Big changes are coming to Boise’s skyline. What’s happening in 2022 that you should know

2022 could go down in Boise as the Year of Tall Buildings.

Construction is expected to start this year on three of the highest buildings Idaho has ever seen. 2022 promises to be a year of newsworthy events like that around Boise, including the legislative session that starts Monday.

Below you’ll find a detailed rundown of what you should know about changes coming this year in state and local government, politics, sports, major trials and more. But first, the buildings.

Hovde Properties looks to begin construction in June on a 19-story apartment building at 521 W. Front St. The Madison, Wisconsin, developer plans 209 luxury apartments between the former Concordia University School of Law and Chipotle Mexican Grill. It would be the third-tallest building in Boise, at 231 feet.

Another developer plans to top that in, of all places, Garden City, which is not exactly known for tall buildings.

Las Vegas developer Michael Talbott plans to build an 18-story, 252-foot-high condominium building, the Boardwalk Residences, at 510 E. 41st St. That’s 21 feet taller than Hovde’s proposed building and would drop the Front Street building to Idaho’s fourth-tallest, above One Capital Center, the current No. 3, at 206 feet.

But both of those out-of-town developers could be shown a thing or two by a Boise developer who plans the One Building to Top Them All.

Oppenheimer Development Corp. plans to begin construction this summer on a 27-story luxury apartment building at 1115 W. Idaho St. Plans call for the building to top out at 330 feet, or 7 feet taller than Eighth & Main, Idaho’s tallest since its opening in 2014. Eighth & Main has 18 floors but with a parapet is 323 feet tall, according to Emporis, which compiles building heights around the world.

Eighth & Main overtook the 267-foot, 20-story US Bank Plaza, built in 1978.

Longtime Idahoans who were here in the early 1970s may remember that the Capitol was Idaho’s tallest building then, at 198 feet. Built in 1920, it reigned for 55 years until One Capital Center, built for telephone company Mountain Bell at 999 Main St., was completed in 1975. Oppenheimer built it.

If all three of the big new buildings are built, plus a fourth in the early stages of planning in downtown Boise, the Capitol would fall from No. 4 to No. 8.

The Capitol. Where the Legislature meets. Which brings us back to the real point of this story: what to expect this year.

With the omicron and delta variants of COVID-19 still raging, some things in 2022 will differ from prepandemic days. Organizers with Jaialdi, the Basque celebration held in Boise every five years and postponed each of the last two years, announced late last year it won’t take place until 2025. Initially, the 2020 Jaialdi was going to be rescheduled in 2022.

But some things will return to normal, or at least that’s the hope. One example is Treefort, the annual five-day music festival. Canceled in March 2020 when the coronavirus was new, Treefort came back in 2021 but was delayed until September. This year, the 10th edition of Treefort is moving back to March.

Here’s a quarter-by-quarter guide to what’s coming (in rough chronological order):

JANUARY - FEBRUARY - MARCH

Legislature meets: The 2022 Idaho Legislature is scheduled to convene Monday, Jan. 10. Expect lawmakers to consider more bills relating to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. After they failed to pass any laws during the three-day special session in November, they said they anticipate those bills to return in some form in January.

Lawmakers will also need to decide how to use Idaho’s $1.6 billion budget surplus, whether to fund full-day kindergarten and if to provide property tax relief.

Bundy on trial: Emmett resident Ammon Bundy, a Republican candidate for governor, is scheduled to go on trial Thursday, Jan. 13, on misdemeanor trespassing charges stemming from an order barring him from the Idaho Statehouse.

In April, Bundy was arrested twice in one day for violating an order prohibiting him from the Capitol for a year, leading to two misdemeanor trespassing charges. Last July, a jury found Bundy and another man, Aaron Schmidt, guilty of misdemeanor charges of trespassing and resisting or obstructing officers, related to prior incidents at the Idaho Capitol, not the ones he’s being tried for now.

Bundy was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and fined $1,089. He claimed to serve his community service through campaign activities.

Giant warehouse building: A 1.35-million-square foot warehouse and distribution center has been proposed south of the Boise Airport, and all indications point to Amazon as the likely tenant: a Utah developer and an architect tied to other Amazon projects; similar color schemes and a project name that follows past Amazon practice.

The warehouse plan is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 12, before the Boise Design Review Committee. It is part of a 520-acre development by Pleasant Valley Land Holdings, which consists of Adler Industrial, Ball Ventures Ahlquist, Ball Ventures and Sawtooth Investment Management.

Amazon also recently struck a deal with the city of Boise to rent 3½ acres of land at the Boise Airport to store and distribute the e-commerce giant’s goods. The air cargo center would be located about four miles from the planned warehouse.

More airport parking: The Boise Airport is scheduled to begin work in January on building two new parking garages. One, for passengers, will have 1,150 spaces on five levels. A second, for employees, will have room for 700 vehicles.

The current parking garage for passengers doesn’t have enough stalls, and many air travelers have to be shuttled from a different lot located away from the terminal. About $56 million in bonds were issued to build the new garages.

Farmworker killing trial: Nampa resident Rene Jaramillo Navarrete, 61, is charged with second-degree murder in the 2019 shooting death of fellow farmworker Fortino Quebrado Antunez, 45. The victim died in an onion field seven miles west of Caldwell.

The trial in Caldwell is scheduled to begin Feb. 28.

Child murderer sentencing: Emmett resident Benjamin Poirier is scheduled to be sentenced March 18 for the March 15, 2020, shooting death of 11-year-old Micah Pecyna of Horseshoe Bend, who was inside a trailer Poirier shot at.

Poirier pleaded guilty in October to first-degree murder. In exchange, Boise County prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty.

Treefort Music Fest: The downtown festival is scheduled March 23-27. Passes for all five days are $303 for adults, including fees and sales tax, and $169 for those under 21. More than 300 acts have already been announced.

Affordable apartments on the Bench: Officials from the city of Boise and Salt Lake City developer J. Fisher Cos. broke ground last fall on an affordable housing project at the site of the former Franklin School at Franklin and Orchard streets. Construction is expected to begin in early 2022 on the 200-apartment complex.

Rents are aimed at people making 60% of the area median income. Ten percent of the units will be leased at market rates.

Downtown apartments: Hearth on Broad, formerly known as The Cartee, is scheduled to open in March at 406 S 4th St. The building from Boise developer Roundhouse has eight stories, 161 units and 5,400 square feet of retail space.

Rents have not been announced, but units at the nearby Fowler apartments, also built by Roundhouse, range from $1,493 to $4,348 per month.

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APRIL- MAY- JUNE

Baby murder trial: Meridian resident Danielle Radue, accused of killing her 2-month-old son, is scheduled to go to trial on April 5 in Boise.

Ex-lawmaker’s rape trial: Former state Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger faces trial April 26 on charges of felony rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object. The allegations were made by a former Idaho Legislature intern, 19, who said the incident took place last March, during the legislative session.

Von Ehlinger, a Lewiston Republican, resigned from the Idaho House of Representatives in April after an ethics committee unanimously recommended that he be expelled. Von Ehlinger maintains he had consensual sexual contact with the accuser at his apartment and has denied all wrongdoing.

Primary election: 2022 is a year when the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat, both congressional seats and every legislative seat will be on the November ballot. Both major parties have primaries on May 17.

In many cases, the most decisive election is the Republican primary, because that’s when politics can become most heated as overwhelmingly red Idaho picks its GOP nominees. The most notable contest: Gov. Brad Little, seeking a second term, faces primary opponents on his right, including Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin and Ammon Bundy, the Emmett activist who says his campaign stops should satisfy his court-mandated community service requirement after Bundy’s trespassing conviction in July.

Boise Hawks baseball: The Hawks operated for 30 years as a member of the Class-A Northwest League, but lost their affiliation with the Colorado Rockies after Major League Baseball cut ties with 25% of its minor league clubs. The Hawks became an independent team in 2021 and promptly won the Southern Division championship of the eight-team Pioneer League.

Two new teams, from Kalispell, Montana, and Fort Collins, Colorado, will join the league in 2022. The Hawks open the season May 25 in Idaho Falls. The home-opener will take place May 28, also against the Chukars.

Ovation apartments: Hovde Properties looks to begin construction in June of its 19-story apartment building at 521 W. Front St. The Madison, Wisconsin, developer plans to offer 209 luxury apartments, 259 parking spaces, plus 85 bicycle spaces.

Hovde said the building would offer “breathtaking views” and “top-tier amenities.” Hovde hopes the building will open to residents in spring 2024.

The building would be Idaho’s fifth-tallest if it and the other tall buildings planned are built:

Idaho’s tallest buildings, existing and planned

G.C. is Garden City. Sources: Emporis, City of Boise

Ada County highway impact fees: The Ada County Highway District board, frustrated by the small number of projects that can be funded by development impact fees, plans to create an ordinance to expand the list. Currently, fees can go only to certain system improvements needed to serve the development paying them.

While a road can be expanded to reach a new subdivision, the district can’t fix an existing sidewalk nearby that is suddenly being used more by new residents. The limitations have made it difficult to pay for all infrastructure needs caused by growth.

ACHD has only so much power to change how impact fees can be spent under state law. The district hopes to persuade the Legislature to pass a bill expanding impact fee uses during this year’s session so it can enact its own related ordinance by a June deadline. Without legislative action, the ordinance change would be less expansive.

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JULY- AUGUST- SEPTEMBER

Ann Morrison Park: A new kid-friendly fountain is set to be installed to replace the old outdated fountain, which was last updated a quarter-century ago and has suffered from severe leaking, cracks in the foundation, nozzle problems and safety issues.

Doug Holloway, Boise’s city parks and recreation director, describes the new fountain as a “splash pad on steroids.” It will have timed choreography, LED lights and other bells and whistles meant to make children smile.

Whistleblower lawsuit trial: A Boise police corporal who said superiors retaliated against him after he reported another officer was improperly selling guns inside the Boise Police Department will have his case heard in court.

Cpl. Norman “Denny” Carter claims in two lawsuits scheduled to be heard together beginning July 13 that Lt. Greg Oster, who was his direct supervisor starting in summer 2015, retaliated against him after Carter told superiors that Oster was selling guns while on duty inside police headquarters.

Oster retired in early 2018, four months after an investigation was launched, after serving more than 30 years with the department. The suits were brought against the city of Boise and former Police Chief Bill Bones, who have denied doing anything improper.

12th and Idaho building: Oppenheimer Development Corp. plans to begin construction this summer on that 27-story luxury apartment building at 1115 W. Idaho St., now a parking lot next to the Record Exchange.

The building would include 297 apartments, ground-floor retail space, covered public parking and a rooftop pool.

Professional golf tournament: The Albertsons Boise Open is set to take place Aug. 18-21. Bands for the tournament will be announced in early 2022.

Augusta, Georgia, native Greyson Sigg, 26, won the 2021 title on the Korn Ferry Tour, defeating playing partner Aaron Rai and J.J. Spaun by a stroke at 19-under 265 at Hillcrest Country Club. With two Korn Ferry Tour victories, Sigg has been promoted to the PGA Tour.

Boise State football returns: The Broncos are scheduled to open the 2022 season on the road Sept. 3 in Corvallis to play the Pac-12’s Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers lost to the Broncos’ Mountain West Conference rival Utah State 24-13 in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl on Dec. 18.

Boise State was scheduled to play Central Michigan in the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl, but the Broncos pulled out after a spike in COVID-19 cases. The Broncos open at home Sept. 17 against the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Franklin Park Playground: The Boise Parks and Recreation Department is installing several slides of different heights and other jungle-gym equipment at the park at the southwest corner of Franklin and Orchard streets.

The 3-acre park is at the site of the former Franklin School, built in 1905. It served as a high school until 1947, when it became an elementary school until the building was demolished in 2009.

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OCTOBER - NOVEMBER- DECEMBER

General election: The winner of the Republican primary election for governor in May will face a Democratic challenger for a four-year term in the Nov 8 election.

Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo is running for a fifth six-year term in the U.S. Senate, a seat he’s had no trouble holding in past elections. The congressional seats held by Republicans Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher will be on the ballot for two-year terms.

So will every seat in the Idaho Legislature (two-year terms) and every other statewide office (four-year terms): lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, controller, and superintendent of public instruction.

Whitewater apartments: Boise developer Roundhouse has filed plans with the city to construct two buildings with a combined 169 apartments, a parking garage and child care center at 2750 W. Fairview Ave. These would be the first of more than 500 apartments Roundhouse plans at the site, accompanied by new businesses.

The location in Boise’s West End is where a sports stadium was previously planned. Completion for the initial phase is slated for 2024.

—

NO SPECIFIED MONTHS

Home prices: In early December, Realtor.com ranked Boise second on its list of cities expected in 2022 to see the strongest combined growth in home sales and listing prices among the 100 largest U.S. metros.

The median price of a single-family home in Ada County rose 26.6%, from $425,000 to $537,900 between November 2020 to November 2021, according to the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service.

Daybell murder case: Pretrial proceedings are set to continue in 2022 in the case against Chad and Lori Vallow Daybell. The Daybells are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy, among other charges. in connection with the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan — the children of Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.

The couple are scheduled for trial in January 2023 at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise.

Homeless shelter: Interfaith Sanctuary is expected to appeal a January decision by the Boise Planning and Zoning Commission to deny a permit for a 205-bed homeless shelter at 4306 W. State St.

The commission found that the shelter would hurt the neighborhood and public services, and that no conditions the city might set could mitigate that harm enough.

The City Council will hear the appeal, but the shelter and its opponents expect a battle in court even after the council makes its decision.

Big buildings: Target dates aren’t yet known for the start of construction of some major developments, including:

▪ The Boardwalk Residences, at 510 E. 41st St., which the Garden City Council approved in mid-December. The 18-story building from Vida Properties would have 111 condominiums.

▪ A 20-story building at 10th and Jefferson streets in Boise. The Capital City Development Corp., Boise’s urban renewal agency, is working with Edlen and Co., deChase Miksis, and Elton Cos. on the 216-foot-tall building, which could supply 450 to 626 housing units and up to 724 parking spots.

The development also would include a new downtown location for the Treasure Valley Family YMCA, replacing its aging building on State Street.

Northwest Boise park planning: The Boise City Council in December approved funding for a new park off State Street and Gary Lane. For years, residents had sought a park at the 1.4-acre site, which was once also considered for a fire station.

Discussions with area residents and neighborhood associations are planned, which will lead to completion of a park master plan. That will determine how the park, which hasn’t been named, will look once it’s developed.

Caldwell Creekside redevelopment: Boise developer deChase Miksis has plans for a project that would include two buildings on a five-story, mixed-use building with 142 apartments and ground-floor retail at 6th and Main streets.

Rentals would include studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments. The buildings would be separated by a pedestrian alleyway connecting to Indian Creek Plaza. The development would have 75,000 square feet of space for restaurants and shops.

The project is expected to be completed in summer 2023.

City district voting: Last year, the Boise City Council broke the city of 235,684 into six districts of about 35,000 residents each to comply with a new state law requiring Idaho cities of more than 100,000 people to elect city council members from specific geographical areas rather than at large.

This year, Meridian (population 117,635, according to the 2020 U.S. Census) and Nampa (population 100,200), will create their own districts for electing city council members.

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.

It is expected also to offer urgent care, sports medicine, and lab, imaging and nutrition services.

The 200,000-square-foot building, which was originally planned as an orthopedic hospital, has been proceeding slowly and is scheduled to be completed in late 2023. The project includes an adjacent parking garage.

Reporters Paul Schwedelson, Ian Stevenson, Hayat Norimine, Kyle Land and Rachel Spacek and Business Editor David Staats contributed.

This story was originally published January 8, 2022 at 4:00 AM.

John Sowell

Idaho Statesman

208-377-6423

Reporter John Sowell has worked for the Statesman since 2013. He covers business and growth issues. He grew up in Emmett and graduated from the University of Oregon. If you like seeing stories like this, please consider supporting our work with a digital subscription to the Idaho Statesman.