Rose Hills neighborhood project enters final financial planning phase

Helena Area Habitat for Humanity and the City of East Helena have reached the final financial planning phase for Rose Hills, a mixed-income neighborhood that could bring more than 1,500 homes to the Helena area. The city is proposing a bond of up to $17.5 million to cover most off-site infrastructure costs, including water and transportation improvements, and the project cannot move ahead until that financing is in place.

That financial step matters because it determines how much of the neighborhood will be built, how quickly it can be served by roads and utilities, and what it will mean for East Helena’s housing supply. Habitat says Rose Hills is aimed at meeting growing demand for starter homes in the Helena area, with a plan that also emphasizes sustainability, trails and parks, and local amenities.

The scale alone puts Rose Hills near the top of the region’s development pipeline. Habitat materials describe it as the largest land development project in the history of the Helena area, and the organization said in a fall 2025 newsletter that it had recently completed six new homes in East Helena. That makes Rose Hills part of an already active building picture in the city, even as the larger neighborhood still depends on the financing structure now being assembled.

For Lewis and Clark County residents, the key questions now are whether the bond can be secured, how the infrastructure package is structured, and how quickly the neighborhood can begin delivering homes. The city says the proposed bond would not affect current Helena residents’ taxes, but the final cost breakdown will shape how Rose Hills fits into East Helena’s growth, the local tax base, and the broader fight over housing availability in the Helena area.