HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Bozeman Improvement Plan City Commission Goals 2014-2015 from Downtown Business Partnership 2-14
CC UPDATE: Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan
Submitted by Chris Naumann
Highest Priority Objective: “Build Hundreds of Units of Housing”
Primary Goal: Implementation of a new streetscape along Mendenhall Street
as part of the Downtown Urban Route Transformation (DURT) Project.
SUMMARY:
The Downtown Plan refers to building hundreds of units of housing as “a cornerstone of this plan”
and suggests that the greatest residential potential exists along the Mendenhall corridor (which it
refers to as the “North Village” area of Downtown.
But the Plan also identifies a major challenge to residential development north of Main Street: “the
amount and speed of traffic on Mendenhall”.
The Downtown Partnership and Downtown TIF District have two public initiatives to encourage
private development of housing in the “North Village”.
The first is the TIF’s “Downtown Residential Incentive Grant Program” which offers up to $25,000
reimbursement towards the impact fees incurred with the development of new housing units.
The second is the Downtown Urban Route Transformation (DURT) Project to implement new
streetscapes (sidewalks, streetlamps, street trees—identical to Main Street) along Mendenhall
between Rouse and Grand Avenues. A fully appointed streetscape will not only make Mendenhall
more pedestrian-friendly giving it a neighborhood feel but it will also have some traffic calming
effects.
The DURT Project will require significant contributions from the City of Bozeman in terms of
creating an SID, managing the construction of improvements and perhaps contributing
municipal funding. Ideally, this project would be a priority of the City Commission.
Another way to potentially facilitate residential development downtown would be to review the UDC
looking for opportunities to streamline the permitting process (see DBIP page 40) and perhaps
lowering “the barriers to entry” as some developers refer to code requirements.
Excerpts from Downtown Plan related to Residential Development and the
Transformation of Mendenhall Street
INTRODUCTION: Opportunities for Bozeman
“There is potential in the Bozeman downtown market for approximately 500 additional residential
units. Approximately 200 of these would be condominium units and the remaining 300 would be
apartments.
Due to the still-emerging nature of Bozeman’s downtown residential market, the condo projects will
tend to be smaller—approximately 30 or 40 units each—while the apartment projects will tend to
be larger due to the economies of scale required—ranging between 80 and 150 units each.
Additional site specific and Bozeman-area market research will be needed in order to attach more
specific timeframes, benchmarks, and site specific recommendations to this assessment.
Private investment follows public commitment. In other words, most developers, business owners,
and others want to put their money and life’s work where it will be reinforced and amplified by
established public goals and investments. It is usually the public sector’s goal to set the stage and
standards and demonstrate that its downtown is a safe, attractive, exciting—and ultimately
profitable—place to invest.” [DBIP, page 9]
Guiding Principle 2 All streets and sidewalks in downtown should be designed to make the
experience of pedestrians and bicyclists safe, comfortable and visually appealing.
Guiding Principle No. 8
Housing – for all income levels – should be encouraged by a variety of methods.
STRATEGIES: Build Hundreds of Units of Housing
A healthy downtown must attract people to live, work and play. Housing plays a key role in this
formula for success, since attracting more people to live downtown establishes a base to support
downtown businesses, allowing retailers such as restaurants and other shops to thrive. Today,
Downtown Bozeman includes only a small amount of housing, with a limited range of housing
types. Nationally, market-rate residential development has been a powerful force in bringing new
life and economic support to downtowns. This plan includes a preliminary examination of the
downtown area through this lens, identifying opportunity areas, and testing the feasibility of these
locations for a range of downtown residential development types. As mentioned previously,
attracting downtown residential development to Bozeman can help accomplish many goals at the
same time:
provide a new use for many downtown properties currently underutilized;
increase the customer base for existing businesses and provide the spending power to
attract new businesses and cultural activities; and
add more people downtown at all times of the day, increasing safety, and providing an
expanded base of support for future improvements, events, and activities.
[DBIP, page 18]
North Village (Residential Emphasis)
This area of downtown has the greatest potential to become a new urban neighborhood, filled with
hundreds of dwelling units of all different types, unique public spaces, landscaped alleyways, and
small service businesses aimed at local residents both within and near downtown. The presence of
significant housing is the most critical missing piece of Bozeman’s downtown, and for it to be vital
and sustainable over time, housing should be developed in great numbers and varieties, at all
price-points, both rental and for-sale. This recommendation is a “cornerstone” of this plan
(emphasis added-CN).
The very future of downtown is dependent upon the successful development of housing -- both for
people in the community who wish to stay but downsize as well as for newcomers.
However, there is one major impediment to this happening. That is the amount and speed of
traffic on Mendenhall (emphasis added-CN). In order for people to want to invest there and for
others to want to live there, this impediment must be changed. The current state of Mendenhall –
narrow sidewalks, many in disrepair, minimal street trees, flanked with asphalt or dirt parking lots –
presents an uninviting corridor between the neighborhoods to the north and Main Street. Many
other cities, larger and smaller, have been successful in converting one-way couplets back to two-
way without undesirable consequences (see “Tame the Traffic” page 26). This is a key
recommendation that gets at the heart of downtown’s economic vitality and longevity. [DBIP, page
16]
The entire Downtown Improvement Plan can be found at:
http://www.downtownbozeman.org/downloads/DBIP%20Final%2012-14-09%20SM.pdf