Missoula planners outline downtown master‑plan vision, estimate roughly $600 million private investment potential

Consultants and project team members presented a draft master‑plan vision for Downtown Missoula at a public workshop, describing a mix of new retail, housing, employment anchors and open‑space projects and preliminary market estimates to test feasibility.

The team said private development could produce “about $600 million in new investment potential” if public investments and policies were aligned to stimulate that growth. Tom Moriarty, an economic consultant with Economic Research Associates, told the room the plan tests how much retail, office and housing the downtown market could support and uses that analysis to guide land‑use choices.

Why it matters: the plan links new residents, workers and visitors to downtown retail and services. Moriarty said, “Each new resident that you bring downtown will support somewhere between 4 and 7 square feet of retail downtown,” and added that new office workers and visitors also expand retail demand. Those multipliers are central to the team’s argument that targeting housing and employment can strengthen downtown commerce.

Key market and land‑use findings presented - Existing downtown population and households: the team cited about 2,000 residents in roughly 1,300 households (data point labeled “02/2007” in the presentation). The downtown household mix includes many students and smaller household sizes compared with surrounding suburbs. - Income and trade area: the consultants reported a Missoula County median household income near $41,800 and noted downtown’s median is depressed by the student population. They described a regional trade area extending roughly 100 miles, and said annual visitor volumes are large — about 1.2 million overnight visitors and roughly 1.5–2.0 million total visits per year — which boosts downtown retail capture. - Retail capacity estimates: the team estimated the downtown currently contains about 275,000 square feet of retail and that, with improved capture and market conditions, downtown could support an additional roughly 80,000–150,000 square feet of retail (the consultants’ range varied by scenario and product mix). - Office/employment potential: preliminary projections cited up to about 200,000 square feet of new office space in concentrated “employment anchor” areas adjacent to St. Patrick’s Hospital and at the Madison/East End. - Housing: consultants said downtown could accommodate a steady pace of infill housing — figures presented ranged from a conservative 10–20 new units per year to a more optimistic 30–60 units per year if supply constraints are eased and employment increases.

Public‑private leverage and implementation framing The consultant team said they would test public expenditures against private leverage goals; one rule of thumb presented was aiming for roughly $7 of private investment for every $1 of public money spent on catalytic projects. The team emphasized the plan is conceptual and staged: the next rounds of outreach and a more detailed implementation and financing strategy will follow as alternatives are refined.

Community reaction and next steps Workshop table reports and public questions underscored interest in housing, preserving neighborhood character, keeping government offices downtown, and finding ways to pay for large projects. The project team said they will return with refined alternatives after the summer and will produce a block‑level parking and implementation strategy tied to whatever concept the community prefers. Organizers noted additional stakeholder meetings were scheduled during the engagement period and directed attendees to follow the downtown BID/process website for updates (project staff provided printed materials at the meeting).