4 projects would add 100+ apartments, condos, townhomes to this old Boise neighborhood
The West End, an older neighborhood west of downtown Boise, is becoming more popular for developers looking to create condominiums, townhouses and apartments where single-family homes and small businesses once stood.
Four projects have been proposed in the past year within six blocks of Whitewater Park Boulevard. The latest promises nine “moderately priced” condominiums in keeping with the surrounding neighborhood’s character on the site of a house that would be torn down.
But two of the projects have not advanced as rapidly as previously thought.
Here’s a look at each one:
1. Condos at 25th and Bannock
A Denver development company that tore down the old Jerry’s 27th Street Market to make way for townhouses now has its sights set on this second project at a nearby corner.
Trig Point Capital has acquired a single-family house at 25th and Bannock streets, a half-mile southeast of Jerry’s and a block northwest of Fairview Park, where it plans to replace the house with nine condominiums.
The condos would have two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms each and an average size of 1,448 square feet, according to plans submitted to the city. They would come with detached parking garages located in the alley. The homes would be spread among three buildings.
The portions of the homes facing the street would have two stories, while a third story containing rooftop patios would be set back in the center of the development.
The company originally proposed a 10-unit, 3.5-story design but scaled back its plans after meeting with neighbors. The height would reach 32.5 feet. Zoning regulations allow up to 45 feet.
“While the site size and zoning could accommodate more units (if approved) and the building could be higher than what is proposed, the project intent was not to maximize the allowable density and buildable dimensions, but more so to deliver a residential development that compliments the neighborhood,” Trig Point Development Director Blane Harvey wrote in a letter to the city.
He wrote that trees would be planted along Bannock Street, which has none now, and landscaping would be added along 25th Street.
The West End, Harvey wrote, contains an “eclectic mix” of single-family homes, commercial, green space and small multifamily complexes that provide for a mixed neighborhood attainable to many residents who choose to live and work in Boise.
“Persistent disparities in income and wealth, combined with biased neighbor opinions and policies, have excluded moderately priced housing and diversity from other surrounding neighborhoods near downtown,” he wrote. “This project is a great example in which the city can support a development that balances density, attainable housing options and the existing neighborhoods’ values without major variances or deviations from city code.”
The application did not disclose how much the condos might cost, and Harvey did not return a call seeking comment.
Susan Marston, who lives off North 27th Street and bikes along Bannock, said the development does not fit with the single-family homes located along that section of Bannock and 25th. She has testified at hearings and submitted letters about several construction projects in the neighborhood.
“I think it sets a dangerous precedent that people can go out and sell their property to the highest bidder and we have no control over what get replaced,” Marston said by phone. “It will destroy the character of the neighborhood.”
2. Corner at Whitewater townhouses
After Jerry’s Market was torn down last year, Trig Point Capital cleared its site at North 27th Street and West Stewart Avenue. It plans 25 townhouses, three condominiums and ground-floor commercial shops to be built in four three-story buildings.
The first building, with two- or three-bedroom townhouses starting in the mid-$300,000s, was projected to be completed before the end of 2019. Construction of the three other buildings were planned in turn. But construction has yet to begin.
On Monday, Feb. 17, Harvey submitted an application for a building permit for the first of the four buildings.
The project is named The Corner at Whitewater. Elijah McNeeley, a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Tomlinson Group, who is marketing the units, did not return a call for comment.
Marston said she doesn’t have a problem with that development, since the property has a long history as a commercial lot. But she said she’s concerned about the added traffic there and at the Chaussee-Swan development.
3. Condos at 30th and Jordan
Four blocks northwest of where Jerry’s Market stood, another Denver developer, Leigh Alderton, has proposed 10 condominiums at North 30th and Jordan streets.
The condos would be contained in two buildings, with each unit having about 1,502 square feet. Two-car garages would be built against the alley.
An application for the project was filed Feb. 4. No hearings before the Boise Planning & Zoning Commission have been scheduled. In a phone interview, Alderton said it’s too early to know when construction could begin.
“Like anyone doing development in Boise, we’ll have to go through the same process with public meetings,” Alderton said.
The quarter-acre lot formerly was used by the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association for its Jordan Street Community Garden. The garden operated at an empty lot from 2009 through at least 2015, serving 15 families that lived nearby.
4. Chaussee-Swan Apartments
Across Stewart Avenue from the Corner at Whitewater, on the west side of 27th Street, developer Rex Nielsen planned to build to build 65 apartments and 7,000 square feet of commercial space on a 1.8-acre site. Three houses built between 1932 and 1949 are located on the property.
Early last year, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a zone change and a conditional use permit for the project.
Contacted Feb. 14 by phone, Nielsen said he is negotiating for another developer to buy the property. Nielsen, who has developed properties in Boise for 50 years, said he’s getting ready to retire.
He declined to identify the buyer, saying the deal hasn’t been finalized.
“I’ve been babysitting that property and acting as the landlord for 25 years,” Nielsen said. “I just don’t have it in me to do any more than that anymore. It’s going to be nice, but I don’t want to borrow several million dollars to do it myself.”
Marston said she worries that apartments will diminish the quality of the neighborhood. Renters are less likely to take pride in their homes and could bring problems that require police intervention, she said. She also said she’s worried
30th Street Urban Renewal District
Both of the 27th Street projects — The Corner at Whitewater townhouses and the Chaussee-Swan Apartments — are within the 30th Street Urban Renewal District, established in 2014. The district lies mostly between Main Street, Americana Boulevard, the Boise River and 22d Street, with narrow fingers along 27th Street and Whitewater Park Boulevard.
Neither developer has sought assistance from the Capital City Development Corp., the city’s urban development agency, said Jordyn Neerdaels, CCDC’s spokeswoman. The CCDC often finances infrastructure improvements within urban renewal districts.
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
