200+ apartments on busy Boise street, 350 near a WinCo. Big RV park. Coming near you
The latest proposed developments, housing and other construction projects, and new businesses around Idaho’s Treasure Valley:
Boise
The Boise City Council has decided to let a high-density development to go forward along State Street in Northwest Boise despite concerns that recent development in the area created a need for safety improvements.
Westlock Village, formerly known as Matlock Village, would have 224 apartments and three single-family lots. It is planned across from where North Ulmer Lane now ends on the south side of West State Street.
With the new buildings, Ulmer Lane would continue on the north side of State, through the planned development.
After receiving testimony from neighbors, the Planning and Zoning Commission had voted to allow the development to go forward with the stipulation that the developer put in a street light at the State Street intersection before new residents move in.
At the time, the commission did not realize that putting in a streetlight would require a right-of-way from two private landowners on the south side of State Street.
The developer worried that the imposition of a condition that it could not fulfill without the consent of other property owners could make the project not viable. Neighbors said they wanted guarantees that safety at the intersection would improve.
“This is a really big ask, and we need to have this infrastructure now instead of later, and this is the time to do it,” said Richard Llewellyn, the president of the North West Neighborhood Association.
After tangling with the issue for some time, the City Council on Nov. 1 decided to overturn the Planning and Zoning Commission’s stipulation that the developer install a light at the intersection and instead to ask the developer and the Ada County Highway District to make “every effort” to install the stoplight and set aside the necessary funding, according to a motion proposed by Council President Elaine Clegg.
Clegg said she thought the council should separately approach ACHD and ask that it add a stoplight at Ulmer Lane to ACHD’s five-year work plan as a high priority.
Because of the long lead times for permit approvals and construction, the council expects it may be some time before residents would move in to the new development.
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Boise has advanced its plans for a new fire station to serve Northwest Boise.
At the corner of West State Street and North Bogart Lane, the Boise Fire Department aims to begin construction before the end of the year on a fire house with space for six firefighters and four police officers, according to a Nov. 1 presentation from Mark Niemeyer, the fire chief, to the Boise City Council.
Fire Station 13 is initially expected to have a fire engine and a brush truck to serve the Foothills neighborhoods. It eventually could have an ambulance, too, Niemeyer said.
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Garden City
Garden City is considering a plan to add a pedestrian bridge on the Boise River near 52nd Street to address a detour along the Greenbelt.
As cyclists and pedestrians along the river pathway approach 52nd Street, the path abruptly ends, and users must turn south into the adjoining neighborhood for a half-mile detour, after which the Greenbelt continues.
The Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho studied multiple alternatives that could solve the problem, most of which involved adding a bridge to Plantation Island, where a Greenbelt pathway already exists.
During a presentation to the Garden City Council on Oct. 24, William Mullane, a board member of the Foundation for Ada-Canyon Trails Systems, said Garden City could apply for a new federal carbon-reduction program grant, which could help pay for the $1.9 million project.
“We’ll stay in contact as we get closer to pulling the proverbial trigger on this,” Mayor John Evans said at the meeting.
Over a decade ago, a similar effort to resolve the detour did not go forward because of a lack of funding, Mullane said.
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Alchemist Coffee, which has two locations in Boise and one in Eagle, plans to open a coffee roaster in Garden City.
The coffee business opened in 2020 and made it to the semifinals in the Idaho Statesman’s reader coffee shop bracket earlier this year. The business plans to roast small batches of coffee at 5220 N. Sawyer Ave., according to an application with the city.
“We hope to host community events to educate the public about the process of importing and roasting coffee,” the application said.
The permit required for the roasting shop was approved by the City Council on Monday, Oct. 31.
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Meridian
Meridian residents will not get an additional 351 apartments where a WinCo grocery store was once planned at Overland and Wells Avenue.
Jonathan Fragoso, developer with Morgan Stonehill Partners, a Denver and Las Vegas-based company, wanted to build more apartments there, near the intersection of Overland and Eagle roads. But on Oct. 25, the Meridian City Council said no.
Morgan Stonehill has already built 360 apartments there. They are called the Seasons at Meridian.
The council members worried that the 351 new apartments would add to the traffic on Overland and Eagle Roads.
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Marty Camberlango, with Boise development company Quantum LTD, was approved to build 14 houses on five acres at 1235 E. McMillan Road.
The Matador Estates Subdivision is consistent with the city’s land use map, which encourages low-density residential development there.
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Weinerschnitzel, a California fast-food chain known for its hot dogs, plans to construct a drive-thru restaurant near the northwest corner of Ten Mile and McMillan roads, according to an application with the city.
The 1,246-square-foot building would be located at 3136 W. Quintale Drive.
A hearing on the proposal is scheduled at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, in the City Council chambers at Meridian City Hall.
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KeyBank wants to open a 3,400-square-foot branch at 3513 W. Chinden Blvd. in the Costco development, an application with the city said.
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Dutch Bros wants to open a drive-thru coffee shop at the intersection of North Eagle and East Ustick roads, according to an application with the city. The 1,154-square-foot building would be built on about 1.2 acres at the Eagle Crossing shopping center.
A hearing for the proposal is scheduled at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, in the City Council chambers at Meridian City Hall.
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Challenger Development Inc. seeks to build 20 houses on 3.6 acres near the northwest corner of North Black Cat and West McMillan roads. The subdivision would be called Jump Creek South.
A hearing for the request is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, in the City Council chambers at Meridian City Hall.
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Engstrom Properties of Sacramento, California, has filed for a permit to build a Heartland Dental office building at 283 S. Ten Mile Road, BuildZoom reports.
The office would share a parking lot with a Grocery Outlet store also planned there.
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Ada County
A 310-unit RV park is proposed on the site of a former shooting range south of Boise.
Griffin Marketing is applying on behalf of property owners Justin and Jana Griffin to build the recreational vehicle park on nearly 40 acres at 7680 W. Vallejo Road, west of Cole Road and west of The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey.
The proposal would require a zoning change. Ada County Commission has scheduled a public hearing at its 6 p.m. meeting Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the Commissioners’ Main Hearing Room on the first floor of the County Courthouse at 200 W. Front St.
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Eagle
The city of Eagle expects to obtain 87 acres of land for a potential shooting sports park.
The shooting sports park has been under public scrutiny for the last year. The city proposed building the Willow Creek Shooting Range near Willow Creek and Beacon Light roads. It would be on donated land, the city said.
Nicole Spencer, director of long-range planning and projects for the city, sought City Council direction last meeting on how to proceed with the sports park.
The council directed her to move forward with a land exchange, to work on finding funding for the project, and to draft a request for quote on the design for the sports park.
A noise study Spencer presented found that the Environmental Protection Agency would recommend the city relocate the shotgun range so that the sound would travel north and east rather than toward residents on the south and west sides of the park.
The EPA also recommended adding firing sheds, or covered areas where people would shoot from. It also recommended limiting the three law enforcement training pits to one training pit.
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Nampa
The Idaho Horse Park Foundation and city of Nampa plan to add about 80 recreational-vehicle spaces to the 44 existing ones at the Ford Idaho Center Horse Park.
Demand for RV spaces far exceeds capacity at many events held over the course of the horse show season, the center said in a news release.
The foundation, the city and the Snake River Stampede are paying to build the spaces on the east end of the horse park property. Construction is expected to be completed in spring 2023.
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Messenger LLC, operator of Messenger Pizza, a business owned by Shawn and Cassidy McKinley, leased 4,329 square feet of retail space at 15 13th Ave., Suites 203, 207, 104 and 105, Colliers reported.
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Caldwell
Gandolfo’s New York Delicatessen, a chain with a deli in Meridian and delis in five other states, leased 1,678 square feet of retail space at 712 Arthur St.. Suite 712, Colliers reported.
The space was recently vacated by Paddles Up Poke.
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Elements Massage, a national chain, has opened a studio at 228 E Plaza St., Suite J, Elements said in a news release.
Pattie Sinew owns the local franchise.
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Notable
Some good news for renters: Apartments rents in Boise declined 3.5% in September from August, the largest decrease among the nation’s 100 largest markets, according to Apartment List.
According to the rental listing service:
- Year-over-year rent growth in Boise has gone negative. It stands at -0.2%, compared with 21.8% growth at this time last year.
- Year-over-year growth in Boise is the 11th slowest among the nation’s 100 largest cities.
- Nonetheless, rents in Boise are still up by 36.6% since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
- Median rents in Boise stand at $1,118 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,321 for a two-bedroom.
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Office lease rates in Ada County have extended their year-long rise with a 6% increase in 2022’s third quarter to an average $20.72 per square foot per year, Colliers reports. “Compared to the average rent of $38.70 in the top 50 U.S. markets, the Treasure Valley’s average ... is an appealing prospect,” the commercial real estate agency said in its latest market reports.
Industrial lease rates keep climbing too. The average is up to $1 per square foot per month in Ada County, up 20% since the start of 2022, “driven in no small part by higher rents for under-construction properties,” Colliers said.
But the most noteworthy item in the third-quarter market reports is the staggering rise in the price of commercial land. The average price for an acre of Ada County land was $859,273 in the quarter, up from $488,471 in the same quarter of 2021. That’s a 76% increase in one year.
Commercial land can be developed with office, retail, industrial or apartment buildings.
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KeyBank has named Scott Schlange its new Idaho market president, succeeding Steve Storey, who retired earlier this year.
Schlange will retain his responsibilities in Boise as senior vice president and commercial banking leader, a role he has held since 2017, Key said in a news release.
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This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
