2 developments would add 100 living units near Boise’s old Jerry’s Market
Two developments proposed across the street from one another would create nearly 100 apartments, condominiums and townhouses west of Downtown Boise.
In the first development, 26 townhouses and two condominium units are planned for the former Jerry’s Market property at 819 N. 27th St., on the south side of Stewart Avenue. The project from Trig Point Capital of Denver, known as the Whitewater Station Subdivision, would consist of two- and three-bedroom units in four three-stories buildings.
The project would also include 1,800 square feet of indoor commercial space and 600 square feet of outdoor commercial space, according to the company’s application with the city of Boise. There would also be 12 two-car and 10 one-car garages, along with 21 on-street spaces.
In the second development, across Stewart, property owner Rex Nielsen is seeking to build 70 apartments, half with one bedroom and half with two. He proposes a four-story building with 8,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground level, along with five live-work units.
The project is being called Chaussee-Swan, the former name of Quinns Pond, when it served the Chaussee-Swan Gravel Co. The pond was a popular gathering spot for children when Nielsen was growing up, he told the Boise Planning and Zoning Commission at a hearing this month.
The Whitewater Station project was revised from an earlier submission from Boise developer Michael Jobes of 2 North Homes. Jobes received approval in 2016 to build 23 apartments, five townhouses and 6,000 square feet of commercial space in a four-story building. The project was never built.
There was little opposition to the Whitewater Station in an Oct. 8 hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission, other than some neighbors felt the 55 parking spaces was inadequate. Commissioner Douglas Gibson noted that Trig Point Capital had worked to resolve neighbor concerns before the hearing.
Whitewater Station goes before the Boise City Council at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4 at city hall. Because the project includes creation of a subdivision, it requires council approval.
At a Nov. 5 hearing before the commission on the Chaussee-Swan project, some neighbors objected to the four-story building, saying the master plan for the neighborhood calls for buildings of two to three stories. Current zoning for most of the property allows a maximum height of 45 feet, but that would decrease to 35 feet under a commercial zone sought by Nielsen.
Planning staffers noted that much of the building would not exceed 45 feet, except for railings and shafts for elevators and stairs leading to a rooftop garden. The maximum height planned is 55.5 feet.
“We like the idea of helping to reduce urban sprawl by allowing more people to live in neighborhoods where they can walk and bike without having to drive everywhere,” Rae Brooks, the association’s president, said at the hearing.
Still, she said there were neighbors worried about increased traffic, the loss of mature trees from the property and the “sheer volume” of new housing being proposed.
“I think this would make our neighborhood less livable to have that dense of a development in this historic neighborhood,” Cheryl Griebenow, who lives less than a block away, said at the hearing.
This story was originally published November 19, 2018 at 4:13 PM.
