Courthouse East plan up for hearing
New owners of Courthouse East in Kalispell propose to renovate the 1912 building and convert it to apartment, office and retail space. The proposal comes before the Kalispell City Planning Board on Tuesday. Chris Jordan/Daily Inter Lake
With a new set of plans and owners, the old Courthouse East property heads back to the Kalispell City Planning Board on Tuesday night.
DEV Properties wants to renovate the building and put in apartments, office areas and artists' workspaces/apartments. The building also might house a small coffee shop.
The exterior of the building, which had been used over the years for everything from a hospital to county offices, would remain the same.
The building has been a contentious issue between some neighbors and the previous owner who planned a 24-unit duplex townhouse subdivision for the property.
DEV Properties wants a zone change from urban single-family residential to residential/professional office to accommodate its plans for the 65,000-square-foot building. The developers also want a planned unit development for the property, which sits on about two acres on the east side of Fifth Avenue East between Seventh and Eighth streets.
The building owners, longtime Flathead Valley resident Dave Rickert and his two partners from Washington state, have submitted their proposal to the Tri-City Planning Office. It calls for 28 apartments, about 20,000 square feet of office space, 1,600 square feet of retail space and about 2,000 square feet for a community room.
The Tri-City staff on Tuesday night will suggest the planning board recommend that the Kalispell City Council approve the project, but the endorsement comes with some reservations from Kalispell planner Narda Wilson.
"There are some real serious problems with that project in terms of parking," she said.
How the building will be used determines how many parking spaces are required. But planned unit developments allow developers some flexibility, Wilson said.
The Courthouse East proposal technically meets the number required (115-120 spots). However, the building might need about 140-145 spaces, Wilson said. She explained the discrepancy by giving an example of what the city requires and what could happen.
The developers plan to make some of the apartments senior residences, for which the city requires half a parking space for each unit. The rationale is that seniors are less likely to be driving than are younger residents.
But plenty of seniors drive, so the building might be occupied by more vehicle owners than the number of parking spaces available, Wilson said.
"We have more than enough" spaces, DEV Properties developer Eric Berry said.
The developers figured their number of spaces based on one space per apartment, he said.
The building has long been in the neighborhood, although much of its recent history has been controversial.
The facility opened in 1912 as the Kalispell Hospital. It later housed various county offices, including the health department and planning office.
Flathead County initially tried to auction off the building in 2002. But nobody matched the $324,000 minimum bid price. After the county lowered its asking price, Gelinas Development acquired it for $175,000.
In 2003, Gelinas proposed a 24-unit duplex townhouse subdivision on the property. About 50 neighbors spoke in opposition to the plan at a Kalispell City Planning Board meeting. They cited concerns about traffic and worries that the townhouses would detract from the east side's historic character.
Converting the property to a small number of single-family home sites - as most of the neighbors wanted - wasn't feasible given the cost of demolishing the aged building, Gelinas said.
The planning board recommended denial of the townhouse proposal, after which Gelinas tried unsuccessfully to sell at least a portion of the building for use as a health-care facility or professional offices.
DEV Properties purchased the building this month for an undisclosed amount. The company expects its project to be a multimillion-dollar venture.
Berry estimates the construction costs will be about 40 to 50 cents per square foot. The company plans to pay for the project with its own money supplemented by financing from local banks, he said.
The company would start construction on the building this summer and would finish the project in the latter half of 2007. DEV Properties would manage the building and would hire a property manager to live on site.
The planning board meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall.
Reporter Camden Easterling can be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com