Photo credits: Jon Catton and Saul Creative
Building Hope: The Story of the Bridger View Neighborhood
The Bridger View Neighborhood, just north of downtown Bozeman, MT, stands as a testament to the power of a compelling vision and the benefit of partnerships.
VISION
Conceived to make a meaningful contribution to Bozeman’s affordable housing goals, Bridger View consists of 62 homes, with half priced in a manner that middle-income locals can afford. All of the homes are modest in size, minimizing their environmental footprint, reducing construction costs, and ensuring long-term affordability for residents. The well-designed 8 acre neighborhood features walkable streetscapes, shared common spaces, and connections to local pathways and parks, including the beloved adjacent 60-acre Story Mill Park.
PARTNERSHIPS
The story of the neighborhood begins with the Trust for Public Land (TPL), who purchased the entire site out of bankruptcy when a previous development plan failed during the recession of 2008-2009. Once home to a 90-pad mobile home park, the site was cleared for a high-end neighborhood that was never realized. Working with local residents, TPL designed and constructed Story Mill Park on the bulk of the property, but retained 8 acres in the northeast corner to honor the site’s history as a provider of affordable homes.
Working initially with the Human Resources Development Corporation, Navigate assisted in the design and entitlement processes for the neighborhood, partnering with EvolveEA Architecture and Comma Q. Construction and home sales will continue into 2023, with long-term management and affordability handled by Headwaters Community Housing Trust.
The leading-edge sustainability features of the neighborhood and homes were developed in consultation with Northwestern Energy and the City of Bozeman Sustainability Office and were recently honored with the 2022 Leadership in Energy Efficiency Innovative Collaboration award from the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.
Navigate would like to thank the Kendeda Fund for their support of this visionary project, and for building hope for local Bozeman families.
For more on Bridger View, visit bridgerview.org or check out the articles below:
– What works in housing affordability: Creating middle-income housing with the Bridger View neighborhood (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Sept. 28, 2022)
–“We’ve set a standard”: As Bozeman’s Bridger View neighborhood comes on line, developers hope it will be a model (Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Dec. 4, 2022)
