Governor called legislation to stop sale of ITD’s Boise campus unfair. What he just did
The $51.8 million deal to sell the Idaho Transportation Department’s 44-acre campus on State Street is officially dead after Gov. Brad Little chose to neither sign nor veto two budget bills ending the sale.
Bills can become state law without the governor’s signature if they are not vetoed within five days after being presented to the governor. That day was Wednesday.
The bills, HB 770 and HB 720, set the 2025 budgets for ITD and the Department of Administration.
They also revoked the Department of Administration’s ability to sell the property and directed ITD to remodel its flood-damaged State Street campus rather than continue with plans to move to the former Hewlett-Packard campus on Chinden Boulevard, which the state had already devoted significant funds to.
Little’s decision is almost certain to guarantee a legal battle after a trio of developers were selected in September to redevelop the mostly vacant property into new businesses and thousands of new Boise homes.
Plans for the mostly vacant site at 3311 W. State St. included building over 2,000 homes and around 150,000 square feet of commercial space, according to prior Idaho Statesman reporting.
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The developers included Idaho-based Hawkins Cos. and The Pacific Cos. and Utah-based FJ Management. When the Department of Administration selected their $51.8 million offer, they believed it was a done deal.
Little said overturning a deal that state officials had made under the authority of Idaho law was unfair and could hurt the state. But he simultaneously praised lawmakers for “championing investments in transportation infrastructure without raising taxes and fees.”
Construction of the site was projected to add 3,800 temporary jobs and $150 million in salaries and wages, according to a statement from a public relations firm that represents Hawkins. After construction finished, the development would also have added 1,300 permanent jobs and $52 million in salaries and wages.
“We’re obviously extremely disappointed in the passage of this legislation,” wrote Brian Huffaker, CEO of Hawkins Cos., in a statement to the Idaho Statesman. “This governmental overreach is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars and we’re confident the courts will agree this kind of legislative interference in the free market violates the state constitution.”
“We will be exploring legal action,” Huffaker wrote.
In his letter to the Idaho House explaining his decision, Little wrote that the bills unwound state policy and would increase costs for office space.
“It unfairly cancels an agreed-upon sales process, causing future reputational risk for the state of Idaho,” Little wrote.
His decision to let the two budget bills slide into law marks the end of a tumultuous saga in the Legislature after months of back-and-forth negotiations and at times heated conversations between elected officials.
Emotions were mixed during a post-session news conference Wednesday, with some legislators praising the revocation of the sale and others stunned that the bills went through.
House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, said there was now enough money to renovate the State Street campus and that the Legislature should be a part similar deals.
“It’s also an example in the future, if you want to get something done like that, you need to bring the legislative body in,” Moyle said.
“It really sends a bad message to our state for business and for contractors,” said Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise. “It’s really astounding.”
Wintrow said ITD was going to have to move its employees back into the flood-damaged building after the state had already appropriated $37 million to help them move to the Chinden campus,Just because some personalities didn’t like the deal.
“If you’ve been in (the State Street campus) you know it’s not a nice place,” Wintrow said. “It needs a lot of work. I think it was wasteful.”
“It’s stunning to me that that wasn’t dealt with in a germane committee, and that something of that magnitude can simply be reversed in a footnote,” said House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise.
ITD and the Department of Administration did not immediately return requests for comment.
This story was originally published April 10, 2024 at 4:13 PM.
