Affordable apartments where downtown, North End meet? Developer proposes 7-story building
A State Street gas station and convenience store just west of downtown Boise could make way for a seven-story apartment building with workforce and affordable housing just eight blocks west of the Capitol.
Cameron Investments of Boise is seeking a zone change that would allow construction of the building at the northeast corner of 16th and State streets — across 16th from Albertsons to the west, and across State Street from Rite-Aid to the south.
“The site is in one of the most walkable locations for housing services in Boise,” Matthew Clark, owner of Cameron Investments, wrote in a letter to the city. “It is located near grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, banks, schools, transit, doctors, churches, coffee shops and employment — all within a 10-minute walk.”
The building would have businesses on the first and second floors and apartments in the rest. Parking would be provided behind the building on the first and second floors.
The exact number of apartments was not specified in the application and supporting documents submitted to the city of Boise. But floor plans show there would be about 115 units. Current zoning would only allow 15 units.
At least 5% of the apartments would be rented to low-income tenants earning between 80% and 100% of the area median income. For an Ada County family of four, 80% would be $59,850. For a couple, it would be $47,900.
For those tenants, the limit on rent, including water and trash service, would be $1,496.25 per month for a family of four and $1,047.50 for a single tenant.
The application did not disclose how much rents for workforce housing might cost.
Cameron could not be immediately reached Friday.
There is a limited amount of housing in that section of State Street. There’s a row of apartments on the north side of State between 13th and 14th streets. The Arcade Building apartments between 16th and 17th streets survived efforts two years ago to demolish the building and build a CVS pharmacy. There are also single-family homes in the block between 18th and 19th streets and heading west.
The application for the zone change is scheduled to come before the Boise Planning and Zoning Commission at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 14.
BoiseDev.com first reported on the project.
