Affordable housing neighbors don’t want. Apartments near Micron, Armory. Coming near you
The latest proposed developments, housing and other construction projects, and new businesses around Idaho’s Treasure Valley:
Boise
A Boise developer has secured $56 million in construction financing to build 287 apartments north of Micron in Southeast Boise.
Hawkins Cos. obtained the loan from Sunwest Bank for Canyon Ridge, a five-building complex planned at 2454 E. Gowen Road, said Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate agency, in a news release.
“The project has been designed to attract professional tenants by offering efficiently sized units, extensive amenities and a desirable location that is walkable to major employers and recreation centers,” said Chris Moyer, Cushman’s executive managing director, in the release. The site is next door to the Columbia Market Place retail center and close to the Simplot Sports Complex.
JRS Properties III, a business created by the family of the late Idaho potato baron J.R. Simplot, applied in 2021 to develop the apartments. The site is near Columbia Village, which another Simplot family business developed.
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A housing development next to the Boise Armory on Reserve Street can proceed as long as the developers take measures to protect the Armory during construction, the Boise City Council decided.
Utah’s Alpha Development Group has proposed building 206 apartments next door to the historic building, which was built in the 1930s.
The Armory, at 801 E. Reserve St., is across from the Military Reserve.
The City Council considered requests to delay or change the development, which centered on the effect it would have on the Armory Building.
A representative for the East End Neighborhood Association, Cindy Montoto, who is also vice chair of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission, testified at the council’s Feb. 7 public hearing that she wanted the city to be more involved in planning for the area’s eventual use as a neighborhood gathering space.
Brittney Scigliano, the president of Preservation Idaho, told the council she wants the Armory to be protected while construction happens next door, to ensure the building can one day be listed as a historic landmark.
The council voted to allow the development with the added condition that the developers take extra precautions to protect the Armory while they build it.
Council Member Patrick Bageant said he was in favor of allowing the development, but thought the added condition was not “legally supported” and so voted against it.
One of the complaints from neighbors was the lack of detail about how the Armory will eventually be developed. Over the years, there have been a number of ideas floated, including for breweries, coffee shops, bike shops or restaurants.
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City and state efforts to boost the availability of affordable housing in Boise may be paying off, as a low-income development near Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center got a green light from the City Council.
Pacific West Communities, a local developer, plans to build 201 apartments at 6160 Denton St. for people making between 30% and 80% of the local median income, which in Boise is between $22,750 and $60,650 for a family of three. The building would have five stories, with one story of interior parking. A mix of studio through three-bedroom apartments would be included.
Boise leaders have pushed for affordable housing in recent years, and the Pacific West application takes advantage of applicable incentives. Through the city’s Housing Bonus Ordinance, which was passed in 2021, the developers can exceed usual height limits and provide denser apartments and fewer parking spots than would otherwise be allowed because their apartments will be rented to low-income Boiseans.
The development also received $4 million in federal funds through the Idaho Workforce Housing Fund, which was created by the Legislature last year. Of the nine developments that have received funding so far, this Bench development is the only one in Boise, said Benjamin Cushman, a spokesperson for the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, by phone. There are other nearby projects in Nampa and Caldwell.
“The policy debates are long behind us,” said Hethe Clark, a lawyer representing the developer, at the City Council’s Feb. 7 public hearing. “We’re at the implementation phase.”
Some neighbors, including the Liberty Park Neighborhood Association, appealed to the council to reject the project on the grounds that it was too large.
“This developer did everything we asked of them,” said Council Member Elaine Clegg. “It is so close to the hospital, it is so close to the geographic center of the city, and having housing here is, I think, such an appropriate use.”
While she said she understood concerns about the scale of the building compared with other nearby buildings, she indicated she hoped nearby residents would come to like the new building.
“Sometimes being able to welcome new neighbors ends up being better for everyone,” said Council President Holli Woodings.
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The Boise Airport has received approval to make big changes that will affect air travelers who fly to Boise and rent cars.
The city Planning and Zoning Commission has approved a $100 million car-rental center, one piece of a multiyear expansion of parking, car rental, concourse and other spaces. Construction was expected to begin this year on buildings to house customer service and to hold cars ready for leasing. The Idaho Statesman reported on the project’s details in December.
The work will be paid for by the “customer facility charge” tacked on to vehicle rentals, now $6 per day.
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Residents on the Boise Bench may soon have a new way to get to Ann Morrison Park.
The Boise City Council plans to spend $850,000 of open space levy funds to build a stairway connecting Crescent Rim Drive, which sits on a steep hill along the south side of the park, to the popular city park below.
The Harry Morrison Foundation paid nearly $33,000 for engineers to assess the site, which will require a 99-step stairwell, according to the council’s Tuesday, Feb. 14, meeting-agenda packet. Aside from $4,000 raised by the foundation, the city would bear the remaining construction costs. The new stairwell would have grooved troughs on both sides to allow residents to wheel bicycles up and down the stairs.
A steep “social trail” down to the park already exists, for residents who don’t want to bike the nearly one-mile detour into Ann Morrison along Americana Boulevard, according to the foundation.
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Nampa
LDK Ventures, a California company, wants to build six industrial warehouses on nearly 55 acres at two locations near the Northside Boulevard exit on Interstate 84.
One of the projects would include three warehouses on 19.5 acres at 16677 Madison Road, west of Madison Avenue and halfway between Cherry Lane and Birch Lane. The project, called Madison Logistics Center, would be zoned for light industrial work.
“We believe this subdivision will offer and attract a wider variety of businesses looking to locate within Nampa,” said T-O Engineers, which represented the developer, in its application.
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LDK Ventures also wants to build another logistics center, called Northside Logistics Center, south of Interstate 84 and east of Shannon Drive. The center would be located on 35 acres and would also include three warehouse buildings.
The Nampa Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hear both projects on at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28 at City Hall.
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Patrick Connor, of Providence Properties, a Meridian company, wants to build 99 single-family houses on Alma Lane, near Happy Valley Road and Lewis Lane.
The Brookhaven Subdivision would be on 100 acres at 4101 Alma Lane that are now agricultural land, the application said.
“There is one large park in the center of the community with a playground,” Connor said in the application. “There are also pathways for connectivity through-out the community.”
The Nampa Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hear the projects at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at City Hall.
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Paul Oland, of Paradigm Land Design LLC, an Eagle company, wants to build 192 apartments on Karcher Road near its intersection with Middleton Road.
The Karcher Ranch Residences would be on 8.5 acres on 11364 W. Karcher Road. The apartments would be spread throughout nine buildings that would be no taller than 35 feet, the application said.
The Karcher Ranch Residences would also be gated, Oland said in the application.
The Nampa Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hear the projects at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at City Hall.
The Nampa City Council on Feb. 6 rejected another developer’s proposal to build 264 apartments not far to the east on Karcher, citing concerns about traffic congestion.
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Eagle
The Eagle City Council has scheduled a public hearing on the Eagle Fire Protection District’s request to build a new fire station on four acres at 12655 N. Horseshoe Bend Road.
The site is on the west side of North Horseshoe Bend Road about 500 feet south Beacon Light Road.
The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at City Hall, 660 E. Civic Lane.
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Notable
The Boise-area market for office space cooled considerably in 2022, a commercial real estate agency says.
Sales and leases fell 27% from the first quarter to the second and remained there, while new construction of office space fell nearly 60% in 2022 from 2021, TOK Commercial said in its latest quarterly market report.
“High interest rates resulted in financing becoming more expensive and harder to get, while high inflation added costs for materials, labor and construction,” TOK said. “Consequently, many projects were put on hold. However, as the economy stabilizes, projects should begin moving forward again.”
Most of 2022’s new construction and leasing were in Meridian, TOK reported.
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A rule of thumb, based on a decades-old government standard, says ordinary workers and lower-income people should pay no more than 30% of their income on home expenses. But housing has become so expensive that people frequently spend more than that.
Now a national firm that finds real estate for investors has calculated that Boise homeowners spend 39% of their incomes on average on housing costs. And that’s before they’ve paid for home insurance and utilities.
RealtyHop said it calculated Boise’s percentage based on statistics for projected median household income of $76,659, median for-sale home-listing prices listed in RealtyHop’s database of $479,000, local property tax data from the Census Bureau, and mortgage expenses, assuming a 30-year mortgage, 5.5% interest rate and 20% down payment. The estimated monthly mortgage-and-taxes payment is $2,537.
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Apartment rents are still falling in Boise, a national listing service says.
Apartment List said rents in January fell 2.1% from December, the third-largest rate of decline among the nation’s 100 largest cities. Median rents are now $1,102 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,301 for a two-bedroom.
But median rents are still 1.8% higher than they were a year ago, and still 34.5% higher than they were at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Apartment List said.
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Thirty-nine percent of Boise renters searched for homes outside the Boise area in 2022, an apartment listing service says.
The most popular destinations were Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake City, Apartment List said in a national report on renter migration.
Meanwhile, among renters looking for apartments in Boise, 46% were from out of state, with Seattle, Salt Lake City and Denver leading the list.
Apartment List said its data shows that people looking for apartments in a new city or state typically have bigger budgets than local tenants, putting upward pressure on local rents.
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This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 4:00 AM.
