Eagen said he can tell just by the “overwhelming” interest he’s received on social media that people are clamoring for downtown living.

“I remember when they offered the Wilma condos, those sold out right away,” he said. “People are calling me right now to do reservations, but I can’t yet. It’s three blocks from a great gym, The Peak, and every bar or restaurant you want is within walking distance. So other than the Wilma there is no new downtown housing project.”

Eagen said that if the Bozeman developer that wants to build a five-story hotel at the site of the Missoula Mercantile next door gets a demolition permit, that project will block the southern views of his project. However, he won’t mind.

“I support the proposal for the Merc because it’s going to be such a boon for downtown,” he said. “I love downtown Missoula, my office is down here, but you can’t save every building.”

The 11,000-square-foot basement in the Firestone building was originally used to park cars, Eagen said, so it won’t need to be excavated. However, most of it is literally rotting, which reinforced their engineers’ decision that the entire structure needs to be demolished.

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