Montrose, CO

Mountain Living with a Bright View Ahead

Shaping a Vibrant Future on the Western Slope

Centrally located in the heart of western Colorado, it is easy to see why Montrose is known as a gateway to some of the state’s greatest outdoor adventures. Framed by breathtaking landscapes and sunny skies, this vibrant city is more than just a stopping point. It is a community moving forward with vision and purpose, continuing to build on the growth and opportunity it has welcomed in recent years.

A Downtown on the Rise

At the center of the city’s revitalization is downtown Montrose, where the Rathbone Hotel project showcases a striking example of historic preservation and contemporary hospitality. “We took a historic furniture building right on Main Street, one of the oldest buildings in town, and the city council partnered with private developers to turn it into a boutique hotel, restaurant, and bar,” describes City Manager William Bell. The Rathbone, developed by hotelier Clay Bales and his business partner Jason Raible, celebrated its grand opening on July 9, 2024, and received the Stephen Hart Award for Best Downtown Project through History Colorado in 2025.

For Montrose, the accolades did not stop there. Bell shares, “The opening of The Association in the historic Potato Growers Building was the final step of a multi-year partnership with the Storm King Distillery. It’s an amazing event and gathering space that just received the Stephen Hart award this year for Best Downtown Project through History Colorado for 2026. It is so rewarding to win this award two years in a row!”

To complement these private investments, the city is funding its own downtown infrastructure projects. “In the last year, we’ve done another million dollars of downtown improvements to support businesses,” Bell details, noting that these include curb, gutter, and sidewalk updates, as well as parking enhancements and grants to help with building renovations.

“If people want to update their historic buildings, we’ll help them pay for things like removing the asbestos and upgrading the fire suppression or old electrical wiring, so they can focus on their business itself,” Bell expands. “If they are replacing windows and entry doorways, we will many times pay the difference between doing it the historic way versus the cheaper way, so they have the incentive to go ahead and keep the historical integrity of their building.”

 Food and Nightlife

A city-funded mural program further exemplifies Montrose’s commitment to vibrancy in the downtown. “Last year, the Council gave out over $50,000 in mural grants for five different murals on the sides of the downtown buildings,” Bell says. The grants are structured as dollar-for-dollar matches with property owners, and another $50,000 has already been budgeted for 2026.

Food and nightlife are playing a part as well. Through a commercial kitchen program launched a few years ago, Montrose has partnered with developers to create restaurant-ready spaces throughout the community. “Just in the last several months, we had two of those restaurants open, both of them on Main Street,” Bell says. Ms.So, a Japanese noodle bar is the first to be opened in the historic Daily Bread building, and a second, sit-down Japanese Steakhouse experience is set to open this spring.

Eatery 66 North, alongside Montrose’s Demoret Park, is another popular establishment and a commercial kitchen project. “Both of them are very busy and very excited to be in downtown Montrose,” Bell portrays. “And we’re looking at redesigning Demoret Park to provide outdoor seating and some experiential activities.”

The goal is to encourage businesses to stay open longer, creating more energy in the downtown. “That has always been a problem in small rural communities like ours,” he admits. “People have been trained to go home and go to bed at 8 pm. The more nightlife we offer, the more we can retrain the people in our community that there are things to do after dark in downtown Montrose.”

Housing Diversity

Montrose is also tackling the housing challenges that come with growth, bringing in market-rate apartments, LIHTC development, and single and multi-family homes. In the Colorado Outdoors area, Green Line Development will be adding 96 market-rate apartment units, along with 12,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Real America has completed more than 70 units of subsidized housing near the city’s recreation center. “They opened up last year, and they’re already starting on another 70-plus units directly east of that facility,” notes Bell. “Both of those are subsidized, low-to-moderate-income housing.”

On the north side of Montrose, a mixed-use neighborhood in partnership with local nonprofit Community Options and the Dragoos, the developers of Colorado Outdoors, could bring approximately 300 units online over the next three years. “That will be a mixture of subsidized housing, as well as mixed-use neighborhood development,” Bell reports. “Of course, we will still see a lot of single-family, duplexes, and townhomes being developed all over the community.  Diversity of housing types is so important for the future of Montrose.”

William Woody, Public Information Officer, highlights, “In the last couple of years, we’ve modernized our municipal code to allow different types of housing development in downtown. We have a REDO district where people can submit plans and build small units on their properties. In the last five years, we’ve seen a real diversification of our housing, from just single-family primarily to housing of all types. It’s been really incredible to watch.”

Building for Business

As it welcomes new enterprises like Les Schwab Tires, Montrose is also continuing its efforts to make it easier for businesses to invest. “We’re trying to bring in a really good mix across the entire community,” Bell relays. “I waive all city building permit fees for any commercial construction projects in Montrose, and I’ve done that since 2011. That has really helped to get a wide variety of things built.”

Hospitality is also playing a role in the expanding economy. Currently, a Hampton Inn and Suites is under construction near the existing Fairfield Inn by Marriott, and additional hotels are being planned in Colorado Outdoors. “We are working hard to get more hotels in Colorado Outdoors and in other locations throughout Montrose”, says Bell. “We think there’s still a shortage of about 500 rooms in Montrose based on the demand for trainings, conventions, and large community events.”

To support tourism-related growth, voters approved an increase in the city’s lodging tax from 1 to 6 percent, still one of the lowest rates in Colorado. This increased revenue will go towards street improvements, housing, childcare, tourism development, and public transit. “That getting approved shows that the community trust is there, and the community really wants us to expand our operations and try to manage our growth appropriately over the next decade. So we’re excited about that,” Bell says.

On the infrastructure side, investments extend well beyond Main Street. Recent and ongoing projects include new roundabouts to improve traffic flow, a $70 million Public Works facility, $40 million in wastewater treatment plant upgrades, and millions more in road capital construction.

Investing in Community

One of Montrose’s most innovative projects is a city-owned child care facility, set to open in Spring 2026. The childcare center will be operated by contractor Jennifer Knott and will provide approximately 50 slots, including 10 infant spaces. “It will be primarily for large public employers,” Bell describes. “The hospital, the city, the county, and the school district are the big ones. We’ve all lost employees due to a lack of childcare options. When we make an offer, they can’t find housing, or they can’t find childcare because the access just isn’t there.”

Although the center will charge a market rate equivalent to the highest in town, the city is contributing $150,000 in 2026 to reduce rates for its own employees and is encouraging other employers to do the same. “We didn’t want to compete with any of the other providers,” explains Bell. “If it doesn’t fill up with all of our employees, then it’ll be open to the general public at that market rate.”

By utilizing a building it already owned, one that previously served as a school facility, the City of Montrose was able to streamline the licensing process and move more quickly than starting from scratch. “It already had many of the things that make it qualified by the state for child care, which was nice,” he remarks.

Through a creative land trade with Volunteers of America, the city is also supporting the arts. “We’re swapping our land near VOA so they have room for future growth to support our aging population, and they’re giving us the property that’s under the local community theater building so the theater can plan for future growth and expansion,” Bell conveys. Magic Circle Players Community Theater is now raising money to buy the land on which their building currently sits from the City, and the three-way partnership will be complete. “Community Theater is so important for Montrose! It brings all walks of life together through the arts to make something special and to build community. From a business perspective, it is a great partnership because people who go out to the theater also go out to restaurants, breweries, and distilleries before and after the show. Magic Circle also brings visitors in from out-of-town.”

As Montrose moves through the next several years, the top objectives include completing hotel and housing projects, attracting restaurant chains, refining city codes to reduce red tape, and continuing major infrastructure upgrades. Together, these priorities position Montrose as a city that continues to thrive, while honoring its history, investing in its present, and planning for its future.

AT A GLANCE

Who: Montrose, CO

What: A rural city embracing growth and revitalization

Where: Montrose County, Colorado

Website: www.cityofmontrose.org