Fireweed Court, just off Russell Street on South First Street West, put 12 two-story townhomes on six city lots and renovated a nearby existing house. Its developer, homeWORD, the housing arm of Women's Opportunity and Resource Development, credits collaboration for its design and innovation.
"The thing that we're saying to the community is this is a model of dense in-fill development that provides quality housing and preserves the neighborhood," said Ren Essene, homeWORD's director. "It's really a demonstration of how developers can come together to think of ideas."
The $1.3 million project began two years ago with design sessions held at the Art Museum of Missoula. There, project leaders heard suggestions from other nonprofit developers, low-income single parents, architects and others. One of the results was the "Woonerf" design, from the Dutch word meaning "living street."
"The idea is to create a pedestrian-scale street that gives back to the community," Essene said. "It's a way to get away from the ugly-parking-lot apartment."
The construction itself used alternative materials and methods that included "value engineering," which uses 25 percent less lumber than standard construction. The buildings use concrete composite panels on their exteriors, partially-recycled concrete in the street and carpeting made from recycled plastic milk jugs inside.
The project salvaged an old house on the lot. Part of its wood became the new development's fence, and part went to Garden City Harvest to be made into picnic tables. Some of the old trees on the lots were left standing for the new neighborhood.
A combination of funding that included money from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the state, the city, financial institutions and others kept the rents low. The households will pay between $109 and $424 a month for two- and three-bedroom apartments.
The development is aimed at families with very low incomes. More than 50 households applied to live at Fireweed Court, Essene said. Of those moving in, the highest-paid head of household earns $8 an hour.
"The reality is most of these people are working for like six bucks an hour," Essene said. "It's really an issue that the service industry is creating jobs that don't pay enough for people to live."
Kim Skufca will sign her lease and begin moving in on Thursday. She supports herself and her 7-year-old son on a gross pay of $14,000 a year working 32 hours a week at the accessories counter of a Missoula department store. A native of Helena, Skufca returned to Montana in August after a few years away. Because of her income and area rents, she and her son are staying with her parents.
"I found typically a two-bedroom apartment that's low-income housing comes out to be about $365 a month," she said. "I'm bringing home $900. ... By the time everything's paid for, you're looking at a couple hundred a month for food and everything."
Ten of the households moving into Fireweed Court are headed by single parents and two by two parents; one person is single.
In its mission to create affordable housing, homeWORD has also built two straw-bale houses on Missoula's North Side and created a rent-to-own program on Ethel Lane. Its next project is planned for downtown Missoula.
"It's, 'What can you do if you challenge yourself?' " Essene said. "We're really trying to think holistically in how we develop our housing. We're really proud of it."