HomeGoods, Harbor Freight Tools coming to Kalispell
Jeff Claridge, the vice president of LHC, gives a tour of the North Kalispell Town Center development on Tuesday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)
Commercial and residential growth continues at a frenetic pace in North Kalispell, where HomeGoods and Harbor Freight Tools are among the newest businesses popping up.
HomeGoods, a retail chain that sells discount home furnishings, should be open by early fall, according to Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz. The store is located just north of Hobby Lobby in the fourth phase of Spring Prairie, south of Costco.
Jentz briefed Montana West Economic Development members about forthcoming Kalispell projects during a lunch presentation on Tuesday.
Harbor Freight Tools, a chain discount tool and equipment retailer, went through an architectural review of its planned store in Spring Prairie at a meeting with Kalispell city officials last week. Jentz said Harbor Freight is building a freestanding facility in Kalispell, something the corporation has not done before because they typically move into existing retail space.
“They’re looking at upgrading their merchandise,” Jentz said.
Two or three restaurants have expressed interest in the remaining space in Spring Prairie phase four, but a grocery store remains elusive, he said.
Another commercial development, Treeline Center, is proposed on roughly 7 acres next to the U.S. 93 bypass along Old Reserve Drive and Treeline Road. A hotel and office and retail businesses are being considered, Jentz said.
Residential growth in Kalispell’s northern reaches is equally strong. A fifth phase of Northland — located between the bypass and Northland Drive — will add 90 building lots by next year, Jentz said.
“We’re desperately short of residential lots,” he said.
The completion of the bypass is driving development in North Kalispell.
“It’s way out-performing what we expected,” he said, adding that the Foys Lake roundabout is so busy there’s already talk about constructing on- and off-ramps down the road a few years.
A $14 million Westside sewer interceptor project that starts next spring is another crucial piece of the infrastructure needed to keep growth on track.