Billings City Council to vote on $1.5 million affordable housing project Monday

DEVCO is a nationwide affordable-housing developer headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, with two existing Montana properties in Bozeman and Missoula.

If granted the funding, the company would look to begin preliminary site work in November of this year and begin the construction process soon thereafter, with a stated completion date of fall 2029, according to documents they submitted to the city.

In their TIF application, they said the complex would contain a mix of one- to four-bedroom units alongside community amenities like a dog park, fitness center and walking paths.

Units would be deed restricted for a period of 50 years after completion to individuals or families making less than 60% of the Billings area median income. In 2025, 60% of Billings’ median income was $40,800 for a one-person household and $58,260 for a four-person household, according to federal housing data.

“The funds will help deliver high quality, long-term affordable housing and turn a piece of land with a history of blight into a trophy asset that the city can be proud of,” DEVCO Representative Chase Huber said in the project's executive summary.

Affordable and EBURD housing needs

As the former industrial hub of Billings, housing is in short supply in the EBURD and adding more of it has long been a goal for the district’s inhabitants.

“In order to have a functioning community where your stores thrive, your breweries thrive and people in the streets, we need housing. That's the biggest hurdle,” EBURD Coordinator Heather Doty said in an April interview.

In addition to putting more housing in the EBURD, the project also aligns with a stated city goal of constructing more housing units, affordable or otherwise, in order to keep pace with expected population growth.

Signed into law in 2023, the Montana Land Use and Planning Act forced cities to plan for housing needs tied to population growth in their long-term community plans alongside a series of zoning reforms designed to increase available housing stock.

As mandated by the MLUPA, city leaders created Billings 2045, a new long-range community plan considering future housing needs and containing several state-mandated zoning reforms.

In the plan, city officials identified a critical shortage of 10,000 housing units in Billings, particularly affordable ones.

“A primary challenge facing Billings is a growing housing crisis,” the plan said. “This lack of attainable housing directly impacts the city’s economic competitiveness, as local employers struggle to recruit and retain a workforce that can afford to live in the community they serve.”

In their application, DEVCO cited this problem as one of the primary reasons for planning the complex.  

“According to the city of Billings Future Land Use plan, there have been only 254 affordable housing units built since 2015,” Huber said in the executive summary. “DEVCO firmly believes this is the ideal project for Billings and for the East Billings Urban Renewal District.”

A critical funding gap

To receive public funding from one of Billings’ three TIF districts, applicants must first receive approval from the respective district board and subsequently the Billings City Council, which holds final approval over the disbursement of such funds.

Members of EBURD’s advisory committee approved the funding application on July 23, passing the application along to council for its final hurdle on Monday night.

In their application’s executive summary, DEVCO called the $1.5 million in funding "critical" to the project’s future. According to the company, they applied for funding from the Montana Board of Housing but did not receive any, putting the project in a financial bind.

“We did not receive the funds from the state and therefore the project is once again in a difficult financial situation,” Huber said in the executive summary.

If approved, DEVCO would reimburse the city $375,000 annually from fiscal year 2029 to fiscal year 2032.

Working in the company’s favor is an April City Council vote, wherein they approved $1 million in TIF funding for another EBURD affordable housing complex, Skyview Residences.

Containing 18 units, the project application prompted questions from council about whether it was appropriate to invest so much money for so few units.

“I can’t support this motion,” Council member Roy Neese said at the time. “I think there’s a need for this type of housing, but the cost per unit is just too high and I don’t think it’s a wise decision to throw this type of money at this type of project that would give 18 houses.”

As DEVCO is asking for a similar funding allocation but planning a much larger 152-unit complex, they could face less pushback from council. However, since the project is not a for-profit enterprise, there’s no guarantee.

Since nonprofits are generally tax exempt, some council members have expressed hesitancy to give public redevelopment dollars to them, as they don’t provide any return on investment. Because the new structure would be a nonprofit affordable housing complex, it would not contribute to the city’s property tax base upon completion.

“The TIF funding fills a critical need for this project and ensures that it can be built,” Huber said. “We have exhausted all other options and are looking for a lifeline of financial support to keep the project alive and deliver 152 affordable-housing units to the city of Billings.”