Great Falls picked up a new housing project this month on a piece of ground that, not long ago, couldn't have been built on.
City and business leaders gathered Tuesday, Oct. 6, to break ground on Bay View, a housing development along the Missouri River. As KRTV reported, the project will include 78 apartment units and 12 townhomes, about 90 homes in all.
Architect and co-owner Dale Nelson said the hardest part came before anyone turned a shovel.
"It was in the floodplain," Nelson told KRTV. "So we had to go through two years of engineering to get it out of the floodplain. But then it's one of the last buildable properties on the river in Great Falls."
Two phases, two kinds of housing
Apartment construction starts this fall, and the townhomes follow in the spring. The townhomes will be single-story and designed with accessibility in mind, which KRTV noted makes them a good fit for older residents and for people who split their time between Montana and warmer states. Both phases are expected to be finished by spring 2028.
Jake Clark, vice president of business development for the Great Falls Development Alliance, called the groundbreaking a milestone.
"This is two different types of housing coming into one site, developed by folks who live here and love Great Falls as much as all of us do," Clark said. "And who wouldn't want to live along the Missouri River in Great Falls, Montana?"
No general contractor for the project has been named publicly.
Site work on a riverfront parcel brings its own permitting. The Oct. 13 Cascade County Commission agenda included a 310 permit, the stream-protection permit required under Montana law, reviewed by the High Plains Conservation District, for Bay View Development and Nelson. It covers a new 18-inch PVC stormwater outfall to the Missouri River. According to the county packet, the storm system will collect runoff from the parking areas, sidewalks, patios and roofs, and a separator unit will treat it before it reaches the river. The pipe is to be installed by trenching, and the outfall will end in a concrete slab armored with riprap. The conservation district recommended approval with sediment controls during construction.
A dent in a big number
The Great Falls Development Alliance and the local Association of Realtors estimate the city needs about 600 new housing units a year to keep up with demand. Nelson was realistic about what one project can do.
"It's going to be a small step," Nelson said. "The GFDA is saying we probably need 600 a year. So this is going to take about 20% of that out."
Bay View isn't the only project in the pipeline. KRTV pointed to several others the city and its partners are tracking, including Meadowview Village, the Station District and the Aurora. Great Falls is also working on an update to its growth policy, the first in more than a decade, which will shape where and how the city grows.
For a city that has been short on new homes for years, a riverfront project from local owners gives housing advocates something to celebrate. It also shows how much engineering and permitting can go into a parcel before the first foundation is poured. Two years of floodplain work came before this groundbreaking, and the stormwater permit is a reminder that riverfront sites keep needing approvals well into construction.
Why it matters for Contractors
Ninety homes on one site is meaningful work in a market the size of Great Falls. Framers, roofers, plumbers, electricians, HVAC crews, drywall and flooring subs, and concrete and site crews could all see a long run of work here between this fall and spring 2028. The two phases, apartments first and townhomes next spring, should spread the work over more than one building season. The stormwater outfall, separator unit and riprap call for excavation and utility crews who are used to working near water and following sediment-control rules. With no general contractor named publicly yet, subs who want a piece of the job should keep an eye out for bid announcements. With the city saying it needs roughly 600 units a year and a growth policy update underway, Bay View probably won't be the last riverfront or infill project to come through.