# The Whole Plan — Joshua Tree · 1316 Bozeman · Helena > **Current as of Aug 23 night:** Live packet numbers are on the one-page board and the filled City form. Working priced exterior **$84,680.59** including handicap entrance **$5,000**. Downtown HURD / BID is **parked — not this filing**. Basement is **not a use**. This file is lineage; do not file from it if it disagrees with the board. **Status: Green on research, Yellow on money — the City is live and Stephen is in motion. Three real money lanes now, plus a showcase lane.** **Corrected and re-researched 2026-08-17.** This supersedes the earlier briefing. --- ## 1. What I got wrong (now fixed) Three things I said before were stale or wrong. Here is the corrected truth, from the raw files in Diane's folder. | I said before | The truth | |---------------|-----------| | "Nash-Finch occupancy of 1316 is unproven — do not claim it." | **VERIFIED.** A "Helena As She Was" history post (Aug 29, 2020) that Diane saved states verbatim: *"adjacent to the Nash-Finch food and beverage distributor warehouse, 1316 Bozeman. The warehouse was managed by the Christie Transfer & Storage Co."* That is the primary-source tie the earlier pass missed. | | "The City match is pending a first call." | **The City is already working with Stephen.** Diane's draft application says *"per our conversation yesterday"* and *"Stephen has already invested $ to begin the project"* and *"Applicant's Ability to Perform — already begun with projects."* | | "Only one live door." | **Three live lanes now** — the City TIF, a second façade grant Helena already runs, and a state jobs fund. Details below. | **The building story, now honest and sourced:** Nash-Finch food & beverage distribution warehouse (1930s, managed by Christie Transfer) → **Capital Transfer & Storage** (Horne family, 1949 – July 1, 2026) → **Joshua Tree Cabinetry** (Stephen Banker, 2026 onward). The 1935 earthquake shattered the State Liquor Warehouse next door; this stone warehouse stood. --- ## 2. The full money stack ### Lane 1 — City Railroad District match (PRIMARY, live) - City of Helena can match **up to half** of eligible **exterior** work: windows, wells, doors, masonry, gutters, ADA ramp. - Chain: Community Development → **HURTIF advisory board** (2nd Tuesday, 1:30 p.m.) → **City Commission** → signed development agreement. - The building is **proven inside** the Railroad District (the tax card literally says "TIF Rlrd URP"). Taxes current. - **Hard rule:** money spent on matched work *before* approval may not be matched. ### Lane 2 — Helena's own downtown façade grant (NEW — this is the "extra grant" you asked for) - Helena's **Business Improvement District (BID)** already runs a **downtown façade improvement program**, funded through the **Montana Main Street Program**, modeled on Kalispell's. - This is **separate money from the TIF** — a second façade source. - Main Street grants: roughly **$1 local for every $5 received** (20% match). Annual cycle, applications typically due **mid-November**. Helena is a member community. - The kicker: the RURD rubric itself awards points for a **marketing/branding** plan. A façade grant + story + brand = a complete Main Street-style package. ### Lane 3 — State jobs fund (NEW) - **Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund** — up to **$5,000 per new job** ($7,500 in a high-poverty county). - A local government (Big Sky Economic Development) applies **on the business's behalf**. Requires net-new jobs, a wage floor (170% of state minimum wage or the county average), a match, and a "basic sector" (out-of-state sales) test. - This funds the **shop expansion and jobs**, not the stone. Keep it separate from façade invoices. ### Lane 4 — state historic grant (next cycle, not this one) - **Montana Historic Preservation Grant** — up to $350,000, 1:1 match for for-profits. - The Feb 28, 2026 deadline for the current biennium **passed**. Next round: **March 1, 2028**. Calendar it. Do not promise current-cycle money. ### Lane 5 — owner's tax credits (John Horne's side) - **Federal ~20%** + **Montana 25%** of the federal amount — claimed by the **owner**, not the tenant. - Gate: the building is **not** on the City's historic-district map; SHPO/HPO must first say it qualifies. ### Checked and ruled out (so nobody wastes time) - **Helena Area Community Foundation** — nonprofits only, not small business. - **Indian Equity Fund** — Native-owned businesses only. - Kansas IRONED / Louisiana / Minnesota Paul Bruhn — wrong states. --- ## 3. Where we show off — and how that is *scoring*, not decoration The RURD criteria, in the City's own words, gives consideration to projects that *"more fully develop a marketing initiative that is based on the RURD's distinct history and cultural/economic importance… a cohesive, comprehensive branding and marketing plan with an associated implementation plan."* That means the story work **is worth money**, not just nice-to-have. - **Story site** — "Bring the Light Back" — **built**, with real photos of the stone, the poured-shut openings, the barn doors, the old plat. - **Board presentation** — built. - **Short film** — parked on your word. - **John Horne oral history** — the single highest-value asset. 76 years of living memory, on record, is gold for both the board and the marketing criterion. **Being assistive:** this project does the City's own marketing job for it — a working craftsman restoring a railroad-district warehouse *is* the district's story in one building. --- ## 4. What already exists (inventory) | Deliverable | Where | Status | |-------------|-------|--------| | Research brief (property, history, board, codes, windows) | `planning/diane-helena-warehouse/RESEARCH_BRIEF.md` | Done (corrected) | | Stephen Banker dossier | `…/STEPHEN_BANKER_DOSSIER.md` | Done | | Window & egress strategy memo | `…/application/WINDOW_STRATEGY_MEMO.md` | Done | | MCA eligibility map | `…/application/MCA_7-15-4288_MAP.md` | Done | | Project narrative (draft) | `…/application/PROJECT_NARRATIVE.md` | Draft | | Cost worksheet | `…/application/COST_WORKSHEET.md` | Blanks open | | Owner permission letter (Horne) | `…/application/OWNER_PERMISSION_LETTER_HORNE.html` | Ready, unsigned | | Precedents (Pattern House ~$75K, YWCA ~$150K) | `…/application/PRECEDENTS.md` | Done | | Story site | `…/site/index.html` | Built | | Board presentation | `…/presentation/BOARD.html` | Built | | Private worksite | `…/worksite/index.html` | Built | | Grant stack | `…/grants/GRANT_STACK.md` | Updated | | Plane board | `localhost:8085/genesis-kingdom` | Live — 12 items | Raw source: `~/Desktop/Diane Historic Home/` (~146 files: photos, 5 window/shop PDFs, 11 docx/xlsx history + application drafts). --- ## 5. What still blocks a City filing (facts, not essays) - John Horne's **signed** permission + phone + email - The **lease** (term, permission to alter exterior) - Dollars Stephen already invested (the draft says he has) - Remaining **trade bids** (wells, 8 concreted openings, doors, masonry, gutters, ADA, overhead door) - **Headcount** now and planned - **Basement use** (storage vs occupied shop) — drives egress - Confirm the **eligibility call** happened and the current HURTIF deadline --- ## 6. Next steps, in order 1. Confirm the City TIF is live and get the current HURTIF deadline from Stephen/Diane. 2. Get John Horne's signature + lease. 3. Collect the missing bids and dollars-in. 4. Declare basement use in writing. 5. Open the **Helena BID façade grant** in parallel (second façade source). 6. Put **Big Sky jobs fund** on the list via Big Sky Economic Development. 7. Calendar **MHPG** for March 1, 2028. 8. Raise **tax credits** with John Horne. 9. Finish the packet and file — on Carter's word only. **Nothing sends. Nothing files. Nothing is paid — until you say the word.** --- *The film waits. The story is built. The City is live. The extra money is now mapped.*