Gallatin County Employee Housing & Child Care Development

Gallatin County is exploring the feasibility of creating employee housing and childcare on a piece of county-owned land in Bozeman. 

The county worked with Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) to explore programming and understand development opportunities and constraints on the 5.62-acre portion of nearly 10-acre property, which lies directly behind the Gallatin Rest Home, between Durston Road and Oak Street. 

Summary of the Project Process

The county wants to develop the property to use for transitional housing for current and incoming county employees, temporary housing for traveling nurses who work at the Gallatin Rest Home, and daycare services.

As part of this process, HRDC surveyed county employees about their housing and child care needs, and hosted townhall meetings with employees and public meetings with neighbors near the property. Engagement opportunities have included: 

• 11/29/21 – Gallatin County Staff Housing Meeting
• Winter 2021 – Employee Childcare Survey
• Spring 2022 – Employee Housing Survey  
• 3/4/22 – Gallatin County Commission Meeting: Goal Setting
• 4/29/22 – Gallatin County Employee Meeting: Goals/Research Sharing
• 5/23/22 – In Person Meeting with Neighbors and Interested Parties
• 5/25/22 – Virtual Meeting with Neighbors and Interested Parties
• 7/6/22 – Gallatin County Commission Meeting: Ideation  
• 8/9/22 – Gallatin County Commission Meeting: Continued Ideation

HRDC then provided county commissioners with multiple conceptual housing options. These options included various types of housing such as duplexes, row homes, and apartment buildings. These options were workshopped and further refined to one informational option that included a mix of different types of housing. See graphic below.

This concept was submitted to the City of Bozeman for an informal development review, seeking advice and direction for the project. City departments, such as planning and engineering, simply reviewed the conceptual materials that we submitted and provided written comments to flag any major code issues or concerns. We received comments back from City of Bozeman staff in early December.

The county issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in the spring of 2023 to continue to explore development scenarios and financial models. United Housing Partners (teamed with HRDC) was selected after interviewing three qualified development firms. Currently, Gallatin County and United Housing Partners are working through the details of the partnership and exploring funding opportunities. 

One of the potential funding sources is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) grant. According to the HUD website, "Grantees may use awards to further develop, evaluate, and implement housing policy plans, improve housing strategies, and facilitate affordable housing production and preservation." The grant application is on the County Commission's agenda for the Tuesday, Oct. 24 public meeting at 9 AM. 

There will continue to be engagement opportunities in the future and we will continue to update the public as the project moves forward.

- See full informal application materials here.

- See the City of Bozeman's review report here.

- See the consultant follow-up notes to the city's report here.

- See the original RFP here.
 

If you have comments on the process of developing this property,
please contact the Gallatin County Commission by:

- Emailing commission@gallatin.mt.gov
- Calling 406-582-3000
- Mailing or dropping off comments to Gallatin County Commission, 311 W. Main St., Room 306, Bozeman, MT 59715
- Attending public meetings to provide input - see schedule below for future meetings as they are scheduled.