Missoula approves sale of Riverfront Triangle to Averill Hospitality, secures public plaza and housing funds

Missoula City Council voted unanimously July 21 to sell the Riverfront Triangle Fox parcel to Averill Hospitality LLC and approved paired development and land-use agreements to allow a hotel, public plaza and trail improvements on the riverfront site. The three votes approved a purchase-and-sale agreement, a development agreement with the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, and a land-use and development requirements agreement.

The agreements commit the developer to build public improvements including a plaza and trail connections and allow limited developer-financed construction of a phase of the plaza and trails that the city or MRA would later reimburse. The developer also pledged a regular donation to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund: the record of council discussion noted an expected total of roughly $7,000,000 over the next decade into the trust fund as part of the transaction.

City staff and the Missoula Redevelopment Agency (MRA) said the plaza and trail work make construction and site logistics more efficient if completed while the hotel and associated infrastructure are built, and the agreements give the city reimbursement rights rather than immediate up-front city financing for that work. The purchase price is structured as an initial payment at closing plus a deferred payment due before construction starts; the deferred portion was documented as a 0% promissory arrangement tied to project milestones rather than a long-term note.

City and MRA attorneys wrote clauses limiting city exposure if unexpected environmental contamination is discovered. The agreements include an off-ramp that allows the city to terminate or renegotiate if remediation or unknown-site conditions would require disproportionate public spending; the city attorney said that, in that scenario, the city could pay some developer costs but would not be obliged to assume open-ended remediation liability.

Councilors pressed the MRA and developer on details of public access and long-term management for the public plaza. MRA said the sale and development agreements provide for public easements through the former Owen Street right-of-way, permanent access along the river on city-owned parcels adjacent to the Fox site, and a requirement that the developer return an operating or management agreement for the public plaza for council review before certificate of occupancy. MRA staff and the mayor said that, while the hotel itself will be private, the plaza and trail will be configured with public access in perpetuity through easements and operating provisions.

The council also heard and rejected four late amendments that would have required (1) a project-labor or community workforce agreement for construction contractors, and (2) a labor-peace agreement covering hotel operations. Both amendments failed in roll-call votes after sizable public comment. Union leaders and labor advocates urged the council to endorse local-hire and PLA-style language; business and development advocates said imposing those requirements at the point of sale could chill the project or push construction work to nonlocal firms. City staff and legal counsel noted state limits and practical constraints on mandating particular labor-management arrangements for private construction.

Councilors, MRA and the developer said they expect design and permitting to proceed next. MRA described a phased schedule in which the developer would gain site control, advance detailed design, obtain permits and begin construction; MRA will return to council with the public-plaza operating agreement and routine check-ins during the design process.

Votes at a glance: (1) Approve purchase-and-sale agreement with Averill Hospitality LLC — motion passed 11-0 (roll call). (2) Approve development agreement among City of Missoula, MRA and Averill Hospitality LLC — motion passed 11-0 (roll call). (3) Approve Fox Triangle land-use and development requirements agreement — motion passed 11-0 (roll call).