Grass Valley Gardens

Grass Valley Gardens is a long-term visionary project to provide a wide variety of housing options in the growing area west of Missoula, Montana. The project will ultimately include roughly 230 acres and 2,000 units of housing. The development will involve a town center including retail, mixed-use, grocery, and local parks. The entire project will surround active agricultural fields, allowing residents to actively stay connected to the farming heritage of the area. An extensive shared-use trail system will allow bicyclists and pedestrians to navigate the entire development for recreation and exercise. Streets will be designed with narrow widths, landscaping, and other traffic-calming measures to promote a safe neighborhood.  Low impact development will be implemented in the project to minimize stormwater runoff impacts. The project will use ultra-low flow water fixtures throughout to facilitate a very water efficient development.  Ethos Civil is providing owner’s representation, project management and civil engineering services for the project.

The Grass Valley Gardens project is a unique appoach to provide attainable housing to accommodate the growing Missoula population. The project allows for many types of housing, including detached and attached single family, multifamily, and cottage housing.  Eventually, the project will include mixed use development to provide office and retail services. These elements will create a walkable community, reducing vehicle miles traveled. The project will utilize the latest technologies to reduce stormwater impacts.  It will also implement low water usage techniques, to minimize impacts to the aquifer and to reduce wastewater impacts. The project will cluster density of housing around a core of agricultural lands.  The close proximity of the two elements will allow for additional housing while still preserving and promoting the agricultural heritage of the Missoula area. The project will set an example of 21st century housing that provides desperately needed housing while simultaneously preserving agricultural lands and the overall environment.