BOZEMAN, Mont. – The up-and-coming Midtown District of Bozeman has seen several new businesses and event spaces pop up including an approved subsidized housing project to still be built after the completion of several summer infrastructure projects.
The 9TEN development in Bozeman’s Midtown District will be worth about $2.2 million with nearly 100 total condo units. The plan is to have 80% of units sold at market rates or less and 20% of units sold at 80% of the area median income and be deed-restricted.
“The deed restrictions mean the unit won’t appreciate at the same rate as the overall market so if you buy one you’ll get a little bit of appreciation but you won’t get the same doubling and tripling we’ve seen over the past decade in Bozeman,” City of Bozeman’s Urban Renewal Program Manager David Fine said. “That means that this public investment keeps the units affordable for the long term.”
According to the Midtown Urban Renewal District Board Staff Report and Supporting Materials if a unit is sold for a profit within five years, the Good Housing Partnership (GHP) will be entitled to 50% of the net profit and will have the ability to waive this based on the circumstance.
According to Fine the Midtown Renewal Project started back in 2006, but the biggest problem has been buy-in from local businesses because of a lack of infrastructure in the area.
In 2017, the Bozeman City Commission started a new strategy aimed at renovating and growing business through incentive projects and the city’s Midtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Assistance Project prioritizing using tax dollars from its TIF’s for affordable housing projects.
The TIF dollars can be used to aid developers of affordable housing in public infrastructure, impact fee and demolition of structures.
The busy N. 7th Ave cuts right through the midtown district and during the 2021 summer road construction projects were completed improving certain infrastructure like sidewalks, street lights, water lines, stormwater and crosswalks.
The 9TEN complex will have two buildings on N. 7th Ave and soon-to-be N. 8th Ave while improving the bordering and growing West Aspen Street.
The project will initially pay for the total costs, but the city will eventually reimburse the developer through the city’s urban renewal project fund, which is funded by taxpayers.
As of April 2022, the development group is finalizing building designs and working to secure building permits to begin construction as soon as possible with the current labor and construction material shortages.