Missoula council president details Riverfront Triangle sale, Franklin Crossing and other housing commitments

City Council President Mike Nent outlined the city’s coordinated approach to using public land and tax‑increment financing to advance redevelopment and housing.

Nent announced that the city closed on roughly two acres of the Riverfront Triangle with Averil Hospitality, which plans a 180‑room riverfront hotel with 15,000 square feet of conference and event space, new trail connections, and a public plaza. He described the Missoula Redevelopment Agency’s plan to layer tax‑increment financing for utilities and street improvements to support broader redevelopment on adjacent privately owned parcels.

Nent detailed Franklin Crossing, a collaborative project on former Montana Rail Link land that would deliver about 225 units combining income‑restricted rentals and market‑rate townhomes. He said the rental component includes roughly 192 apartments reserved for households earning between 30% and 70% of area median income, and that the Montana Board of Housing ranked the project highly and also approved $5 million in low‑interest loans through a program created by the 2025 legislature.

He described Midtown Commons as a roughly $100 million mixed‑use redevelopment that will bring up to 250 housing units and commercial space in Midtown and noted the city’s use of MRA investments to help finance infrastructure. Nent also described Ravar (community land trust homeownership), the Reserve/Scott Street corridor planning and annexation steps being pursued to position sites for redevelopment.

Nent explained tax‑increment financing (TIF) for urban renewal districts, saying MRA reinvests the increment in public improvements; he cited cumulative MRA investments including sidewalks, parks, trails and 2,496 housing units credited to past urban renewal work.

Why it matters: Nent framed coordinated land management and TIF as the municipal tools that enable large‑scale housing and mixed‑use projects that city leaders see as necessary to address workforce housing gaps and catalyze further private investment.

What’s next: Construction on portions of Midtown Commons is expected to begin this year; Franklin Crossing remains contingent on tax credit and loan awards already in the application/approval pipeline.