Wealthy investors and ambitious developers are shaping the city’s core
WHITEFISH – When Marshall Friedman walks through downtown Whitefish, he doesn’t see a recession. He sees a renaissance. And nowhere is it more evident than a section of Central Avenue and First Street where deep-pocketed investors and ambitious developers are putting their unmistakable stamp on the city’s core.
In the past year, the area has seen buildings completely torn down to be replaced or thoroughly remodeled, empty lots purchased and new businesses opened, all to the delight of investors like Friedman.
“What’s happening in downtown Whitefish looks like what would be happening in a boom economy,” Friedman said. “It’s almost shocking.”
“Everyone feels that Whitefish at some point is going to have a very, very strong return to a very active real estate market,” he added. “The investors are going to where the major part of the growth is going to be, and that’s downtown.”
Friedman is a partner in the Western Montana Real Estate Fund, which owns the 100 Central Avenue building that houses Piney Creek Interiors, as well as property in the Railway District and elsewhere. In addition to Friedman, the investment group includes Cameron Blake, Larry Cates, Alan Elm and Rick Blake.
In 2007, the real estate fund acquired the 100 Central building, which rests at the corner of Central and First Street, a location Cates calls Whitefish’s “center of gravity.” The building was vacant following the shutdown of music hub Flanagan’s Central Station. The new owners conducted a series of major renovations on both the inside and outside of the facility. In 2010, Piney Creek Interiors moved into the building and then last year a gallery opened on the second floor.
Over the past year, two of the other three corners on Central and First have also been taken off the market, forming a triangle of real estate potential that has investors giddy with expectations, especially now that the city’s three-year street improvements project is finished and cars can freely maneuver through downtown…
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