HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-12-25 Public Comment - L. Fleishman - Public Comment_ J.1 Fowler Avenue Community Housing Work Session 8.12.2025From:Lila Fleishman
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:Heather Grenier; David Fine
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment: J.1 Fowler Avenue Community Housing Work Session 8.12.2025
Date:Tuesday, August 12, 2025 11:40:26 AM
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Dear City of Bozeman Commissioners,
We would like to thank the City of Bozeman for thinking creatively and strategically
about how to utilize its resources to create more affordable housing opportunities for
households living and working in the community. The Fowler site, intended for
community housing, is a great opportunity to build a permanent community asset.
As you move closer to zoning and annexation of the Fowler site, as developers of
affordable homeownership and rentals, we would encourage you to keep options
open to accommodate changes needed to meet project goals. Zoning R-5 would not
necessitate meeting the maximum density allowed in R-5, as the landowner, the City,
will continue to have opportunities to place restrictions to achieve the desired
development outcome. Allowing flexibility as you progress through the community
engagement process, design and development will enable options to use more tools
beyond subsidies to achieve a desirable community outcome, including additional
height and additional bedrooms.
The process of development comes with risk; the City can take steps to mitigate that
risk, but is subject to the same constraints as a private developer and held to a higher
standard for community benefits of the project. Without sacrificing project goals, the
City cannot raise prices on homes to account for increased construction costs. Adding
additional barriers, such as more restrictive zoning, imposes further constraints. With
the intention of seeking a development partner, keeping more options open will attract
more interest in future partnerships and maintain the door open to new ideas and
adapting to a changing market.
We recognize a significant need for more affordable homeownership opportunities for
first-time homebuyers within the City. As of today, there are 84 condos or townhomes
listed on Realtor.com within the City of Bozeman, priced below $500,000, with a mix
of 1-3 bedrooms. In our experience developing, marketing, and selling community
land trust homes in the City of Bozeman for over thirty years, we have found that this
model is a wonderful tool for serving households that would otherwise have no
purchase options in the community, typically to commit to the tradeoff of restrictions
homes need to be price about 25-30% below the cost of a similar home to gardner
interest. As you progress in defining the unit mix and target price, informed by a future
market study, we encourage you to consider a range of ideas that will maximize the
city’s resources. While developing the project pro forma, keeping options for
additional height, as well as mixed income, mixed restrictions, or a mix of ownership
and rentals, may be the best way to meet future needs and balance the investment.
If other options remain on the table, there may be more ways to meet deeper
affordability targets for some of the homes, serving a broader range of community
needs. With current construction costs, similar projects in our region are seeing
financial gaps beyond the cost of land and infrastructure when providing below-
market homes for ownership and rental. Additional subsidies may be necessary to
address the need for permanently affordable homeownership among middle-income
households in a meaningful way. With the community land trust model, a subsidy is
required to reduce the price before the first sale, which in turn ensures affordability at
a preset annual appreciation rate in perpetuity, with future generations benefiting from
this investment and forethought from this Commission.
We look forward to the City moving forward with a request for proposals to bring a
development partner on board that can provide additional context in charting a
pathway for achievable and impactful community housing on the Fowler Ave site.
Thank you again for your leadership in advancing creative housing solutions.
Sincerely,
Lila Fleishman (she/her)
Community Development Director
p: (406) 585-4943
w: www.thehrdc.org
32 S Tracy Ave. | Bozeman, MT 59715