Boise’s big boom persists post-pandemic. Here’s what’s going up, and coming, downtown
Virus, schmirus.
No pandemic was mighty enough to halt the boom in Treasure Valley construction and development — especially not in downtown Boise, and especially not in apartments, which are all the rage today.
Just look at what’s happening now.
Nearly 600 apartments are scheduled to open downtown before the end of 2021. And the explosion of new rental units is far from over. Nearly 1,200 additional apartments are under construction or in the planning stages downtown (and in downtown’s growing overflow zone, the West End).
A few commercial projects are underway, too. They include a five-story surgery center at 27th Street and Fairview Avenue being built by St. Luke’s Medical Center, and the 10-story 11th & Idaho office building with its companion, the urban Cherie Buckner-Webb Park.
The new apartments may help ease the housing shortage that has driven prices sharply higher and made it hard for ordinary workers to buy homes. Many of the new complexes are fetching premium prices.
1. Market-rate downtown apartments
These apartment complexes are going in now:
The Vanguard: Visum Development Group, based in Ithaca, New York, is building 75 apartments in an eight-story building at 600 W. Front St., where BizPrint previously operated.
The building will have 2,596 square feet of ground-floor retail and will include a rooftop terrace with a fire pit and grill, a resident lounge and co-working space.
The company is taking lease applications for apartments available Sept. 23. Monthly rents are $1,200 to $1,375 for a studio, $1,400 to $1,650 for a one-bedroom apartment, and $1,995 to $2,350 for a two-bedroom.
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270 East Myrtle: CDG Boise (a division of Subtext of St. Louis) is building a 252-unit apartment building across South Avenue A from a WinCo grocery store.
The project, which began construction in January, will consist of a two-story building and two five-story buildings. It will offer 96 studios, 73 one-bedroom apartments, 68 two-bedroom units and 15 four-bedroom apartments. There will be 356 parking spaces.
The project is expected to completed by next winter. Rents have not been announced.
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Hearth on Broad: Roundhouse, a Boise apartment developer, is building 160 apartments in an eight-story building at 323 W. Broad St. Formerly known as The Cartee, the building will have 5,400 square feet of ground-floor retail.
Of the apartments, five will be ground-level live-work units. Fifteen will be “micro” units, 27 will be studios, 60 will be one-bedroom units, and 54 will have two bedrooms. Three of the eight floors will be dedicated to a 170-space parking garage.
Leasing is scheduled to begin this fall. Rents have not been announced but are expected to be similar to The Fowler, nearby at 505 W. Broad St., also built by Roundhouse. Apartments available there run from $1,576 to $2,093 per month.
Jules on 3rd: Formerly known as Boise Caddis, the building’s name was changed to honor Boise pioneer Julia Davis. The park named after her is located across Myrtle Street from the building at 412 S. 3rd St.
Developed by River Caddis Development Co. of Lansing, Michigan, the partially completed eight-story building sustained a fire in March that damaged its top floor.
The building has 400 parking spaces in an interior parking garage that will serve residents and workers at the nearby Ada County Courthouse.
The 160 market-rate apartments will be ready for tenants beginning July 10. Monthly rents are $1,330 to $1,650 for a studio, $1,730 to $1,905 for a one-bedroom unit, and $2,010 to $2,485 for a two-bedroom.
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The Addison: Formerly known as the Park Place Apartments, this six-story building is nearly complete at 749 E. Park Blvd. It will have 236 apartments and 356 interior parking spaces.
Developed by Gardner Co., the $40 million building will include one-bedroom (556 to 829 square feet) and two-bedroom (987 to 1,147 square feet) units.
Apartments will be available for rent Sept. 15. They are priced from $1,655 to $2,240 per month for a one-bedroom, and $2,245 to $2,884 for a two-bedroom.
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Construction of these apartments has not yet started:
601 S. 8th St.: Jordan-Wilcomb Constructionis partnering with Global Senior Housing for 160 apartments at the former Foothills School for Arts and Sciences property across River Street from Boise’s main library.
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The housing is aimed at adults 55 years and older. The project includes 20,000 square feet of commercial and retail space and a parking garage.
Construction is expected to begin later this year and be completed in late 2022 or early 2023.
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2. Affordable downtown apartments
Here are the apartments going in now:
Thomas Logan: Built by a partnership that includes developers Clay Carley of Boise, Chance Hobbs in McCall, Dean Pape of deChase Miksis in Boise, and Bill Truax of Boise’s Galena Opportunity Fund, Thomas Logan will have 60 apartments and seven stories.
Forty-five of the apartments at 116 S. 6th St. will go to people making between 30% and 60% of Ada County’s median income.
Thomas Logan was Boise’s first postmaster and later served as mayor from 1876 to 1878. His home, originally located at 6th and Main streets, was later moved to the Idaho State Museum at Julia Davis Park, where it remains on display.
The project is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year.
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The Lucy: The same partnership as the Logan’s will build 114 apartments in a building with six stories and 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space at 512 W. Grove St.
The developers plan to rent 50 of the units at “workforce” rates — marketed to those earning close to the area median income.
On the ground floor will be a food hall, with various restaurateurs operating small kiosks. The Lucy is also expected to be completed by Nov. 1.
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Construction of these has not yet started:
17th and Idaho: A development partnership led by Shellan Rodriguez’s SMR Development, of Boise, plans in August to begin building 45 apartments just west of downtown. Construction of the estimated $10.7 million project is scheduled to be completed in September 2022.
The apartments would have 450 to 816 square feet per unit and rent from $800 to $1,700 per month. They are aimed at households earning $40,000 to $80,000 per year.
Boise’s urban renewal agency, the Capital City Development Corp., which owned the main parcel under the apartment site, chose this project over two other proposals that would have built 17 units each.
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Block 68: The Capital City Development Corp. is soliciting requests for proposal to develop at least 225 affordable apartments in buildings up to eight stories tall on a block bordered by State, 11th, Jefferson and 10th streets.
The block is across State Street from the Downtown Boise YMCA and just two blocks west of the Capitol. The deadline for proposals is Sept. 9.
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3. West End apartments
These three big projects would advance the transformation of the West End, where development has already resulted in the Adare affordable apartments and the New Path apartments for chronically homeless people, plus the St. Luke’s orthopedic hospital mentioned in the office and hospital projects section below.
Construction of these has not yet started:
Whitewater & Main: Roundhouse is planning a 7-acre apartment and retail development on the corner of Whitewater Park Boulevard and Main Street, at the West End site where former Mayor David Bieter hoped a sports stadium would be built.
The project, when fully complete, is planned to include about 400 apartments, a big-box retailer and several smaller shops. The first phase is expected to include 130 apartment units and 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, as well as “building amenity space.”
The company hopes to break ground soon.
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27th Street Crossing:Developer Prentiss Properties 21 plans to build 65 apartments and 7,000 square feet of commercial space at 901 N. 27th Street, across West Stewart Avenue from The Corner at Whitewater development at the former Jerry’s Market property.
The project consolidates eight underused parcels and replaces several dormant buildings.
Units will range from 600 square feet to 1,000 square feet, with 43 one-bedroom and 22 two-bedroom apartments, rented at market rates.
The Colorado developer hopes to have the project completed by spring 2022.
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27th and Fairview Apartments: Kal Pacific & Associates, a Temecula, California, development company, plans to construct three buildings, two seven-story apartment buildings with a total of 358 units, plus a four-story office building.
Each of the apartment buildings would include two floors of retail space.
The project would be built on seven parcels totaling 5 acres.
Only one of the properties, at 27th and Fletcher Street, is occupied. The building at 277 S. 27th St., which now houses Wandervans and Butler Customs, an auto repair business, would be razed.
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The Fletcher: HBCBP LLC of Atlanta, which shares ownership with Greenstone Properties, which sought unsuccessfully to build a new baseball stadium nearby, looks to build a seven-story building at 2801 W. Fletcher St.
The building would have parking and commercial space on the bottom two floors and apartments on the other five floors. It would have 169 units: 50 studios, 84 one-bedroom apartments and 35 two-bedroom units. It would include 183 parking spaces and 169 bicycle spaces.
The Symposion bar located on the West End property would be torn down.
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4. Office, hospital projects
These commercial projects are under construction downtown and in the West End:
11th & Idaho: The first tenant at the 10-story building, Broadcast Coffee, opened last week. The first office tenant, Idaho First Bank, will move to the building in September, Scott Schoenherr, a partner in the building’s owner, Rafanelli and Nahas, said by email.
The building is just east of the El Korah Shrine on Idaho Street and across Idaho from The Record Exchange. It features a lobby with 18-foot glass walls, ceiling heights of at least 10 feet, and a Neolith building skin that offers resistance to heat, cold and UV rays.
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Cherie Buckner-Webb Park: Located adjacent to the north side of the 11th & Idaho building, the park is being built as part of the office building but is owned by the city and takes the place of a parking lot.
It’s named after the fifth-generation Idahoan and former state legislator.
The park will serve as a hub for community events and will be used by downtown employees, residents, shoppers and visitors. It will also contain public restrooms.
The park dedication is scheduled Aug. 5..
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Surgery center: St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center is building a five-story surgery center, outpatient services clinic and programs for musculoskeletal care (muscles, bones and joints) at 27th Street and Fairview Avenue, west of downtown.
The 230,000-square-foot building, which was originally planned as an orthopedic hospital, is scheduled to be completed this year. The project includes an adjacent parking garage.
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St. Luke’s main campus: After completion of Phase 1 of St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center improvement project, the second phase will bring a new office building and a new north tower, the St. Luke’s Health System told neighbors in a newsletter.
The first phase included construction of the new Idaho Elks Children’s Pavilion, a utility plant and road improvements through the campus, located at 180 E. Bannock St.
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This project has yet to start:
4th and Idaho: Idaho Central Credit Union is the anchor for a dual-tower complex that will include office space, residential units and restaurant/retail spaces. It will consist of 11-story and 13-story towers connected by interior parking garages.
The buildings would have 100 apartments, five floors of parking and 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
It’s being developed by Ball Ventures Ahlquist and Brighton Corp.
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5. Other Boise housing projects
For good measure, while we’re updating you on downtown housing and other developments, here are three other Boise housing projects — two of them affordable — in the works elsewhere in the city:
Cole School housing: NeighborWorks plans to break ground over the summer on 39 affordable houses at the former school site at Cole and Fairview roads.
ColeBluff Cottages will feature homes with one to three stories, two to four bedrooms, and square footage between 816 and 1,998.
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Franklin-Orchard housing: Utah developer J. Fisher Cos. is expected to break ground in September on an affordable housing complex at the site of the former Franklin Elementary School at 313 S. Orchard St., across the street from Fred Meyer.
The company is planning to build 205 multifamily units — split between apartments and condominiums — along with 6,000 square feet of business space on the 4.7-acre parcel
Rents would be at least 25% below market rents.
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Cole Road Apartments: Boise developer CCD Properties plans to build an apartment building at 709 N. Cole Road, near the Boise Towne Square mall, featuring small units, each the size of a hotel room.
The four-story building, on the west side of Cole, across from Candlewood Suites, is planned for 76 apartments with 340 square feet to 412 square feet each.
Micro-apartments, with less space than typical studio apartments, are the latest trend in housing, meant to make efficient use of space. A sleeping area, kitchen, bathroom and living room are crammed into the space of a master bedroom.
An application for a planned unit development is pending.
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Cole-Denton Apartments: California developer Kal Pacific & Associates has proposed a five-story building with 136 one- and two-bedroom apartments at 580 N. Cole Road, near a Mattress Firm store.
Parking will be underground and within the building. The development includes plans for 1,000 square feet of retail space. There would also be 36,468 square feet of commercial self-storage on the first floor, along with 123 bicycle parking spaces.
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Business Editor David Staats contributed.
This story was originally published June 27, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
