The Kalispell City Council granted a conditional use permit on March 4 to a developer planning to build 120 new apartments along Two Mile Drive.
The proposed development will feature five three-story buildings with 24 units in each building. The buildings will be spread across 4.23 acres located north of the Gateway Community Center, east of Financial Drive, south of Two Mile Drive and west of Glenwood Drive. The plan calls for parking lots with a capacity of at least 242 vehicles near the buildings as well as green space. There will also be a clubhouse.
The Kalispell City Planning Board held a hearing about the proposal on Feb. 12. During the hearing, two people provided public comment: One spoke out against the project with concerns about increased traffic in the area and the other supported it because of the need for additional housing in the area.
At the end of that Feb. 12 meeting, the planning board voted to recommend that the city council approve the conditional use permit. The council did just in a unanimous vote. The vote clears the path for the developer, Husky Partners LLC, to break ground in the coming months.
City officials have said that there are roughly 700 multi-family units in the works right now. A block away from the 120-unit development that the city just approved, contractors are preparing to break ground on another apartment complex that will eventually include 324 units. Additional condos and apartments are also being built near Glacier Town Center and Silverbrook Estates on the north end of the city.
The rush of residential development comes as the demand for housing continues to increase across the Flathead Valley.
“Residential is taking off,” City Planner Tom Jentz said earlier this year.