Office, apartment building latest development in area behind St. Pat's

The Morgan Building going up at the corner of Spruce and May streets is the latest in a string of activity percolating on the corridor behind St. Patrick Hospital.

Brian Morgan, president of Adventure Life in Missoula, took on the $2.8 million project to build new offices for his travel business. Slated to open in the fall, the building also will have office space for lease and high-end apartments.

The conspicuous construction site is one of several developments that have popped up in the Spruce Street and Toole Avenue neighborhood over the last few years. Safeway rebuilt its grocery store, an apartment complex opened its doors, and more recently, a brewery and climbing gym opened in the neighborhood, too.

To me, it really shows that the area has room for increased development and a sort of rebirth, Morgan said.

Morgan has owned the property for about four years, but he stopped the building project when the economy tanked in 2008. During the last couple of years, he began feeling more confident in the economic recovery, and he decided to move ahead with construction this year.

The building will have four stories plus a sunlight basement. His touring business with roughly 20 employees will move into a Google-esque commercial space on the main floor thats designed specifically with Adventure Life in mind, and hell also lease an estimated 900 square feet of commercial space that fronts Spruce Street.

The three floors above it will be 15 one-bedroom apartments, and Morgan plans to live in one of the units of some 900 square feet. He said Paradigm Architects designed the building, so it works for him economically but also has a more luxurious feel, with big outdoor decks, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

Theyre actually going to be very high-end one-bedroom apartments, and in my opinion, Missoula just lacks that, Morgan said.

The units will rent out for $995 to $1,195. Builders are installing large windows in the bottom floor to let in natural light, and the basement will include storage space for tenants, a conference room for Adventure Life, and more commercial space for lease.

Morgan is most proud of three features: One, that the building offers covered bicycle parking, especially because his own employees like to bike to work and have won some transportation awards; two, that hes including commercial shower space so workers who like to go for a run during the day can come back and shower; and three, that the garbage enclosure was enlarged to easily accommodate all the recycling his office generates.

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Office, apartment building latest development in area behind St. Pat's