Port authority buys land for industrial park

The Flathead County Economic Development Authority has bought 40 acres of land adjacent to Kalispell city limits to develop a new rail-served industrial park.

The port authority paid $890,000 for the former gravel pit property that stretches between Whitefish Stage Road and a spur of the railroad line that runs into downtown Kalispell.

Executive Director Kellie Danielson called the land acquisition a major milestone.

“Our board has had this vision of an industrial park for six years and it just hasn’t been the right piece of property at the right time for the right price,” Danielson said. 

“They stuck with their vision and sought it out until they were able to accomplish it ... All the stars aligned on this piece of property.”

The land was purchased Friday from MDU Resources Group, parent company of JTL Group and the Knife River Corporation. The property formerly was the McElroy & Wilken gravel pit.

The port authority tapped $1.147 million in federal funding made available to buy land for the project by the U.S. Economic Development Administration in September 2010.

The rail-served industrial park is an effort to boost business opportunities and job creation in the Flathead Valley and help diversify the local economy.

Over the next couple of months, the port authority will hire an engineering firm to help lay out and design the property and determine what infrastructure, including a railroad track extension, will be needed to offer businesses shovel-ready sites in the industrial park.

The city of Kalispell will be asked to provide some utilities and the previous owner of the land already signed a waiver of the right to protest annexation. 

“So this property will eventually be annexed, should the City Council decide they want it annexed,” Danielson said.

The industrial park will be marketed mainly to manufacturing, wholesale trade and agricultural businesses that need access to rail service. The goal is to have it developed over the next 18 to 24 months. 

“I know our board wants to see this property marketed and developed as soon as possible, not just sit on it for a few years,” Danielson said.

The project could factor into other economic development initiatives.

Removing the railroad tracks that run through Kalispell and relocating the two businesses that use them is one of several possible redevelopment initiatives being explored as city planning staffers prepare a Core Area Revitalization Plan for a stretch of the city along the tracks.

A new industrial park with rail access directly adjacent to the city limits makes that conversation much more realistic.

“Just having that potential employment generator for that area is also a big plus,” Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz said.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.