In ‘real-estate play,’ Spokane buyers grab Eagle restaurant on 5 acres. Guess what’s coming?

Despite skyrocketing prices, Boise’s real-estate glass looks half full to Spokane business partners Matt Goodwin and Jordan Tampien.

Overflowing, actually. With potential. Not to mention beer.

After recent high-profile purchases in Boise — including the former Dutch Goose and Crescent Bar properties — the men are taking over The Flats 16 Restaurant and Event Center at 3705 Idaho 16 in Eagle, which has been sold. It’s part of a 20-acre land purchase this week by a separate Spokane investor, Goodwin said.

Goodwin and Tampien are leasing The Flats 16 from that investor with an option to buy, which they plan to do in five to nine months. No significant changes will be made in the short term, Goodwin said. Previously booked weddings and other events will be honored in 2021. In fact, he said, they are actively seeking more bookings through the end of the year.

After that? In addition to running the restaurant, they plan to add a brewery and a winery to the five-acre property.

The other 15 acres? Those will be developed by their new owner. “He’s going to put 400-plus units around us,” Goodwin said. “Some high-end townhome kind of concept.”

Details about their plan for The Flats 16:

▪ Restaurant: It’s business as usual now, but future change is a possibility. “We’ll evaluate it this year and see what we want to do next year with the concept,” Goodwin said. He and Tampien also own restaurants and bars in Spokane, including The Backyard Public House, a gastropub opening in the former Dutch Goose.

▪ Brewery: Brick West Brewing Co., their Spokane-based brewery, will expand to the site. Before the property was The Flats 16, it was home to local Crooked Fence Brewing Co., which is now located in Garden City. “The big ol’ barn that Crooked Fence used to sit on ... we’re going to turn that into a Brick West taproom,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin and Tampien recently acquired land on 34th Street in Garden City, where they also plan to build a Brick West Brewing location. Goodwin thinks they will install a brewing system at their Eagle hub and open a taproom without brewing equipment in Garden City. He’s not sure which of the two Brick West Brewing locations will open first, but both are targeted for 2022.

▪ Winery: A small house on The Flats 16 property will be converted into a winery next year, Goodwin said. “We have a couple of definite wineries we know pretty well in the Washington area who are looking to come to Boise,” he explained. “We would lease them the house, and they would put a tasting room there that also would cater very well to weddings and events and functions.”

Migration to Idaho is surging, and Goodwin said he thinks additional growth is coming in the Eagle area. Pennsylvania-based home construction company Toll Brothers has been aggressive there, he said.

So investing in The Flats 16?

“I think it’s a real estate play as much as anything,” Goodwin said. “Toll Brothers have gobbled up pretty much every field around there, so they’re going to be building a bunch of homes.

“And we might be two, three years ahead of the curve. But I think eventually there’s going to be a lot of folks out there looking for a place to eat and drink.”