Low-income apartments. Cookie restaurant. Renovations to burned hotel. Coming near you
The latest proposed developments, other construction projects and new businesses around Idaho’s Treasure Valley:
Meridian
Westpark Cos. has opened Gramercy Park II, a 30,000-square-foot, three-story office building at 1861 S. Wells Ave., south of Overland Road and east of Eagle Road in South Meridian.
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Ed McNelis of Ten Mile Investments LLC is seeking to open a Human Bean coffee shop at 3285 W. Nelis, west of Ten Mile Road.
The shop would be 500 square feet and would have a drive-thru. The building would allow for walk-up service but would have no interior seating, according to city filings.
The proposal is scheduled to go before Meridian’s Planning and Zoning Commission at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, at Meridian City Hall, 33 E. Broadway Ave.
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Providence Properties LLC, a Meridian developer of residential subdivisions, bought 17.5 acres of land on West Chinden Boulevard near the southeast corner of Chinden and McDermott Road, Colliers International Idaho reports. Providence’s managing member is Hubble Group Inc., whose president is E. Don Hubble.
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Direct Orthopedic Care is seeking to build a 10,440-square-foot outpatient clinic for orthopedic care and physical therapy at 4242 N. Cortona Way.
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Boise
Celebration Acres, a project from nonprofit El-Ada Community Action Partnership Inc., will go before the Boise City Council after Boise’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the project.
The project would bring 40 apartments to 10881 W. Florence Drive, west of Five Mile Road.
“I think the perfect place for this project,” Commissioner Ashley Squyres said.
The apartments would include two-, three-, and four-bedroom units, according to filings with the city. The project will largely be for low-income and very low-income households, filings indicate, with only three of the units going for market rate.
The project would be privately owned under a partnership between El-Ada, which helps low-income people and families, and Phoenix Holding Group. The site would be near transit, employment and services, which commissioners commended.
Filings indicate that the first phase would have 28 apartments, three of which are market rate. Of the remaining 25, 18 would be reserved for people who make 60% of the area median income, or AMI, or below. Three would be reserved for those who make 50% of the AMI or below, two for those who make 45% of AMI or below, and two for chronically homeless people who make 30% or less of the AMI.
The second phase would have 12 units, all to serve very low-income residents who make at least 30% AMI.
AMI depends on the size of the family. A recent presentation to the Boise Planning and Zoning Commission put the amount at $51,562 for a single person and $73,600 for a family of four.
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Cottonwood Suites, 3031 W. Main St., is seeking a permit to clean up and remove material burned in a Nov. 19 fire.
Eleven people trapped on a hotel balcony were rescued by firefighters during the early morning fire. The blaze began in a locked laundry room.
Removing the material, at an estimated cost of $68,500, will allow the hotel to assess damage and develop a repair plan.]
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Restaurant Coa de Jima is seeking a permit for improvements at 615 W. Main St.
The planned upgrades, at a projected cost of $150,000, include kitchen and sanitation improvements, along with bar and dining room enhancements.
The space was previously occupied by El Gallo Giro, which closed its downtown restaurant in December, after operating for four years.
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Boise’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved a conditional use permit for a drive-thru for Twisted Sugar, a cookie restaurant, at 10804 W. Fairview Ave.
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Boise Wings LLC leased 1,738 square feet of retail space at 1575 N. Milwaukee St. in Boise, Colliers International Idaho reports.
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The Whale Tea leased 1,400 square feet of retail space at 1226 Broadway Ave., reports TOK Commercial .
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The Idaho Reptile Zoo, a pet supply store with a live reptile display, is seeking an occupancy permit for a 9,161-square-foot retail space at 10531 W. Overland Road. The zoo was previously located in Nampa.
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A Succulent Day is seeking an occupancy permit for a retail plant store at 2753 W. State St.
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The Wildland Firefighter Monument, 2393 W. Airport Way, seeks a permit for an addition. The planned improvements include new interior and exterior walls, roof, stairs, floors and doors. The estimated cost is $468,000.
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SE Holdings is seeking a permit to create a non-emergency outpatient medical clinic in an existing office building at 1510 S. Robert St. The estimated cost of improvements is $292,780.
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Nampa
Nutrishop leased 1,020 square feet of retail space in the Karcher Retail Shops, 1451-1503 Caldwell Blvd., reports TOK Commercial.
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Eagle
Eagle’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted Monday, Jan. 4, to approve a preliminary plat for the Brookway North subdivision.
The project has 53 buildable lots across 28 acres at 6001 W. Beacon Light Road.
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Around Idaho
A descendant of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst is behind the purchase of one of Idaho’s most expensive homes for sale ever, The Wall Street Journal reports.
A company linked to David Whitmire Hearst Jr., Hearst’s grandson, bought the SkyPine Estate on Lake Coeur d’Alene, the Journal said. The seller was Ron Pratte, whom the Journal said is “a construction executive and, at one time, a well-known collector of classic cars.”
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Notable
Idaho utility regulators say a pair of decisions they just made will save the average Idaho Power residential customer two cents per month in 2021.
The Public Utilities Commission approved an application from Idaho Power to decrease customer rates by 0.33 percent based on the closure of the Boardman Power Plant in north-central Oregon. It also approved in December a separate application that offsets most of that savings by increasing how much the company receives from an energy-efficiency portion of its overall rates.
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Boise ranked as the 44th most expensive rental market in the nation in December, month with the prices of one and two bedrooms settling at medians of $1,130 and $1,270, respectively, according to Zumper, a rental listing service.
The price of one bedrooms was up 13% from a year earlier, and two bedroom prices were up 11.4%.
Zumper says its data is based on its own and some other sources’ current listings and excludes rentals not on the market.
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Gov. Brad Little has appointed Cynthia Yee-Wallace as Fourth Judicial District judge. The district includes Ada, Boise, Elmore, and Valley counties.
Yee-Wallace spent almost nine years in private practice before becoming a deputy attorney general in 2012. She received her undergraduate and law degree from the University of Idaho.
“Yee-Wallace is highly regarded as a genuine and dedicated legal professional,” Little said in a news release. ”
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Thirty-one percent of the families moving their belongings to Idaho using United Van Lines in 2020 — to no one’s surprise — came from California, spokesperson Eily Cummings told the Statesman.
Idaho was the top destination for the second year in a row. Washington state was second with 12%, followed by Texas with 6%.
Boise was the No. 3 destination for people moving to a new city, behind Wilmington, North Carolina, and Sarasota, Florida, Cummings said.
California, Florida, North Carolina, Utah and Washington were the most popular destinations for residents leaving Idaho.
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Two new Ada County highway commissioners were sworn into office Wednesday, Jan. 6.
Dave McKinney, of Meridian, succeeds Sara Baker, who did not run for re-election. Alexis Pickering, of Boise, succeeds Rebecca Arnold, whom Pickering defeated in a close race in November’s election.
The commission voted to elect Kent Goldthorpe as the president, a rotating position that changes each year.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
