Wave of redevelopment along Boise’s State Street has a new target downtown. What’s next?
If you’ve driven down State Street recently, you may have noticed just how much it’s changed in the past few years.
New homes and businesses are popping up along the heavily trafficked street from Eagle to downtown Boise, culminating at its eastern end with a nine-story hospital tower and medical office plaza expansion at the St. Luke’s Health System campus.
Less than a mile to its west, three city blocks south of Boise High School are also slated for redevelopment that could bring a new downtown YMCA, 30,000 square feet of commercial space and hundreds of new apartments.
But wedged between these two behemoth projects, an often-overlooked building is also getting set for a revolutionary change: the Idaho Wheat Commission building at 821 W. State Street, just west of the Capitol lawn.
Sitting on the southeast corner of State and 9th streets next to McU Sports, its most defining characteristic is likely a red, white and gold “Idaho Wheat” logo slapped on the front of the building. That could change with new plans to demolish the 1945-built building for a palatial, four-story building with space for businesses on the ground floor.
The commission is a not-for-profit and self-governing state agency focused on increasing profits, research and education for wheat growers, according to its website. The commission comprises an emeritus commissioner and five others appointed by the Idaho governor for five-year terms.
According to Britany Hurst Marchant, executive director of the Idaho Wheat Commission, the commission reached a point where the expenses to maintain the building and update its heating, cooling, wiring and safety systems couldn’t pencil out.
“A new building is the most fiscally responsible way to meet the needs and objectives of the Idaho Wheat Commission today and in the years to come,” Hurst Marchant said by email.
The commission would lease the first, second and third floors of the new building as office or retail space, with the fourth floor reserved as flexible meeting space for the commission and the building’s other occupants.
The Idaho Wheat Commission bought the property in 2003 and leases space to the University of Idaho and other agricultural organizations, including for barley, bean, grain, potato, wine, milk and sugar beet.
“Each of these organizations were considered and consulted throughout the architectural design phase of the new building,” Hurst Marchant said. “It is the hope of the Wheat Commission that all of the current lessees will return to the new building.”
Less than 500 feet from the western steps of the Capitol, Hurst Marchant said, the location of the building was the deciding factor when the property was purchased — and the commission favored staying close by rather than moving to a new location.
“It is important to Idaho wheat producers and others involved in Idaho agriculture, who will be tenants in the building, to maintain the proximity to the state Capitol building,” Hurst Marchant said. “This location is an important reminder of the legacy and contributions that agriculture has made to Idaho’s economy and heritage.”
The new building would cut an imposing figure on State Street with a brick base and large windows arching across the middle two floors. But it would not have a previously proposed car-stacking system that would have fit 34 vehicles into 12 spaces.
The commission is expecting the development to cost about $14 million, with demolition to begin this winter and construction wrapping in the spring of 2026, Hurst Marchant said.
