Proposed Boise-area shopping center stalls, but hope for 6 restaurants stays alive
It’s not uncommon to spot empty dirt lots while driving through Meridian, Caldwell, Eagle, Boise or Nampa. Some could soon become hotels. Others are lined up to become multistory apartment buildings. Others still could become shopping centers filled with clothing retailers and spots to grab some grub.
But plans for a nearly 13-acre dirt lot on the busy Idaho 44 in southeastern Eagle may have to wait a little longer. The proposed East End Marketplace shopping center slated for the lot, which has been in the works for about 10 years, would host 17 businesses divided between four drive-thru restaurants, two regular restaurants, five retail stores and six other commercial spaces.
The shopping center proposed by two Eagle companies, TPC Commercial and Rennison Cos., hit another snag Feb. 27 after the Eagle City Council decided not to vote on a new site plan and to table the proposal until April over design and traffic concerns.
“The East End Marketplace project has been in progress for many years,” said Deborah Nelson, a partner at Boise’s Givens Pursley law firm, who presented on behalf of TPC Commercial at the council meeting. “The updated site plan maintains the original vision for the East End Marketplace as a quality mixed-use development on a key commercial corner for the city.”
TPC Commercial is a commercial-development business managed by Caleb Roope, best known for developing apartments, including affordable housing.
The new plan focused on increasing pedestrian connectivity through the site, breaking up the parking area with new landscaping, getting rid of street-facing loading docks and reducing and reorienting storefronts.
“(The changes would be) bringing a welcome visual change from the bare-ground site that’s there now and adding new employment and dining (and) shopping opportunities,” Nelson said during the meeting.
John Rennison, president of Rennison Cos., said the changes would help sell businesses on the location.
“(We’re) trying to get some momentum and some energy,” Rennison said during the meeting.
Rennison said the developers don’t have a full tenant mix for the development yet and want to ensure they keep their options open.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be able to bring these tenants to our market,” Rennison said.
“Commercial development requires flexibility,” Nelson said. “The tenants do not all come to the project at the same time… All we’re trying to do now is address some of the subtle adjustments that we can see from the tenants that are of interest.”
Traffic issues snarl Eagle project
The site’s location, just north of the Eagle Tennis Club, has been a thorn in the development’s side since the East End Marketplace was first approved in 2016. The site is bordered by Highway 44 to the south, Edgewood Lane to the west and East State Street to the north.
With busy roads filling nearly every side of the site, both the Eagle City Council and community members were worried about overloading traffic and introducing safety issues, especially if popular fast-food options such as Chick-fil-A take an interest in the drive-thru options.
“My concern is the traffic,” said City Council member and former ACHD commissioner Mary May during the meeting. “We’re dumping a huge amount, a huge volume of traffic that’s going to be coming out there. Highway 44 already stacks up.”
The intersection between State Street and Edgewood Lane has no stop light, meaning residents such as Cynthia Horsford are stuck waiting to make a left-hand turn to get onto Highway 44.
“Right now you cannot get from State Street onto the 44 going left or going east without taking your life in your hands,” Horsford said during public testimony.
“I think you’re asking for accidents,” said Eagle resident Laurie Ruddick.
Nelson said TPC Commercial and Rennison already implemented “substantial” improvements to the surrounding roads to address these concerns. She said the original traffic study took growth into consideration, and ACHD has weighed in again since then and had no new additional requirements.
“It’s a challenging site … Access is tough to say the least,” Rennison said. “It’s not a problem getting out of the development, it’s a problem getting into the development.”
Rennison said the developers already received traffic access into the shopping center from State Street and Edgewood Lane and had to rebuild the intersection at Edgewood and State.
The public will have an opportunity to weigh in during the next hearing at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, at Eagle City Hall.
This story was originally published March 6, 2024 at 4:00 AM.
