A proposed workforce housing development on the old Hardy Ranch parcel drew a standing-room crowd to the Big Sky Community Corporation meeting room Tuesday evening. The project, dubbed “Meadow View Commons,” would add 48 units priced between $650,000 and $950,000 — a price point developers describe as “attainable for local professionals.”
Longtime resident Marge Holloway, 72, arrived at 5:30 p.m. to secure a seat. She remembers when a ski pass cost $12 and a lot in Moonlight Basin went for the price of a decent truck. “They call it workforce housing,” Holloway said, “but the last workforce I saw around here was the crew that built my neighbor’s heated driveway.”
Two rows back, Brad and Courtney Whitfield — who relocated from Austin in 2021 — took notes on a shared iPad. They hope the development might eventually house their nanny, their ski tuner, and the couple who details their SUV. “We’re all about community integration,” Brad said. “As long as the HOA covenants protect property values.”
The developer, Summit Ridge Partners, presented renderings showing modern mountain architecture with standing-seam metal roofs and floor-to-ceiling windows. Each unit includes a gear closet, EV charging rough-in, and a covered patio with mountain views. The community amenities list includes a yoga lawn, a dog wash station, and a “collaborative fire pit zone.”
Several speakers noted the irony of building workforce housing that requires a household income of roughly $180,000 to qualify. Others pointed out that the current workforce — lift operators, line cooks, housekeepers — mostly commutes from Belgrade or Livingston, where a three-bedroom rental still exists below $2,500.
The Yellowstone Club was not on the agenda, but it hovered in the room like weather. Three separate residents brought up the Club’s new employee housing initiative, which includes a private gondola for staff. “They solve the problem by making it not our problem,” said lift mechanic Dale Parson, 54. “But also, honestly? I’d ride that gondola.”
The commission voted to continue the hearing to September. Meadow View Commons remains, for now, a rendering on a screen.