project contains 220-225 apartments and approximately 35,000 square feet of commercial space.

The BOI approval is a key piece of this public-private partnership. Community partners that are essential in the success of this project include:

• City of Missoula
• Ravara LLC, a subsidiary of Goodworks Ventures
• Affordable Housing Trust Fund
• North Missoula Community Development Corporation
• Missoula Redevelopment Agency
• Montana Board of Investments
• First Security Bank

See below for more information about this project.

Current plan for the Scott Street-Ravara Redevelopment Project (December 2023)

For more information about what upcoming Northside projects the City of Missoula is working on, visit the Northside Housing and Transportation Improvements Engage Missoula page.

History of the Scott Street Property

The Master Plan

The master developer for the site is Ravara LLC, a subsidiary of Goodworks Ventures, LLC. “Ravara” is derived from the Swedish word ‘Råvara,’ meaning “raw material.” Our vision is to take the raw material of the currently undeveloped 9 acres of the former White Pine Sash site and turn it into quality housing and community amenities that will benefit the northside neighborhood.

The main purpose of the Master Plan is to ensure that the layout of the road infrastructure and placement of buildings and parking results in an attractive and livable neighborhood. It has two main components:

1. A “Land Use Plan” that shows where homes, apartments, the school, primary roads, etc. will be located. This plan is currently being developed and will be the topic of discussion at our July 12, 2021 Open House at Burns Street Bistro. Later on this summer, we will have additional community discussion on “Design Standards” that set requirements for builders to ensure high-quality apartments, homes, other buildings, roads, and amenities.
2. A Conceptual Master Plan that generally shows the type, size, location, and spatial relationships of interior spaces, including essential amenities. Additional considerations will include support facilities, circulation throughout, and connections to the site.

Historic photo of the White Pine Sash Mill

The Need

Missoula has critical housing needs. Over the last several years and in particular over the last year in response to COVID, Missoula has seen remarkable growth in its population. Home prices have steadily increased in recent years, outpacing wage growth and causing many Missoulians to find it challenging to afford safe and healthy homes. There is little inventory for sale and homes, when offered for sale are often bid up by out of state buyers with cash, making an affordable home out of reach for most Missoulians. That, in turn has driven up the costs of rentals and vacancies are at an all-time low. Rents have increased by 12-50% over the last 24 months, and many tenants have simply been informed by their landlords that the properties they have lived in for years are no longer available.

To learn more about Missoula's housing need, please download the Affordable Housing Fact Sheet.

Known Community Priorities

In 2000, the Missoula City Council adopted its 2000 Joint Northside/Westside Neighborhood Plan, which had a limited update in 2006. As part of the Northside West Side plan, respondents to the 2006 survey identified the three greatest housing needs in the neighborhood as:

1. improvement of substandard housing;
2. affordable homebuyer opportunities; and
3. affordable rentals.

Thirty-nine percent thought there was a need for more housing for people with low and moderate incomes and 49% identified a need for more housing for the elderly. However, 40% of the respondents to the 2006 survey expressed the opinion that the neighborhood had too much multi-family housing.

To learn more about the results of the 2006 survey, please visit this link.