Housing trust, LMLC discuss Cold Smoke housing project 

Application submitted July 29 to annex into water and sewer district 

By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

A planned Big Sky housing development would include 264 apartments and 125 single-family homes, all deed-restricted and exclusive to local workers. If the project progresses on schedule, homes could be ready as early as 2027. 

The development, known as Cold Smoke, is being planned by Lone Mountain Land Company and the nonprofit Big Sky Community Housing Trust. It was first announced in April at LMLC’s Community Development Open House, and took a step forward July 29 as partners submitted an application to annex land into the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District. 

On July 16, housing trust Executive Director David O’Connor and LMLC Director Cryder Bancroft discussed Cold Smoke in a BSCWSD board meeting.  

As planned, Cold Smoke would include two sections: apartment buildings and a neighborhood of single-family homes.  

Apartments would be built near the new RiverView Apartments, beside the South Fork of the West Fork of the Gallatin River. Buildings would include roughly 264 one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Based on demand, construction would prioritize one- and two-bedroom apartments and studios, O’Connor explained to the board.   

“We’re not looking at creating more dorm-style product,” O’Connor said.  

Developers envision those apartments would mostly be rented, but the business plan is still in progress and some units may be available for purchase. Rent would ideally not exceed 150% area median income, depending on subsidies available.

Across the river to the south, Cold Smoke would include roughly 125 detached homes, available for rent and for purchase.  

O’Connor said it’s difficult to determine sale price before knowing what public subsidies will be available. The goal will be to sell homes at 150% to 200% of area median income, which roughly translates to resale price of $400,000 to $600,000. 

“The idea would be to make that affordable to as wide of an income range as possible,” O’Connor said. “Our workforce tends to max out at 225% or 250% of area median income… so we would seek to provide affordability certainly below that.” 

The housing trust would steward the entire project by managing applications and compliance, and negotiating affordability. All units would be deed-restricted, including mechanisms to preserve the permanent affordability of for-sale units.  

The entire project would be reserved for local workers with short-term rentals permanently prohibited. 

‘If not this, then what?’ 

Cold Smoke would bridge roughly one-third of Big Sky’s workforce housing gap. 

Based on Big Sky’s housing needs assessment, created in 2018 and updated in 2023 by the housing trust, the community needs roughly 1,300 additional housing units by 2028. Cold Smoke could account for nearly 400.  

After completing RiverView, the housing trust is still entitled to roughly 400 single-family equivalents of water and sewer rights to develop workforce housing—the SFEs remain from a pool of 600, earmarked in 2020 through the “1% for infrastructure” agreement between the Big Sky Resort Area District and water and sewer district. O’Connor often says that housing clause was the smartest thing the community has ever done.  

Cold Smoke would essentially exhaust the remaining 400 SFEs. 

O’Connor said Cold Smoke represents the housing trust’s best ability to use those SFEs to deliver affordable workforce housing across a broad spectrum of income and tenure, and in the quickest time frame possible—even if the project receives approval and final entitlements in 2024, initial occupancy would not be likely until 2027, “just magnifying that need to get started,” O’Connor said. 

He added a rhetorical question to the BSCWSD board. 

“If not this, then what?” 

If not for Cold Smoke, O’Connor explained, this land would likely be developed into low-density, high-end market rate residential housing. 

“Of which we have a significant amount in this community,” he said. “We feel this is a better opportunity to provide something we need.” 

Bancroft said Big Sky is in “crisis mode” for affordable housing as it struggles to attract and retain families and employees. Owning a Cold Smoke home would be the next stepping stone for local workers as they begin raising children and theoretically outgrow MeadowView Condominiums—workforce-owned, deed-restricted housing near Big Sky Community Park.  

Water and sewer district board member Al Malinowski asked if MeadowView, the housing trust’s most similar project, has been perceived as successful.  

“Wish we had built 500 of them,” O’Connor responded. “I think by every single measure [it] has been successful. Sold out very quickly with a waiting list by 2021.” 

Bancroft said Cold Smoke presents a great opportunity to support the working community through housing that is 100% deed-restricted, and 100% open to the public. 

“The right product type for families [and] individuals, in a great location,” Bancroft said.  

 O’Connor said the “significant” open space in the parcel presents an opportunity for partnership with the Big Sky Community Organization and similar groups to increase parks and trails infrastructure and connectivity. 

“I personally find [it] impressive that people can point to our workforce housing and say that it’s got one of the main amenities that some of our highest-priced housing in the community offers,” O’Connor said.  

As for concerns of large-scale development in the wildland-urban interface, Bancroft said they’re taking steps to be responsible and sustainable stewards of the land. They will explore a collaboration with Alpenscapes, a new partnership of four local organizations—Big Sky Fire Department, Big Sky Sustainability Network Organization (SNO), Gallatin River Task Force and Grow Wild—that encourages alpine-appropriate landscapes that are collectively appealing, fire-safe, water-wise and ecosystem-friendly. 

Bancroft is also confident that from the road, Cold Smoke will hardly be visible to passersby. It will, however, impact traffic on Montana Highway 64 (Lone Mountain Trail), likely requiring a new stoplight or traffic control mechanism in front of the RiverView Apartments. Skywood Road will serve as a secondary access route. 

Board member Peter Manka asked a question that went unanswered during the Cold Smoke project’s initial public presentation: if Cold Smoke is annexed into the water and sewer district, how will the sewer pipe cross the river?  

“There’s a bridge that currently exists,” Bancroft responded. “So we could either go across that bridge or bore under the river. And we’ve been talking to Johnny [O’Connor] and Ron [Edwards] about that over the last two months.” Edwards and Johnny O’Connor are general managers of the water and sewer district.  

With BSRAD, the housing trust is exploring potential bond funding to fully acquire the parcel of land. Community land ownership translates to greater affordability and control, David O’Connor explained in a follow up call with EBS.  

Even if the public cannot acquire the land through the housing trust, O’Connor said the rules set in place with the 600 workforce SFEs will ensure the product is delivered—and restricted to local workers—as promised. 

Board member Mike Wilcynski asked if there’s any land already inside the water and sewer district that could be devoted to 400 SFEs of employee housing development. 

O’Connor said it appears this is the only viable option for a project of such scale. 

Bancroft said receiving a zoning permit is not a concern: the area was originally zoned for higher density and overall scale, and the amendment being requested would enable the shift of higher density toward the area of the apartment buildings. The other area would be built significantly below allowable density.  

In late June, the housing trust submitted a zone map amendment to the Gallatin County Planning and Zoning Commission. It will be discussed in September.