Kalispell parking structure on Council work session agenda

Heidi Desch, Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell, Mont.
·3 min read

Jun. 13—Changes in the plan for a downtown parking structure will be up for discussion at the Kalispell City Council work session Monday.

The parking garage is a major component of The Charles Hotel, a boutique hotel planned for downtown. The Montana Hotel Dev Partners, the group behind the connected projects, is asking Council to consider changes to the parking structure component of the plans.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the City Hall, 201 First Avenue East.

The developer is asking that Council consider allowing a multi-family housing component to the garage. Along with 250 parking spaces, the four-story garage has been designed to include 7,000 square feet of retail lease space on the ground floor.

The developer is planning to construct a $47 million hotel at the corner of Third Street West and Main Street, which would come with a three-story, parking garage at the intersection of First Avenue and First Street West. The hotel was the only project to come forward when the city sought plans for the existing city-owned parking lot.

The garage is expected to address the parking needs of the hotel, replace the parking spaces being displaced within the two city-owned lots and construct additional spaces for future development, notes Jarod Nygren, city development services director, in a memo to Council.

"The new concept would include a multi-family component to the garage, which would be in private ownership for financing purposes with a lease/management agreement with the city for the parking spaces which would remain public," Nygren said.

The agreement for the garage project would see the parking facility financed and constructed by the developer, though the city would maintain ownership. The city is set to contribute $7 million in tax increment finance assistance for the construction of the garage.

Since striking that agreement in January, the developer has come up with the new concept for the garage portion of the project.

At the meeting, city staff is expected to outline the framework of the new concept, including the process that would be required for the changes to be considered by Council for a vote at a future date.

The city is providing financial assistance to the parking garage project under the Downtown Kalispell TIF Assistance Program, which was developed to support redevelopment activity and advance the goals of the Downtown Kalispell Urban Renewal Plan. The Charles Hotel is expected to generate the TIF funds for the parking garage.

The $47 million hotel at 89,000 square feet is expected to include 79 rooms, a restaurant, a bar and lounge, retail spaces, conference space and a rooftop patio. The name of the hotel comes from the founder of Kalispell, Charles Conrad.

The Montana Hotel Dev Partners consists of local developer Bill Goldberg, The Interim Bar owner John Costa and BOND Partners, a San Diego-based hotel development and hospitality management company.

For more information, visit the city's website at https://www.kalispell.com/.

Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.