February 9, 2023

Bozeman City Commission greenlights large development near Gallatin High School

Bozeman city commissioners gave the go-ahead to plans for a development near Gallatin High School that will include hundreds of homes.

The second phase of the Northwest Crossing development near Baxter Lane and a future extension of Cottonwood Road comprises 44 acres. It’s proposed to include over 350 residential units including single-family detached homes, duplexes, and townhomes.

City commissioners voted to approve the preliminary plat for the development this week.

The total Northwest Crossing development is 160 acres between Baxter Lane, West Oak Street and North Cottonwood Road, and North Laurel Parkway and includes commercial space and multi-unit residential buildings in the first phase near West Oak Street.

Williams Homes, a developer out of California with an office in Montana is building the homes in the second phase. Jason Leep, the Montana Division President for Williams Homes, said during the commission meeting this week that there are 13 different types of products in the development.

“We intend it to be the most attainable new construction single-family housing that you can get in the Bozeman market,” Leep said.

Commissioners questioned the developers about the lack of commercial space proposed for that phase of the development and the size of the yards and parks.

Leep said they view the commercial space proposed for the first phase of the development as serving their homes and pointed to the nearby park and open space like the Gallatin County Regional Park and Bozeman Sports Park.

Leep said they are trying to keep the cost of the homes down and are using density to do that. Leep told the Chronicle last week that they are targeting price points in the high $500,000 to high $700,000 range.

“We’re trading a big yard for affordability,” Leep said during the meeting.

City commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the development. Deputy Mayor Terry Cunningham praised the developers for the housing types they are proposing.

“We have been asking for a variety of housing types in Bozeman and we need housing types of all sorts,” Cunningham said. “I think it’s a desirable set of missing middle units.”