EAST HELENA — The city of East Helena unanimously approved the Rose Hills mixed-income neighborhood plan, which has been in the works for over seven years.
East Helena Mayor Kelly Harris said, “I think Rose Hills, being affordable housing, really represents East Helena’s past and brings us into the future, having people have opportunities to work.”
This is part of the two-thousand-acre former Asarco smelter site. It is slowly being transformed into something new.
Part of it is now Prickly Pear Park, which opened this past spring, and these 250 acres will be a neighborhood.
“East Helena creates an opportunity for housing and to build housing where it needs to be, which is near towns where the jobs are, food is, and infrastructure is,” Helena Area Habitat for Humanity director Jacob Kuntz said.
Helena Area Habitat for Humanity submitted its Rose Hills neighborhood plan to the city of East Helena in December 2024.
Following an extensive public review process and a series of unanimous approvals by the East Helena zoning board, planning board, and city council, the neighborhood plan is now moving forward to engineering and infrastructure design.
Kuntz said, “To have this approval from the city on a very innovative neighborhood that is going to help us address more housing that Montanans can afford is a pretty big deal.”
The first phase of Rose Hills will include 101 building lots with the potential for more than 170 homes, focusing on the types of housing most needed in today’s market.
The development will also include trails, parks, and shared amenities designed to foster connection and sustainability.
Harris said, “I think for the whole state and America needs affordable housing, and I think Habitat for Humanity is one method for people to obtain home ownership through hard work, and that benefits the community and represents East Helena.”
With the plan now approved, the project will move into the engineering phase this winter, with construction on streets, utilities, and parks scheduled to begin in spring 2026.
