Neighbors fought this big downtown building. What the Boise City Council just decided
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean broke a 3-3 city council tie Tuesday to approve an office and apartment complex in downtown Boise.
Ball Ventures Ahlquist came to the council with revisions to its plans for a towering building at 4th and Bannock streets, following a hearing in January. The developer removed three floors form the South Tower, leaving 13 stories, and added a floor to the North Tower, giving it 11.
The project now calls for 100 apartments and five floors of parking, with 420 spaces. A Saltzer medical clinic that was part of the original plan was removed, along with 40 parking spaces.
A large number of neighbors and owners of nearby businesses opposed the project, saying it would ruin the neighborhood feel and increase pressure on landowners of shorter buildings nearby to sell for later high-rise projects. They said the project violated the neighborhood master plan and the city’s comprehensive plan.
Council member Patrick Bageant, who voted for the project, said he understood objections from neighbors. He said it was astounding that a building that tall would be proposed in a neighborhood that still has many one- and two-story buildings. But the city desperately needs more housing, Bageant said, and the city’s tallest buildings are only a few blocks away.
“When we talk about transition and fit, that is pertinent to me,” Bageant said. “Still, I don’t think this is incredibly clear-cut or incredibly easy.”
The buildings would be two of the tallest in the city. The taller tower would be 199 feet. According to skyscraper-tracking database Emporis, it would be shorter than only the Eighth & Main building (also known as the Zions Bank building), which is 323 feet tall; the U.S. Bank Plaza at 267 feet; and One Capital Center at 206 feet. The State Capitol rises 198 feet.
The shorter tower would be 136 feet tall.
Council member Holli Woodings, who voted against the motion to approve, said that while Boise desperately needs more housing, the building woudn’t make a big dent.
“A lot of the housing argument is overshadowed by the fact that a majority of this development is office space,” Woodings said. “Whether or not we need that much office space in the East End is really unclear.”
She also noted that several apartment building projects downtown are currently under construction and will provide hundreds of units.
The 11-story tower would have dozens of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. David Turnbull, founder of Brighton Corp. and a partner on the project, previously said the average apartment would be about 650 square feet, with rent starting at about $1,100 monthly.
McLean said she was satisfied with the changes the developer has made and that the city’s planning staff recommended approval. She said it was very clear Boise needs more housing.
“The reason we’re rewriting our zoning is because of these push points as our city grows and changes,” McLean said. “It’s very clear that we need more housing, and anything that we can do to ensure that we having housing both in our downtown core and throughout our neighborhoods is so incredibly important.”
Geoffrey Wardle, a Boise attorney who represents the developer, said Ball Ventures Ahlquist took seriously the concerns raised by the council in January and reworked the proposal.
“We have gone about enhancing the ground-floor experience, increasing the pedestrian-oriented retail on the northwest corner, improving the landscaping, pedestrian facilities, cycling facilities, preserving the existing alignment of the alley, enhancing the setbacks and the definition of the building,” Wardle said.
BVA, Wardle said, rejected a suggestion from neighbors that two levels of parking be provided underground, thus lowering the height of the two towers. He said that would require more space at ground level, reducing the space of shops.
He said it would also be easier to retrofit above-ground parking space if in the future there were fewer cars on the road and less parking was needed. It would be harder to use underground space for a new purpose, he said.
Removing the soil needed for underground parking would require hundreds of truck trips to take it somewhere else, causing disruption to the neighborhood, Wardle said.
The taller of the two towers would have a new Idaho Central Credit Union branch on the ground floor. The credit union has an existing branch on the site.
Bob Snyder, who lives a block east from the project at the Imperial Plaza, said he supports redevelopment of the property, but “not at the massive size that has been proposed.”
He suggested BVA consider the use of downtown’s geothermal supplies to make the building “green” and reduce reliance on other methods to heat water. He also said condominiums would be better suited for the area than apartments.
“Evidence shows the benefit of home-ownership in an urban area over apartments,” he said.
Several people criticized the council before the vote for seemingly favoring a developer with deep pockets over people who live and work in the neighborhood. They said the concessions made by BVA weren’t substantial and gave the company the appearance that it listened to concerns being raised.
“Ten months ago, a proposal for a completely inappropriate, giant glass box was submitted and rejected, but a foot was in the door, and BVA has been forcing it open wider and wider by ignoring the inconvenient input of those who oppose them and creating an illusion of compromise,” Cherrynn Kast Black said. “Make no mistake: They are getting exactly what they wanted all along.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 11:28 PM.
