If someone compiled a list of the “Top 10 ways to piss off Missoulians,” it’s likely former Canadian pro-footballer and real-estate developer Aaron Wagner would check most of the boxes.
In late November, Wagner — founder of investment firm Wags Capital — joined forces with former UM quarterback Cole Bergquist to purchase the old Missoulian building and its property along the Clark Fork at the foot of the Higgins bridge.
Their plan for the location: A state-of-the-art $100 million-plus commercial and residential complex complete with a 200-car underground parking garage.
It’s not surprising that such a project would draw ire in Missoula, where the price of an average family home has doubled to nearly half a million dollars since 2017, according to the Missoula Organization of Realtors. Wagner’s partner Bergquist is also behind the luxury condos going up just down the street from the proposed Higgins complex. That project ignited controversy too, and locals flooded city council meetings and signed petitions in attempts to halt development to no avail.
What is surprising — and counterproductive — is the online war of words following the announcement of the plan for the Missoulian plot development.
After Bergquist and Wagner posted concept videos of the project to their Instagram pages to commemorate the deal, backlash was swift. Wagner faced a flood of Instagram direct messages to which he was quick to respond, often matching — and exceeding — the vitriol directed at him.
In a message to a critic, Wagner said, “I don’t respect communist pricks telling me I don’t deserve to build amazing projects and employ hundreds of locals … if you can’t afford your shit, make yourself more valuable instead [of] pointing at people like me and whining like a bitchy little victim.”
In another exchange, Wagner told a critic to “learn a fucking thing or two about economics before you open your little pie hole.”
A story from the Missoulian also cites responses from Wagner, such as “get a job you he/she” and “fucking tards, Gawd you losers will always lose.”
Wagner said he was the target of death threats, according to the Missoulian. Some critics told him to “Watch out for some vigilante justice you fuck,” and “We all hope you burn in hell you piece of shit.” Other messages made “sexual references” to his wife and daughters, the Missoulian reported.
As Wagner fired back at his critics, signatures piled on to a
change.org petition advocating for “responsible” development of the riverside property and accusing Wagner and his partners of “exploiting” Missoula residents. As of Nov. 29, more than 6,000 people had signed.
Given the ferocity of some of the messages sent to Wagner, it’s baffling that those who sent them expected anything less than a “fire-with-fire” response. Hurling obscenities at a real estate developer is hardly a way to open a dialogue about the gentrification of Missoula.
That said, Wagner’s initial choice to belittle and mock his critics — many of them UM students frustrated with a lack of affordable housing — has done nothing but empower the opposition mounting against him and his partners.
In the Missoulian story, Wagner apologized for his comments and decried the people who sent him threats. Wagner did not respond to the Kaimin’s request for additional comment.
Apologies aside, if UM students and Missoula locals want their voices heard, they’d benefit from a tidier campaign at city council meetings or other public forums — seriously, ditch the name-calling and direct-message threats.
And if Wagner is truly looking to make amends, the least he should do is hire locally as the project gets underway — for someone with a professed belief in the power of capitalism, he should put his money where his mouth is and stimulate the local economy. He and Bergquist could also listen to the concerns of locals who’ve watched their city grow increasingly unaffordable and dedicate some units for middle-to-low-income earners.
But if Wagner and Bergquist choose to weather the storm and build their $100-million baby as-is, they’d better sharpen their PR skills — “Ya gen z little entitled twat” won’t cut it.
