Boise’s vacant armory has its origins in the Great Depression. Boise’s 300-acre industrial park has its roots in the Brent Coles administration.
The two properties have little in common, except for the fact that the current city administration has searched, in vain, for developers with an interest in either site.
Now, two business partners are looking both at the armory and the industrial park. And that’s promising — even though City Hall and California-based J&M Land LLC are just at the start of a complicated process.
In November, the Boise City Council started the clock on both potential projects, giving J&M six months to close a deal on the armory and a year to close a deal on 200 acres at the industrial park.
In both cases, J&M would purchase land from the city and use it as a bargaining chip:
Æ At the industrial park, J&M would be allowed to swap 30 acres for an adjacent 200 acres.
A bargain? Perhaps. But one that also benefits City Hall. Boise would reap $1 million off the 30-acre land sale — and finally see some activity at an industrial park that has long languished, despite a prime location near Interstate 84 and the airport.
Æ J&M would spend $500,000 on 13 acres of industrial land and use it to leverage the 5 acres at the armory.
The numbers aside, the most promising facet of the armory deal is the developer’s willingness to view the Works Progress Administration-era building not as an albatross but as an amenity. Other would-be developers have sought to raze the aging armory; J&M says it would honor the city’s wishes and renovate it. Said Mike McCollum, the co-founder of PowerBar and a J&M partner, “I think it’s a neat building.”
It’s been a long time since anyone expressed much of any interest in the armory — let alone refer to it as a “neat” building.
These two very different vacancies, the armory and the industrial park, are steeped, respectively, in Boise’s past and Boise’s future.
Tucked near the Fort Boise site, the armory sits in one of Boise’s older neighborhoods. Boise’s comprehensive plan calls for mixed use — and a refurbished armory can and should be a centerpiece of neighborhood redevelopment.
The industrial site, meanwhile, is an isolated and all-but-blank canvas. Vacant and far from residential areas, it lends itself to some new and much-needed industrial or manufacturing development.
It’s not too early to start thinking about things we’d like to see in 2012. The armory and industrial park deals both belong on the list.
“Our View” is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman’s editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, email editorial@idahostatesman.com.
