Big subdivisions with 100s of houses. Shipping-container dorms. What’s coming near you
The latest proposed developments, other construction projects and new businesses around the Treasure Valley:
Caldwell
The College of Idaho has opened two shipping-container dorms for students that it says are the first residence halls of their kind in the country.
The three-story, modular dorms are made of 36 decommissioned containers and built by indieDwell, a Boise company with a factory in Caldwell. They have 46 single rooms and four double rooms.
”This residential housing solution provides an exceptional living space for our students and is consistent with the College’s desire to support sustainability of the environment,” said Richard Erne, the college’s vice president for finance and administration, in a news release.
“We are grateful to partner with The College of Idaho on this project where we extended our model of providing energy efficient, durable, sustainable and healthy housing to one of Idaho’s signature college campuses,” said Pete Gombert, cofounder and executive chairman of indieDwell.
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The Meridian developer Ball Ventures Ahlquist plans to appear in a public hearing before the Caldwell City Council on Monday, Oct. 5. It is set to consider BVA’s application to build a 115-acre industrial park called North Ranch on the northwest corner of Chinden Boulevard and Smeed Parkway.
The project would include 21 acres of commercial land and 94 acres of light industrial.
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Boise
Northern Land Holdings of Eagle is seeking a permit to build an apartment complex consisting of two four-plexes and a seven-plex at 4801 N. Five Mile Road. The development, on a now-vacant site, will be known as Winmore Crossing.
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Treasure Valley Hospital is seeking a permit for a 3,887-square-foot addition to the hospital at 8800 W. Emerald St.
The added space is to accommodate staff lockers and administrative offices, which will be displaced as part of a renovation of 7,030 square feet. The hospital is building two new operating rooms within its existing space.
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The Islamic Center of Boise has received a permit to add a 2,320-square-foot social hall to the center at 3077 N. Christine St. The finished building will have a total of 8,726 square feet. The project is estimated to cost $100,000.
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Primary Health is seeking a permit to demolish a former Maverik convenience store at 7350 W. Victory Road. The health care company is planning to build a an urgent care and family medicine clinic there.
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Western Collective is seeking an occupancy permit to open a beer and wine lounge in The Mercantile Building at 404 S. 8th St. Cafe Ole formerly occupied the space.
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New 2 You Thrift Store is seeking an occupancy permit at 251 N. Orchard St. The site formerly housed a St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop.
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The Fix, a nutrition-shake shop, is seeking an occupancy license at 201 N. Orchard St. The space was previously occupied by Moss Coffee & Tea and Aero Caffe Coffee shop.
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Kuna
A Boise developer’s plans for a big Kuna subdivision have drawn some neighborhood opposition.
Trilogy Development LLC has proposed the 272-house Fossil Creek Subdivision on 67 acres south of Deer Flat Road and west of Ten Mile Road. The land is owned by Corey Barton of CBH Homes.
A dozen people signed a letter this summer objecting to the subdivision.
“It just feels like every single subdivision that comes along gets approved,” Clare Marsala, who lives on Secluded Court, said at a July meeting of Kuna’s Planning and Zoning Commission. “Traffic is so bad on Ten Mile and Deer Flat right there ... My goodness, we’ve got enough cars, we’ve got enough kids packed in the schools.”
But the commission approved the proposal and sent it to a public hearing this week before Kuna’s City Council. The council decided Tuesday to delay the hearing until Tuesday, Oct. 20, because the developer said it had posted notice of the hearing for only 9-1/2 days on the site, instead of the legally required 10.
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Another big proposed Kuna subdivision faces a problem: nowhere to send its homeowners’ sewage.
Kuna East LLC, managed by managed by Don Newell of Cambridge Homes in Eagle, applied to annex 38 acres at 2320 Meadow View Road, south of Deer Flat Road and midway between Meridian and Locust Grove Roads. The developer proposed to build 175 houses in a subdivision called Ashton Estates East.
Its sewage would flow through Kuna’s Danskin Lift Station, one of five pumping stations that help carry sewage to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. But, as City Planner Doug Hanson said in a memo to the City Council, the station is already over-committed. “The city of Kuna is actively working to obtain additional capacity in the Danskin Lift Station, but it is unknown how long that will take,” Hanson wrote.
The developer offered to help pay to solve the problem. The city Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the project, and the City Council scheduled a public hearing and a vote this week.
But the developer sold the project to Hayden Homes a few weeks ago. A Hayden representative told the council Tuesday, Oct. 6, that Hayden would help pay too, and he asked for prompt approval. But the council decided to delay a vote for two weeks so it could get the promise in writing from Hayden.
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Ada County
Developers of the Avimor subdivision north of Eagle are proposing two additional projects within the subdivision:
▪ A 36-house development called Avimor Village Center that would include three commercial sites. The Village Center would be on the north side of West Avimor Drive between North Streams Edge Way and North Eaglestone Place.
▪ A 24-townhouse project called the Avimor Townhouse North Subdivision on the north side of West Elk Trail Street between North McLeod Way and North Shephers Pie Way.
The Ada County commissioners plan a public hearing on the proposals at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, in their main hearing room in the Ada County Courthouse, 200 W. Front St., Boise.
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Nampa
Mission Aviation Fellowship has opened a family center on its headquarters campus at the Nampa Airport.
The $1.7 million, 8,000-square-foot building will be a gathering place for employees of the global nonprofit Christian organization who are in Nampa for training, families serving overseas that are on break, and for the local staff.
“Each year we host several hundred people for training and meetings,” said David Holsten, president and CEO of MAF, in a news release. “Most of them are families and they can often be here for extended periods of time as they prepare for overseas service. This facility provides a place, other than their apartment, for pilots to study, an area for kids to play, and for people to gather in during their down time.”
The building was designed by Network Architects and built by Mussell Construction of Nampa.
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The city of Nampa is inviting people to walk a new “story trail” at Lakeview Park, 1307 7th St. N. The trail has reading stations placed along a half-mile walking path.
The trail, installed late last year, is managed by the Nampa Parks and Recreation Department and the Nampa Library. Bilingual reading material will be exchanged periodically, the city said in a news release.
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Linda Claiborne of Boise asked Nampa to annex and rezone a 20-acre parcel at the southeast corner of Locust Lane and Southside Boulevard so she could build a storage business and restaurant there.
The storage units would be located toward the back of the parcel, with the restaurant in the front.
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Star
Trilogy Development asked star to annex a 21-acre lot at the southwest corner of West New Hope and North Wing roads and rezone it to allow for residential development. The firm hopes to build a 112-house subdivision there called Canvasback.
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Meridian
Wright Physical Therapy, founded by Bryan Wright, plans to open its third Treasure Valley clinic in November at 739 S. Jade Way, Suite 110.
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Around Idaho
Construction has started on a new visitors center for Thousand Springs State Park and the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in south-central Idaho.
The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and the National Park Service agreed to co-locate their staffs in the center to improve service and save money. The state is building the center in the park’s Billingsley Creek unit, and the Park Service has agreed to lease space there for 25 years.
Construction of the $2.5 million, 3,400-square-foot building is expected to take one year.
Two other projects are in the works at Thousand Springs:
▪ A $460,000 bridge to Ritter Island, now under construction.
▪ The $6 million, 50-spot Billingsley Creek Campground, for which is scheduled to begin construction a year from now. The campground is expected to open by early 2023.
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Notable
It’s a good time to be a Boise landlord: Rents have climbed at a pace far faster than the national average over the past year, says Apartment List, a national listing service.
Rents in Boise increased 1.2% in September. Nationwide, rents fell 1.4% over the past year compared with a 5.5% rise in Boise.
But Boise’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,021 remains below the national average of $1,106. A Boise studio averages $796, a one-bedroom $860, a three-bedroom $1,301 and a four-bedroom $1,383.
Apartment List says its methodology corrects for sample bias that occurs when listing services report rent changes based solely on their own or others’ listings, which often skew toward luxury apartments. As a result, Apartment List’s rents are sometimes lower than those reported by other private services.
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Try as it might, ValleyRide could not attract enough bus riders to support its Nampa and Caldwell routes. So the agency has dropped its fixed-route system on three routes in favor of an on-demand service.
Routes 51 (East Nampa), 52 (Caldwell Boulevard) and 55 (College of Western Idaho shuttle) have been eliminated. Riders now must use the “VRT On Demand” mobile app, booking a ride at valleyregionaltransit.org., or calling 208-345-7433 to schedule a ride.
Riders are picked up at the nearest ValleyRide bus stop or pick-up location of their choosing, then dropped off at another bus stop closest to their destination.
“Revenue and ridership in Canyon County have not kept up with cost or performance expectations,” ValleyRide said in a news release. “Attempts to adjust service levels and routes within the resources available continue to lead to low quality services and continuing poor system performance.”
The change does not affect inter-county routes 40, 42, 43 and 45 between Ada and Canyon counties, nor any Ada County routes. However, ValleyRide says the change is a pilot effort. If it succeeds, some other fixed routes might be replaced with on-demand service.
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Travelers are gradually returning to Boise-area hotels. Room demand increased 18% from June to July, and revenues rose $24%, according to the Greater Boise Auditorium District.
But hoteliers aren’t commanding the room rates they were before the coronavirus pandemic. Room demand in July was 28% below July 2019, but room revenues were down 45%. The average daily rent was $91, up from $73 in April, when the pandemic hit hotels hardest, but still 23% below last July’s rate of $118.
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This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
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