One Big Sky Center’s Concept Development Plan provides not only a concept for the project and the next 15 years of downtown economic development, but ideas for paying for it all, too. The 77-page plan was delivered to the Billings City Council recently by the Hammes Company of Madison, Wisconsin.
The One Big Sky Center project is now envisioned as an economic development strategy with a downtown district featuring two anchors — one built on two of Billings’ leading sectors, medical and education, and the other a convention center in a civic “lifestyle” district.
Monday’s Billings City Council votes to support both the One Big Sky Center and the Alberta Bair Theater produced a rare reaction in council chambers: a round of applause.
The council unanimously approved an extension, through its Dec. 11 meeting, that will allow Landmark LLC, which has the same principals as the project’s new partner, Hammes Company of Madison, Wisconsin, to study One Big Sky Center’s proposed convention center, office building, hotel, retail space, parking garage and open space.
The president of the company that now has the managing interest in the proposed One Big Sky Center got generally high marks from members of the Billings City Council on Monday.
“You’re a straight shooter. I appreciate that,” Councilman Shaun Brown told Bob Dunn, of Madison, Wisconsin-based Hammes Company, the real estate development and investment company introduced to the council during a special afternoon meeting.
Tenants are still being lined up and the exact size of the One Big Sky Center development is still to be determined. But Skip Ahern, one of three partners with MontDevCo, which is developing the $165 million office, apartment, hotel, convention center, retail, senior living and entertainment space downtown, told the Billings City Council Tuesday that he’s still optimistic that One Big Sky Center will indeed be built.
Floods, blizzards, fires and a presidential election. Some years leave us with memories — 2016 has left us with story after story.
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After more than three hours of testimony both for and against the proposed One Big Sky Center, the Billings City Council voted 6-2 Monday to approve the project’s pre-development memorandum of understanding.
MontDevCo Ltd., the group of three developers hoping to build the $165 million One Big Sky Center, seek $30 million from EB-5, a federal program that grants green cards to foreign investors in exchange for funds that create American jobs.
If on Nov. 14 the Billings City Council approves a One Big Sky Center pre-development agreement with MontDevCo LLC, city officials would be wise to keep an eye on four key indicators, according to a report from Springsted, the city’s adviser on the project.
