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City approves plan to redevelop old steel site

By BROOK GRIFFIN, Chronicle Staff Writer

The Bozeman City Commission unanimously approved Monday night a plan to redevelop the old Weissman Steel site on the north side of town.


 The 3-acre property holds three buildings and a granary. The 1237 N. Rouse Ave. property is just northwest of the intersection of North Rouse Avenue and East Oak Street.

Project developers, Comma-Q Architecture Inc. and HKM Engineering Inc., want to convert the buildings into a gymnastics and dance studio, a restaurant and some retail and office spaces.

Doug Minarik, Comma-Q's project manager, said the point is to keep the new construction to a minimum.

"The big goal is to make use of the buildings and infrastructure that's kind of been abandoned," Minarik said.

Director of City Planning Andy Epple said Tuesday the project is ideal for the city's continued growth.

"Both the 2020 Plan and the Unified Development Ordinance really encourage and support the adaptive reuse of old facilities like this," he said.

The property is zoned as light manufacturing, but Epple said the kinds of uses in the proposal are allowed in that zoning.

Commissioner Jeff Krauss said Tuesday the site is perfect for redevelopment because it is on an entryway corridor into the city from the north.

"I think it's great," Krauss said.

The development will have to come back to the commission for final approval, possibly in the next month or two when the new commission will be in place.

But Krauss predicted it would pass with little debate.

"I can't imagine why anyone would oppose this," he said.

The building has been unoccupied for the better part of a year, Epple said.

The planning office suggested the city grant the project 10 "zoning relaxations," giving developers permission to exceed the city's building height limit to incorporate the granary, street setbacks and parking requirements, among other things.

City Planner Susan Kozub, who handled the proposal for the city, said the relaxations were necessary because the granary was built before many of the city's rules were in place.

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