Apartments ‘in flux’ where downtown meets Boise’s North End. What the developer is up to
State Street commuters, North End walkers and Albertsons shoppers all may be wondering: What is going in on the northeast corner of 16th and State streets?
The answer: Nothing, at least not yet. Construction has yet to start on a long-planned apartment building. But 104 studio apartments are still planned from a Seattle developer Johnson & Carr, according to a permit issued by the city of Boise.
Tyler Carr, the Carr in Johnson & Carr, told the Idaho Statesman by email that “some things are currently in flux,” and declined to comment further.
The apartments would be in a Boise urban renewal area and be funded in part through a state grant and federal tax credits, but neither Boise’s urban renewal agency nor the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, which awards and administers the grant and the tax credits in Idaho, said they could comment on the status of the project.
Johnson and Carr planned to build the apartments on the former gas station property across 16th Street from Albertsons/, where downtown meets the . The apartments are earmarked for workforce housing, meaning 11 of the units will be at rent levels for people making 100% or less of the area median income, or AMI, which is $68,865 for one person and $78,653 for two.
To qualify for financial help from the urban renewal district, apartment developers must offer a percentage of their units at or below 100% of AMI, said Lana Graybeal, spokesperson for the Capital City Development Corp., Boise’s urban renewal agency. Doug Woodruff, the development director for CCDC, said in an email that the agency requires that Johnson and Carr have 11 such units.
The developer’s application for the state’s workforce housing funds says the apartment complex would have 21 units at 100% or less of AMI.
In fact, Johnson & Carr intends to rent all 104 studios for no more than the maximum rent allowed for those incomes, Graybeal said. That rent today is $1,722 per month for one person or $1,966 for two, though the amounts may rise before the apartments open.
“The rest of the units are naturally at the 100% AMI because they are studio apartments, however they are not required to be at the 100% AMI,” Graybeal said in an email.
| % of AMI | 1 person | 2 people | 3 people | 4 people |
| 120% | $74,880 | $85,560 | $96,240 | $106,920 |
| Max rent | $1,872 | $2,139 | $2,406 | $2,673 |
| 100% | $68,865 | $78,653 | $88,511 | $98,300 |
| Max rent | $1,722 | $1,966 | $2,213 | $2,458 |
| 80% | $49,950 | $57,050 | $64,200 | $71,300 |
| Max rent | $1,249 | $1,426 | $1,605 | $1,783 |
| 60% | $37,440 | $42,780 | $48,120 | $53,460 |
| Max rent | $936 | $1,070 | $1,203 | $1,337 |
| 50% | $31,200 | $35,650 | $40,100 | $44,550 |
| Max rent | $780 | $891 | $1,003 | $1,114 |
| 30% | $18,750 | $21,400 | $24,100 | $26,750 |
| Max rent | $469 | $535 | $603 | $669 |
Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
City permits show that the apartment complex, called 16th and State, would be in a five-story building, next to a two-story parking garage with future ground-floor retail.
The apartments would cost $23 million, according to CCDC, which would pay over $650,000 in improvements.
The project would also receive $1.2 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits and $4 million from the Idaho Work Force Housing Fund, according to the Idaho Housing and Finance Association.
Ben Cushman, spokesperson for the housing association, told the Statesman that Johnson & Carr had not yet dipped into the tax credits and wouldn’t until the firm is ready to start building.
The Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program was created in 1986 as part of the Tax Reform Act. The program allows a private company to invest in affordable housing projects in return for tax credits that reduce the company’s federal tax responsibility. The federal government gives each state tax credits based on population. Each state then selects projects that get the credits.
The Idaho Work Force Housing Fund was created in 2022 by the Legislature to used federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for workforce housing. As with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, developers apply for the fund through the housing association.
This story was originally published April 22, 2024 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Apartments ‘in flux’ where downtown meets Boise’s North End. What the developer is up to."
