Neighbors disliked apartments proposed near Boise State. This changed their minds
The site of a vacant fitness center is turning into luxury apartments near Boise State University.
Two and a half years ago, neighbors resisted an apartment building there. After the property was sold and a new developer set plans, locals became more supportive. Construction of the four-story, 125-unit apartment building at 1250 S. Division Ave. began in March and is expected to be completed by late 2023.
“Change is scary, density can be scary,” Southeast Neighborhood Association Vice President Erik Berg said by phone. “But I think when people spend a lot of time working on these things, and going through and not jumping to conclusions, but letting the process play out, I think you can do really well.”
The Mill at Loggers Creek is being built on the southeast corner of South Division Avenue and West Beacon Street, taking up the space from West Beacon Street in the north to Rossi Street in the south. The east side of the new building runs along Loggers Creek and next to the six-story Holiday Inn Express.
Its developer is Denver-based Baron Properties, a real estate investment, development and management firm founded by its chairman, Jeff Riggs. Baron Properties bought the property in early 2021 after Boise developer Greg Ferney’s Storage Development didn’t follow through on its project.
Baron Properties Principal Matthew Riggs described The Mill at Loggers Creek as similar to its other “boutique luxury” developments. He said in an email that the building will have “upscale amenity areas.”
A decade ago, Berg recalled, a proposed development at the site called for about 600 bedrooms. Berg called it “basically a private dorm.” Neighbors resisted. They were worried how a building with that many people would affect them. The project ultimately fell through, and the site sat vacant for years.
Storage Development in 2019 proposed a four-story building to be shaped in a triangle with 125 apartments, ground-floor parking and ground-floor office space. When Baron bought the land and the old building from Storage Development, it also bought the undeveloped project and inherited previous approvals for the number of residents, bicycle spaces and the building aesthetics.
But Baron changed the design. The new design changes the building’s shape and provides more ground-level parking.
The “E” shape eliminates a straight wall on the back side of the building, which faces Loggers Creek, a tributary of the Boise River, and the six-floor Holiday Inn Express. Berg, who was president of the neighborhood association when Baron Properties gained city approvals, said neighbors mostly preferred the new design. They liked that the “E” shape left the east side of the building open rather than having a straight wall around the entire perimeter of the building.
Riggs said the new building has similarities to others that Baron Properties has built.
“We loved the idea of integrating those concepts into the location and lifestyle of Boise,” Riggs said in his email. “The proximity to the Greenbelt and downtown/BSU, plus abutting the creek, played an integral part in our site selection and design process.”
The building is planned to have a pool, spa, fitness center, clubhouse and a walking path along the creek connecting Beacon Street and Rossi Street.
Baron Properties hasn’t set rent prices for the studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Recently built luxury apartment buildings downtown have studio apartments starting around $1,400 per month and increasing in price as the size of the apartment increases.
Neighbors were “really excited” about the diversity of unit types, Berg said, because it fits the character of the neighborhood with its mix of students, young professionals, families and an overall variety of living situations.
“I think people were happy to see a project that kind of respected that idea of continuing to try to have a mix of all walks of life,” Berg said.
Since the site was vacant already, Berg said he’s glad housing could be added to increase Boise’s supply. He called it a lesson for the future in how developers and neighbors can work together to come up with a design people are happy with.
“There’s always going to be friction with this kind of development,” Berg said. “What works really well is when you have a group of developers and the city and neighborhood associations and neighbors all working together on a project. You can end up with a pretty efficient way of going about things and a way that reflects and makes for a better project.”
