Shopko’s Boise distribution center sat empty for 2 years. These $50K jobs are going in
The Chicago company that announced last month that it will open a building materials factory in Boise will move into the old Shopko distribution center one mile southeast of the Boise Airport.
The Azek Co. has applied for a conditional use permit at the warehouse located at 1001 E. Gowen Road, in southeast Boise. A separate application for an air quality construction permit was filed with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
Azek plans to hire at least 80 workers in the next year and an additional 100 people over the next two to three years. To qualify for a state tax incentive, it has agreed to hire at least 146 people making an average yearly wage of $50,479.
The factory is expected to open in 2022.
Azek has asked the city for permission to raise the roof on the 347,000-square-foot building from 45 feet to 80 feet. The company also wants to install 26 silos up to 66 feet tall outside next to the building’s south wall.
Azek plans to build 20 extrusion, or manufacturing, lines over two phases, 10 for composite wood and high-density polyethylene, or HDPE, deck boards and 10 for polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, deck boards, according to the company’s application with the DEQ.
The extruders handle molten material that is forced through a mold and water cooled until it hardens into shape. It is then cut to length by a heat knife
Raw materials for extrusion will be loaded into the silos from trucks and rail cars. Dust collectors allow for the recapture of particulates emitted during unloading.
Construction for the first phase is scheduled to begin July 1, with completion on Jan. 1, 2022. The second phase would begin Jan. 1, 2023 and completed July 1, 2023.
The city has not yet scheduled a hearing on the conditional use permit. The DEQ does not require a comment period, but one would be provided if it receives a written request. Application materials can be viewed online.
Spectrum America Supply Chain Solutions, which operated the distribution center for Shopko, closed the building in spring 2019. The shutdown came after Shopko declared bankruptcy and closed its two Boise stores and one in Nampa.
Solitco, a manufacturer of solar components, later leased the building but never moved in.
Meanwhile, Hobby Lobby is scheduled to open a new store next month in Shopko’s former store at Fairview Avenue and Milwaukee street.
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Shopko’s Boise distribution center sat empty for 2 years. These $50K jobs are going in."
