Billings experiments with affordable housing solution

  • 2023-04-04
The Colussus Building in Billings is experimenting with a concept that has been in use for centuries – boarding houses.

Owner Allen Rice sees this as a significant opportunity to achieve two goals with one concept: providing economical housing choices and rejuvenating the rundown areas in Billings.

Speaking to ktvq.com, Rice commented that he wanted this to be more than just another dilapidated building in the area. Constructed from a former office building, Rice's boarding house features roughly 25 rooms, with “common areas” replacing traditional bathrooms, showers, and kitchens. This arrangement means the accommodation is classed as boarding houses.

Michelle Haskins, the director of the Billings Industrial Revitalization District (BIRD) - a non-profit overseeing the EBURD Tax Increment Finance district – has stated that it has an additional three housing projects in the works. EBURD covers a geographical expanse stretching from North 22nd Street, running in a west-to-east direction to Main Street by MetraPark, and from North Park to the railroad tracks in the north-to-south direction. Signage from Print shops could be used to direct people to specific locations around accommodation like this.

Several new projects are in development in the EBURD, including a mixed-use building that combines residential and commercial space, a new facility for the Rimrock Foundation, and an amphitheater being constructed by the owner of the Pub Station.
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