3 eateries planned to open at a new Boise food complex. One is out. Project paused.
If you live near the Boise Bench, it’s easy to get excited about the entertainment complex slated to replace a torn-down car wash at 13 S. Latah St.
But you’ll need to be patient.
A prospective tenant pulled out a few months ago. And construction has been put on hold.
The STIL ice cream and Push & Pour coffee both still plan to open new locations there, owners said this week.
But local chef John Cuevas, a former James Beard Award nominee, won’t be part of the site’s future.
Cuevas and his wife Julie, who own Madre boutique taqueria in Boise’s Lusk District, had hoped to open a gourmet hamburger restaurant at the neighborhood destination. However, the timing didn’t end up being right, Julie Cuevas explained via email.
“Given the current circumstances,” she added, “looks like someone may have been looking out for us.”
The novel coronavirus has impacted the restaurant industry dramatically, forcing layoffs, closures and threatening business models.
Nevertheless, Kasey Allen, co-owner of The STIL, still hopes to expand into the new building this summer, he said. The STIL plans to relocate all its ice cream production to the site.
The timeline on opening is unclear, said Jay Story of Story Commercial.
“The banks have decided to press the pause button on all things that could be ’detrimentally affected by COVID,’ ” Story said via email, “so as you can imagine, restaurants fit squarely into this.
“Both us, as the developers, and the tenants decided the most prudent thing to do was to also press pause, and reevaluate the market as our city and state begin to open up. We’re hopeful that come June, there will be some positive data leading us to restart the project in the near future.”
And when that happens, what about that third tenant?
“... We would love to have a family-friendly restaurant or pub-style concept,” Story said. “We’ve spoken to various folks about this space, and as you can guess, most are wanting to wait and feel out the current situation a little further.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 3:54 PM.