http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/main/C61/L36/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2008 Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:29:31 MDT Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:29:31 MDT http://www.newwest.net/city/article/what_will_become_of_stimsons_land/C61/L36/ Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:12:05 MDT Scott Cooney, a Missoula developer, says he has a months-old agreement with Stimson Lumber Co. to buy the company's defunct mill site in Bonner and wants it honored. "We just want to buy it," Cooney said, adding that the old offer of $10 million for the entire site is immaterial. He would pay up to $16 million, which is what Stimson officials said would take the property and all its industrial equipment and structures off the Portland-based manufacturer's hands. It's hard to know exactly how serious he is: Cooney said today that if Stimson doesn't honor its earlier agreement with him, he might seek legal action. The bigger question remains what will happen on that expanse of land at the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/eddie_bauer_draws_fire_for_co_branding_with_david_lipsons_paws_up_ranch/C61/L36/ Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:43:15 MDT Some of Eddie Bauer's Montana customers have taken umbrage at the retailer's recently unveiled co-branding with the Missoula-area Resort at Paws Up Ranch. Over the past week, Eddie Bauer announced its new fall marketing plan, which is on the front page of the Seattle-based company's Web site. It says, "New for fall, inspired by the Last Best Place: Paws Up Montana. See Our Video." http://www.newwest.net/city/article/demand_still_high_for_skilled_tradesmen/C61/L36/ Sat, 02 Aug 2008 08:00:58 MDT Ongoing commercial construction has kept skilled tradesmen busy, despite a slowdown in residential housing and word that some developers have fallen behind in their bill-paying to area contractors. "We just put out word for more carpenters," said Dennis Daneke, head of Local 28 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. "Commercial construction is still booming, and, right now, we're booming," he said. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/condos_linger_on_missoulas_market/C61/L36/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:16:57 MDT According to one developer's survey, almost 200 condos have entered the Missoula market over the past 18 months. Yet the only sizeable project to sell fast has been the sold-out Wilma Theater building on Higgins Avenue downtown, which had prices as low as $88,000. Small condos in the $150,000-range and larger units priced above $250,000, on the other hand, have lingered. And more are coming onto the market. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/montanas_subprime_woes_may_yet_arrive/C61/L36/ Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:54:00 MDT If you're thinking the housing bubble in Missoula, and Montana, will somehow remain full of air, think again. The situation is probably worse than you think. Median home prices, as recorded by real estate organizations, have been relatively stable, but some indicators suggest a downturn could be just around the corner. Why? Because homes have been sitting on the market for months and months, while sellers have begun to slowly lower their asking prices. A rash of foreclosures may force prices down, which will greatly increase the downward pressure on all home prices. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/missoula_median_home_prices_drop/C61/L36/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:27:00 MDT Missoula home prices are following the national downturn, according to figures from the Missoula Organization of Realtors. In both April and May, the median sales price of Missoula homes dropped. Also, the volume of sales has continued a two-year slowing trend. This is based on prices recorded by real estate agents. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/a_new_residential_model/C61/L36/ Sat, 10 May 2008 08:04:01 MDT About a year ago, a client of mine came to me and asked me to design a house that would have no energy bill -- a "Net Zero House," producing as much energy as it used. During the same year, I found that my energy bill for my own house was beginning to become much more of a burden on our family budget. These two events led me to research energy costs and how those costs are impacting the average American household. It was immediately clear from the research that energy prices are outpacing income and our current way of building houses will create energy bills that will not be sustainable for the average household. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/missoula_county_asks_mark_rey_to_halt_plum_creek_talks/C61/L36/ Thu, 08 May 2008 13:24:00 MDT Wednesday the Missoula County Commissioners sent a letter to Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey asking him to drop consideration of the forest road easement amendment until the documents proposed for amendment have been identified and made available to the public. The commissioners wrote: "...the failure to identify, review, and properly reference the easements to be amended will make the proposed Easement Amendment legally void, and the process leading up to your expected approval fatally flawed." Rey, overseer of the Forest Service, said during a meeting last week with officials from western Montana that he would not make the paperwork available and invited a lawsuit, which appears imminent. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/backdoor_deals_on_public_lands_dissappointing/C61/L36/ Thu, 08 May 2008 12:37:00 MDT In Montana, we are proud of our sunshine laws that keep government actions open and responsive to the public. Unfortunately, the laws that apply to the federal government are not as enlightened, which can sometimes lead to nasty surprises from Washington--surprises that impact the clean water and open spaces we treasure on our public lands. Montanans got just such a surprise two weeks ago, when the Missoula County Commissioners and Senator Jon Tester discovered that Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey, the Bush Administration political appointee who oversees the Forest Service, has been quietly negotiating a backroom deal with real estate developer Plum Creek. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/montana_banks_remain_remote_from_national_crunch/C61/L36/ Tue, 06 May 2008 17:21:00 MDT Ask Tom Welch, president of Pioneer Federal Savings and Loan (offices in Dillon and Deer Lodge, Mont.) about his mortgage portfolio: "Great," he says, "As good as it's been. I can't tell you the last time I've had a foreclosure." Even as risky national lending practices and the collapse of the housing bubble have pulled the national economy into recession, lenders in Montana remain largely unaffected by mortgage losses. Banks in the state haven't been hurt much by the credit crunch, either, because few swing big leveraged financial deals, bankers say. "Montana has some foreclosure hot spots," said Helena branch president Paul Drake of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "But we haven't seen the kind of issues like Arizona or Nevada, not even close to it."