The first fixed term of any purchase in Teakettle Heights is a notice that the land sits inside the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. Superfund boundary. Price will come later. When the Columbia Falls City Council approved the subdivision in June, it required that notice to appear on the plat and in the covenants. The price buyers have heard, $550,000 to $600,000 and described as "below market," carries no such weight. Developer Mick Ruis has said it publicly, but the Daily Inter Lake reported it as his statement, not as one of the council's conditions.
That split matters for anyone weighing Columbia Falls against Kalispell or Whitefish right now. The largest subdivision in the city's history has already settled its legal terms. Its economic terms are still open.
What the City Actually Approved
According to the City of Columbia Falls, the council approved Teakettle Heights on June 1, 2026. The planned unit development covers 78.05 acres at 1800 Aluminum Drive. It calls for 421 dwelling units in three phases on a plat of 185 lots, including five multifamily lots and 11 park or open-space lots. The Daily Inter Lake reported the approved mix as 125 detached single-family homes, 56 townhouse sublots and 240 apartment units. It also reported 26.3 acres of open space and park area, about 33.8% of the property, including a baseball field and a soccer field.
The parcel went from light industrial zoning to CR-5, a two-family residential district. CR-5 allows two units on a 5,400-square-foot lot, which works out to about 12 units per acre. Teakettle Heights is planned at 5.4 units per acre gross. The zoning allows considerably more density than the plan uses. That gives the developer room to rearrange the plan without changing the underlying rules.
He has already rearranged it. In September, Ruis told the Flathead Beacon that single-story homes would now sit next to the Aluminum City neighborhood. The original design put three-story apartment buildings there. Hungry Horse News reported that he is shifting the mix toward more townhomes and fewer apartments while keeping the total at 421 units. Revised counts by housing type have not been published. The June breakdown is still the last official one, and it no longer matches the developer's description.
The Terms That Are Already Fixed
The Flathead Beacon counted 30 conditions attached to the approval. They include homeowners association and park-maintenance provisions, native and local landscaping, and the Superfund disclosure on the plat and in the covenants. For a buyer, these are the parts of Teakettle Heights that show up in a title commitment and a covenant package. Ruis's interviews are not where they live.
| Term | Where it stands as of October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Superfund boundary notice on plat and covenants | Council condition, approved June 2026 |
| HOA and park maintenance | Council condition, approved June 2026 |
| 421 total units, three phases | Approved; developer says the total is unchanged |
| Housing-type mix | June figures superseded in part; new counts unpublished |
| 2% down, below-market rate financing | Listed in conditions, "subject to approval" |
| $550,000 to $600,000 pricing | Developer statement |
| No bulk or investor purchases | Developer statement |
| First home construction | Developer estimate; reported as within a year or within 16 months |
The financing offer appears in the conditions, but as a program to be offered rather than terms any buyer can count on. The Daily Inter Lake reported that the conditions call for Ruis to offer qualified buyers an alternative financing package of 2% down and a mortgage rate below the market rate, "subject to approval." Underwriting, rate and qualification will be set when the homes exist.
Why the Superfund Notice Reads Differently Here
The words "Superfund site" on a plat will stop many relocating buyers on first read. What the agencies have said about this particular parcel is narrower than the label suggests.
Ruis bought most of the former CFAC property from Glencore, about 2,300 acres in total. CFAC still owns roughly 200 acres along the west side of Teakettle Mountain. The Daily Inter Lake reported that this is where several landfills sit and where most of the contamination is, according to multiple rounds of testing. Speaking to the Flathead Beacon during a September 17 tour of the site with state and federal officials, EPA project manager Allie Archer described the residential parcel this way:
"The whole 2,000 acres was sampled and would have been included in any cleanup measures that were required. There was none required for where that Teakettle Heights redevelopment is going, so it's free to be redeveloped and reused."
Archer also told the Beacon that the groundwater requirements "won't be a factor because the Teakettle Heights will be a part of the city water." The broader cleanup runs on its own schedule. The Beacon reported that Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., LLC agreed in July to the roughly $57.6 million cleanup plan in the Record of Decision that EPA and Montana DEQ signed in January 2025. In June, the Daily Inter Lake reported that physical cleanup could begin as soon as next year, meaning 2027, and that monitoring would continue for years after.
Homes in Teakettle Heights may therefore go on sale while remediation is underway nearby. The disclosure condition ensures every buyer is told about the boundary. The council's vote shows how the city weighed the timing. As the Daily Inter Lake reported, a motion to delay building until remediation was finished failed 4–2 after City Attorney Justin Breck warned that the condition could be treated as an illegal taking. Breck said "the EPA has absolute exclusive jurisdiction to make that determination." The paper also reported that Mayor Don Barnhart said he was comfortable with the EPA's analysis.
Below Which Market?
This is where the pricing question gets harder. The Northwest Montana Association of Realtors publishes its monthly figures for Flathead, Lincoln and Lake counties combined, not for Columbia Falls alone. In August 2026, the median sale price for single-family homes across that three-county region was $639,500, up 1.5% from a year earlier.
Measured against that number, $550,000 is about 14% below the median and $600,000 is about 6% below. That is a real gap, but the benchmark mixes Columbia Falls with Bigfork lakefront, Polson, Libby and Eureka. A Columbia Falls-only median would be a better comparison, and none was available from the sources we could use.
The townhome and condo figures complicate it further. The August 2026 regional median for that category was $587,000, up 19.3% year over year. Ruis's announced price range for single-family homes sits right around what attached housing is selling for regionally. Whether that counts as a bargain depends on lot size, finishes and HOA dues, and Teakettle Heights hasn't published any of those yet.
The Market Those Homes Will Land In
The price comparison also uses today's market for homes that don't exist yet. Ruis told Hungry Horse News he hopes to start the first single-family homes within 16 months. He told the Flathead Beacon the same week that he hopes construction on the first homes will begin within a year. Counted from September 2026, that puts first construction somewhere between about September 2027 and early 2028, with finished homes later still.
Meanwhile, the regional market has been loosening. In August 2026, single-family active inventory across the three counties was 1,166 homes, up 10.5% from a year earlier. Months of supply stood at 7.3, and homes averaged 106 days on market. Townhome and condo inventory was up 16.2%, with 8.5 months of supply.
If inventory keeps growing at that pace, the median that Teakettle Heights' price is measured against could look quite different by 2028. A $550,000 home that is "below market" in 2026 terms could be at market when it is finished, or still below it. Builder pricing usually follows the market as it stands on the day a contract is signed, not the market of an earlier interview.
The sewer work explains why the pace is deliberate. Hungry Horse News reported that extending city sewer lines alone will cost about $3 million to $4 million, including a lift station Ruis said he will pay for. The Flathead Beacon reported that the main has to come from south of the viaduct and that sewer capacity has to be checked before connection. Infrastructure costs of that size are spread across 421 units and three phases, and the reported figures don't make clear how that spreading will show up in individual home prices.
Questions Buyers Are Already Asking
Can I reserve a home in Teakettle Heights now? None of the reporting through October 2026 describes a reservation or presale program. Excavators were working at the site off Aluminum Drive in September.
Will investors be able to buy there? Ruis has said no bulk or investor buying will be allowed. Check whether that limit ends up in the recorded covenants or stays a sales policy. That will determine how long it lasts.
How will traffic reach the subdivision? The Flathead Beacon reported two access points, one onto Aluminum Drive and one directly onto the North Fork Road.
What amenities are planned? Hungry Horse News reported plans for a community center with a swimming pool and ball fields. No phase or delivery date has been published for them.
When Teakettle Heights opens for sale, the most important documents will be the recorded plat, the covenants and the financing terms, and Sandra West's legal background is built for reading them. West & Company can walk you through the Superfund notice, the HOA provisions and the 2% down offer clause by clause, and compare the price you are quoted with the Columbia Falls market as it stands that week. Bring us the documents when they are released, and we will go through them with you before you sign.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
