Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 6_10_15

NEWS
Stalled North Shore Subdivision Re-Emerges at Lower Price Developers seeking to sell 367-acre subdivision as residential development or conservation easement
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
One of the last large plots for hous- ing development near Flathead Lake has been listed at a reduced price in a renewed effort to sell the prominent — and contro- versial — proposed subdivision.
Kleinhans Farms Estates, LLC is offering to sell the North Shore Ranch near Somers for $7.9 million. Last week realtors began actively marketing the 367-acre platted subdivision that is tucked on a scenic section of open land between Montana Highway 82 and the Flathead Waterfowl Production Area.
Steve Dooling, the broker co-listing the property with Sean Averill, said the subdivision is ready to be developed, but first the developer wants to sell it in its entirety.
“He wants to sell it. Bottom line,” Dooling said.
A 20-acre section of the property that includes an old farmhouse border- ing state land on both sides is also being listed separately for $995,000.
The original site plans, which are detailed on a website advertising the prop- erty, call for an equestrian-themed sub- division with 78 single-family homes, 143 residential condominiums, an assisted living unit for 60 people, two commercial sites and two storage unit lots.
However, Dooling said the owner is more interested in selling the entire prop- erty to the state of Montana or an orga- nization that would protect it through a conservation easement.
“The best case scenario would be the conservation easement for the whole
property,” Dooling said. “He would love to see the state of Montana buy it and pre- serve it as open space.”
An attempt at preserving the prop- erty failed in 2010 when the developers and Flathead Land Trust could not reach a purchase agreement for an undisclosed amount.
North Shore Ranch is regaining steam after being stalled through the recession. Now, as the real estate market experi- ences significant growth throughout the valley, the proposed development is sure to garner attention and public scrutiny.
Ever since the development was first proposed a decade ago, critics have argued it would threaten water quality and sensitive wildlife habitat along the lake and near the protected waterfowl area.
However, the subdivision cleared all of the necessary regulatory hurdles and received county permitting approval after years of legal wrangling. The Flat- head County Commission originally voted 2-1 to reject the subdivision plan over flooding and seismic activity con- cerns, as well as the development’s prox- imity to the Flathead Waterfowl Pro- duction Area. The developers sued the county after the commissioners’ denial and a lawsuit settlement was reached in 2010 between Flathead County and Kleinhans Farms Estates.
The subdivision was appraised for $10.2 million in 2010 and the full build- out is expected to exceed $20 million, according to Dooling.
“It’s ready to go,” he said.
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Gianforte: ‘Seriously Considering’ Run for Governor
Tech entrepreneur launches tour of Montana, but says he has not made a final decision on whether to challenge Bullock
BY TRISTAN SCOTT OF THE BEACON
With speculation over Greg Gian- forte’s potential bid for governor already running rampant, the wealthy technology entrepreneur said June 2 he is “seriously considering” running against incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock.
“A lot of people have asked me. It’s an extremely big decision. I am seriously considering it, but I have not made a final decision,” Gianforte, 53, of Bozeman, told the Beacon on June 2.
Gianforte, the founder of the software company RightNow Technologies, which he sold to Oracle in 2011, visited Kalispell as part of a statewide tour to 30 Mon- tana cities in an effort to promote tele- commuting as a means of retaining and attracting college graduates.
Called the “Bring Your Families Back” tour, the statewide junkets are the latest in dozens of speaking engagements that Gianforte has held across Montana, which has led to widespread specula- tion that he is laying the groundwork to challenge Bullock in 2016 as a potential Republican frontrunner.
Gianforte joined the Kalispell Cham- ber of Commerce June 2 to explain how telecommuting can be applied to the Flat- head Valley.
With a net worth thought to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Gian- forte’s campaign would be a formidable one.
David Parker, a Montana State Univer- sity political science professor, said Gian- forte’s growing public presence is evi- dence of his nascent campaign to unseat
Bullock.
“Clearly this is about raising profile
for a governor’s race,” Parker said in an email.
Gianforte has already won public sup- port from U.S. Sen. Steve Daines. R-Mon- tana, who worked under Gianforte at RightNow Technologies and said he’d be a strong candidate for public office.
After founding the software firm in a spare bedroom in his Bozeman home in 1997 – on a shoestring budget of $50,000 – Gianforte built the high-tech company into a behemoth that employed over 1,100 employees worldwide with more than $225 million in annual revenue. In 2011, he sold the company to Oracle for $1.5 billion.
Gianforte contributed heavily to Republican candidates in the 2014
elections and has also invested his wealth in grants through the Gianforte Family Foundation, which have bolstered the arts as well as anti-abortion initiatives, and has been a major contributor to the conservative Montana Family Founda- tion, which his wife, Susan Gianforte, chairs.
He contributed $1 million to MSU for its computer science program and three years ago co-founded CodeMon- tana to encourage computer-program- ming classes in middle schools and high schools across the state.
His lengthy public-speaking schedule is posted on his website BetterMontana- Jobs.com, and last year he founded the Montana High Tech Business Alliance for technology firms.
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