Kalispell parking structure tops council work session agenda
A major component of The Charles Hotel, a boutique hotel proposed in downtown Kalispell, is up for review at the Kalispell City Council work session Monday evening.
The council will discuss a proposed parking structure for The Charles Hotel. Plans for the parking structure came as part of a proposal from Montana Hotel Dev Partners LLC.
The city issued a request for proposals in December 2020, and only Montana Hotel Dev Partners LLC responded. The council approved the proposal in September.
The development group consists of local developer Bill Goldberg, The Interim Bar owner John Costa and BOND Partners, a San Diego-based hotel development and hospitality management company. They have proposed a $47 million multi-pronged project, with a five-story boutique hotel and a separate parking structure.
The hotel, to be named the Charles Hotel after Kalispell founder Charles Conrad, would encompass 86,000 square feet and 79 rooms. It would include a restaurant, a bar and lounge, retail spaces, conference space and potentially a rooftop patio. The developers already have secured a liquor license.
The parking structure is anticipated to cost approximately $7 million. The developer will follow a bidding process to select a contractor.
The parking structure would contain approximately 250 parking spaces and would be built on what is currently a city-owned parking lot at First Street and First Avenue West. It would be built using tax-increment financing district funding.
Of the 250 total spaces, approximately 90 spaces will be leased for hotel guests. The initial lease period for these spots would be 20 years.
A total of 112 spaces will replace the parking spots that would be removed to make way for the hotel, which will be located on a current city-owned parking lot at the intersection of Third Street West and Main Street.
Another 48 spaces “will be added to the structure to add parking capacity and provide additional flexibility for future development on other surface parking lots,” according to the work session agenda.
The bottom floor of the parking structure would contain city-owned commercial space.
Some nearby property owners have expressed concerns about using communal funds for the project.
"Most of us who have property, we weren't given government funds to purchase the property or develop the property," said Karlene Osorio-Kohr, a downtown property owner, when the proposal first came before the city council. "We're being taxed for that [the TIF] and it's going to one person. It was supposed to be for the good of the district … There's a lot of wrongs here."
The council is expected to vote on the plans for the parking structure at its Dec. 20 meeting.
The work session starts at 7 p.m. at Kalispell City Hall in the City Council Chambers, 201 First Ave. E.
Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.