County staff recommends granting developer’s extension for Roundup RFQ to Oct. 15

County staff recommended granting a deadline extension to the developer team pursuing the Roundup redevelopment project after the team lost a low-interest housing loan that staff said was central to the original pro forma. The staff member leading the discussion told colleagues that the developer’s application “wouldn’t pencil” without that loan, and that a partnership proposal submitted by the contractor could bridge the financing gap.

Staff reviewed timeline options and said the applicant had requested a later October date to resecure capital; staff proposed asking the developer to validate by Sept. 14 whether the pro forma "pencils" and said their working decision was to grant the requested October deadline — often referenced as Oct. 15 — while notifying and soliciting confirmations from other potential proposers. “I said I said give them the extension,” the staff member said when reporting their recommendation.

Why it matters: the extension decision affects whether the county must re-issue the RFQ (at additional cost) and whether a locally based contractor can preserve the building’s historic features while stabilizing the asset. Staff flagged trade-offs: a short two-week extension preserves competitiveness; a longer six-week-plus extension may reduce bidder interest and risk making the county the only party at the table.

Key details: the developer previously sought a low-interest housing loan from the Montana board of housing; without it staff said the proposal could not meet required return assumptions. Staff also noted that some developers withdrew because they could not justify resale profits in a rural market versus urban markets such as Billings. Staff plans to send a courtesy notice to all developers today, ask each to confirm interest, and report back the week after the meeting.