The former Walmart building in Evergreen that had been studied for a future expansion of the Flathead County jail has been sold to U-Haul Co. of Montana.

County Administrator Mike Pence said the county received an email last week from its real estate representative confirming U-Haul’s purchase of the Walmart facility from the building owner, RIC Kalispell Trust of Brooklyn, New York.

Last July the county had a tentative agreement to buy the 130,000-square-foot former box store for $2.8 million, the appraised value of the facility and accompanying 14 acres. That deal fell through in September when the owner received a higher offer.

The county recently reiterated its interest in the Walmart building but as a government entity could not offer more than the appraised value.

The building was constructed in 1995 and Walmart leased the facility through 2015. According to county records, the building and property had an appraised value of $10.1 million in 2014.

The concrete block building has been empty since the retail giant relocated to its Supercenter store in north Kalispell in 2009.

U-Haul already has posted signs at the building and intends to use the facility as both a U-Haul rental store and a climate-controlled storage facility.

Terry Schaub, president of U-Haul Co. of Montana, said U-Box rental and storage will be offered as well as truck and trailer rental.

This is the company’s seventh store in Montana. There are similar U-Haul stores in Missoula, Great Falls, Helena and Bozeman. Billings, where Schaub is based, has two stores.

Schaub expects the store and storage facility will have 10 to 15 employees when it’s fully up and running.

“We’re trying to keep everything as local as possible,” he said.

The storage portion of the building, which is yet to be built out, will offer individual storage rooms large enough to accommodate vehicles and campers. Each storage unit will have an individual alarm system and 24-hour access.

U-Haul of Montana offers similar storage units at its Helena, Billings and Bozeman stores and has found high demand for the climate-controlled rooms, Schaub said.

Work is underway this week to bring the former box store back to life, getting the heat and water turned on again and building the infrastructure for the other services to be offered there. There is no phone service yet, but Schaub advised U-Haul customers to keep checking U-Haul online as more information becomes available.

Flathead County Commissioner Pam Holmquist said the county’s loss is Evergreen’s gain.

“We’re actually going to get a business in there and that’s good,” she said. “We weren’t sure it was going to work [for a jail] anyway, and we couldn’t pay more than the appraisal. This is a clear sign we’ll have to find somewhere else” for a new jail.

Holmquist said overcrowding in the current county jail is a top priority for her.

The county didn’t receive a $45,000 planning grant it sought to study alternatives for expanding the jail, but will reapply through the Community Development Block Grant program, Holmquist said.

The grant would pay for a preliminary architectural report that would study alternatives for expanding the jail, including an expansion of the existing jail, buying property and building a new jail or converting an existing facility.

Holmquist acknowledged the jail expansion still is several years away because of the cost.

“Whatever we do will probably take several years,” she said. “At the end of the day it could be $30 million to $40 million.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com