Local business leaders stood atop a rise overlooking the construction of a new $8.4 million Ford dealership this week and saw the future of Kalispell.

Developing the 500-acre Kalispell North Town Center has been a long time coming. It’s been 17 years since the farm fields north of West Reserve Drive were first eyed for a mixed-use “lifestyle” community. And it’ll be a long time — probably 15 to 30 years or more — until it’s fully built out.

But on a warm Tuesday morning, members of Montana West Economic Development were impressed with what they saw during a members-only tour of the planned town center.

Roads are taking shape in the first 43-acre phase of Kalispell North Town Center. Rose Crossing is being extended from Whitefish Stage Road to U.S. 93 and there will be a stoplight at U.S. 93 and Rose Crossing.

In fact, when Jeff Claridge and his father, Roger Claridge, whose Stillwater Corp. is developing the town center, first considered what to do with the expansive property once owned by developers Chad and Bucky Wolford, a connector road was the first thing that came to mind.

“My dad and I talked about how nice it would be if Ross Crossing was pushed through,” Roger Claridge told the group of business leaders touring the site. “Originally it was just going to be a road. We felt like Rose Crossing [as a connector] would be a huge benefit.

Before they knew it, plans began solidifying and more roads were planned. Jefferson Boulevard, on the eastern border of the first phase, will tie into West Reserve where Kalispell Athletic Club is located. Lincoln Street, another east-west connector through the development, is another connector to U.S. 93.

The Claridges also own LHC Inc., and putting that corporation’s crews to work on the roads “is an advantage for sure,” Claridge said.

“We want to have the roads paved this year,” he added.

Kim Morisaki, business development director of Montana West Economic Development, said the road network is a huge benefit to that area.

“We’re excited about the traffic infrastructure,” she said.

A half-million yards of dirt were moved in recent months to create the building site for the new Ford dealership that will combine Whitefish Ford and Kalispell Ford under one roof. The dealership is expected to open late this year. Tilt-up concrete walls are being erected to shape the 54,000-square-foot building.

Other prospective tenants are taking shape.

“We’ve had several inquiries,” Claridge said. “There’s quite a bit of interest. We view it as the future of Kalispell.”

Claridge said he’d love to attract a grocery store to the town center.

Architectural renderings for the first round of commercial development show 13 building pads with ample space for parking.

The lots are good-sized, Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz noted.

“There’s lots of green space — about 20 to 25 percent in green space,” Jentz said.

Phase 1 includes a 100-foot-wide landscaped buffer along U.S. 93 North and 2.1 acres of landscape buffer between the National Guard Armory and the northern edge of Kalispell North Town Center.

In addition to the initial 43 acres of commercial development, the first phase includes 14 acres to the north for multifamily residential development.

Future phases of the town center will include more commercial lots, office space, a hotel and more residential development. There’s also a 12-acre set-aside for a new Kalispell elementary school down the road.

“Kalispell North Town Center is such an incredible piece of land,” Jentz said. “The key for Kalispell is getting a road system. Once you create a street system you add so much value. … We’ll grow in a fairly organized pattern.”

Enhancing the existing connector roads of West Reserve Drive and Whitefish Stage Road also will be a crucial factor for future development, Jentz said.

“We have to be creative” with how to tackle the funding, he added.

Building a four-lane highway on West Reserve Drive between U.S. 93 and U.S. 2 would cost about $28 million. That’s not in the cards for the city of Kalispell, which is able to allocate only $700,000 a year for road projects. Preliminary discussions with state highway officials have indicated there may be various pots of money the state Department of Transportation can tap for that project, Jentz said, such as the bridge fund because the project includes the bridge over the Stillwater River, and safety funds to improve the congested intersection of Whitefish Stage Road and West Reserve Drive.

“The stoplight at Whitefish Stage [and West Reserve] is the bugaboo,” Jentz said.

Proposed first as a mega-mall and then as the Glacier Town Center under the Wolfords’ ownership, the Kalispell North Town Center property was annexed into the city in 2008. Development plans faced stiff opposition in the beginning, however.

In 2004 neighbors sued Flathead County and Bucky Wolford, challenging the legality of a growth-policy amendment and a related zone change that would have paved the way for the mall. That court battle ended up with the Montana Supreme Court in 2006 delivering a mixed ruling that favored the county on most counts.

After the property was annexed into Kalispell, the project was put on hold amid the national recession that also stymied growth in the Flathead Valley. At that time Chad Wolford said his company already had spent in excess of several million dollars on the various design revisions to the project.

The Wolfords aimed to transform the site from wheat fields into a mix of more than 600 new residential dwellings and about 2 million square feet of new retail and commercial space.

Ownership of the property reverted back to the Claridges in 2012. The overall development plan divides the project into nine phases.

Jentz sees the build-out of Kalispell North Town Center as the catalyst for more mixed-use growth in that area.

“The story of North Kalispell is how neighborhoods are coming together,” he said.

For example, Jentz pointed out, Stillwater Bend is another mixed-use development proposed in the same area on the west side of U.S. 93 near Northern Pines Golf Course. It mimics Kalispell North Town Center’s mixed-use blend of commercial and residential development. The property has been annexed into Kalispell. Nick Caruso is the developer.

A big component of Stillwater Bend would be “punching through” Rose Crossing to the west side of U.S., 93 and continuing to the Stillwater River, Jentz said. That sets the stage for one day building a bridge across the river to LHC property on the other side of the Stillwater River.

“Three years ago [extending] Rose Crossing was just a dream,” Jentz said.

Caruso also has purchased 100 acres along U.S. 93 near the Ponderosa Pines subdivision for a housing development. That property includes the former Montana Homefitters building that may be converted into a real estate sales office, Jentz said.

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