Marketing begins for Baker Commons

Eight lots available in new business park

More than a decade after the city of Whitefish first looked at acreage along Baker Avenue as a potential business park, the property is ready to go.

Whitefish Infill Partners, operated by Bill Kahle, Peter Rack and Carl Euphrat, and capital partner Arciterra LLC of Phoenix, have pumped $2.5 million into land acquisition and infrastructure at the site south of The Wave fitness center.

They now are working with the RE/MAX Elm Group to market the five-acre business park.

"It satisfies the need for community development without sprawl," said Elm Group broker/owner Alan Elm. "It offers a new model for development."

The topography of the land was a challenge. Part of the property was once a state-owned gravel pit, with slopes leftover from reclamation.

"About 110,000 cubic yards [of dirt] were balanced on this site," Kahle said.

An open house for Baker Commons is planned from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday at the business park. A tent with food and beverages will be set up.

The eight lots in Baker Commons range from a half-acre to 1.2 acres, and range in price from $415,000 to $910,000. Whitefish Infill Partners, which bought the land from the city, initially started with four big lots, but later subdivided to eight lots for better flexibility.

"Most end users want lots in the 6,000- to 10,000-foot range or smaller," Kahle said.

Baker Commons has business park district zoning, which will allow a variety of uses.

Scot Blair, an associate with the Elm Group, said he envisions a community office park with businesses that could capitalize on proximity to The Wave.

Day-care centers, financial institutions, medical clinics, light manufacturing, building-supply outlets, automobile and boat services (excluding body repair), offices, restaurants and veterinary clinics are among the permitted uses. Accessory retail or personal-service businesses would be allowed but couldn't exceed 500 square feet.

Park Side Federal Credit Union is building a new facility in the business park as part of a land swap with the city.

A large tract of land on the south edge of the business park was retained by the city for the future emergency-services building.

The lot farthest to the west already is spoken for. It will be a 16,000-square-foot condominium professional office building. Site review begins next week, with a spring 2008 groundbreaking expected.

"We'd like to have the lots sold by the end of 2008 and at least one or more buildings started next year," Kahle said.

Baker Commons has drawn interest from potential tenants on a national level, he said, because commercial development space is limited in Whitefish. Mountain views from the gently sloping lots are an added amenity and attractive to prospective buyers.

In the mid-1990s, when the city first considered developing the property, there was some land wrangling involved to consolidate it into one city-owned parcel. Both the county and state owned portions of the property originally.

The late Chet Hope was one of the City Council members who pushed for a business park at that location, realizing the importance of infill development. He envisioned light industrial, office buildings or technology businesses, similar to permitted uses in the business-park district set up specially for Baker Commons.

NEW CITY roads are part of the project. Developers built the new Flathead Avenue that traverses the business park. Extensions of West 15th Street and O'Brien Avenue also are part of the project.

Whitefish Infill Partners also is developing the adjacent 12.5 acre O'Brien Bluffs subdivision, a 37-lot development of single-family homes. The project recently received City Council approval.

With heavy equipment grinding away at street construction near the O'Brien neighborhood, Kahle said he understands the intrusion is an inconvenience.

"We're conscious of other people and we understand we've made the neighbors uneasy," he said. "Hopefully when the dust settles" the new roads and development will be positive changes for the neighborhood.

Allyson Arnold, a third partner in the Elm Group, is heading up the O'Brien Bluffs project.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com