Global companies are taking advantage of Boise boom with massive new projects. Here’s one
It’s hard to track just how big an impact Meta and Micron’s $16 billion expansions in south Boise and Kuna could make on the Treasure Valley.
Construction is already in full swing on the two projects as they aim to finish building in 2026, with an estimated need of over 4,500 construction workers.
Micron has said its new semiconductor chip manufacturing plant will directly employ 2,000 people and create 15,000 jobs in the community, according to prior Idaho Statesman reporting. Meta’s new Facebook data center would employ 100 workers.
The developments have squeezed the local workforce and driven up the cost of construction, contributing to the implosion of some projects, such as most of the proposed redevelopment of three downtown Boise city blocks. Micron has also attracted economic investment to Southwest Idaho from semiconductor-adjacent businesses and regional industries.
Now a global real estate firm and an investment firm are getting into Boise’s boom with a one-million-square-foot industrial plaza next to Interstate 84, a quarter mile west of Micron’s campus near the Memory Road interchange.
For comparison, you could fit the footprint of about five Idaho Capitols onto one million square feet. It’s nearly the size of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
Construction began the first week of December on the development, named EastPort Logistics. The developers are the Texas-based Lincoln Property Co. and One Investment Management, which has offices in New York, London, Tokyo and Abu Dhabi.
They plan to build the 78-acre warehouse, distribution and manufacturing site in two phases. The first phase would include 685,000 square feet across four buildings, and the second would add three buildings totaling over 500,000 square feet.
“We expect that this project will meet the growing demand for modern logistics space in South Boise from companies that want to expand their industrial footprint in this market,” said Trever Nicoll, senior vice president of Lincoln, in a news release. “This area is poised for growth… We believe in the Boise market and in the underlying fundamentals of this high-growth and business-friendly state.”
The development calls for over 1,300 parking spaces for cars and 128 for trailers, according to the release. Plans also call for a berm to alleviate light and noise from the site.
Developing south Boise
EastPort Logistics has been a long time coming. It was first proposed in February 2022 and approved by the city’s Design Review Committee that May. Nearby residents filed several appeals to stop the complex, according to permit filings with the city.
Residents of the Blue Valley neighborhood adjacent to the property argued that the committee’s decision would harm the neighborhood.
“Time and time again, hedonic studies, with dozens of similar studies to back them up, have shown the harm to residents when industrial developments are anywhere near a residential neighborhood,” wrote residents Dennis Walker and Jerry Jacobson in 2022.
A hedonic study is an analysis that identifies the factors and characteristics that affect the market price of something such as a house, according to Investopedia.
The Boise City Council rejected the neighborhood’s claims that November and rejected a request to reconsider in early 2023.
The area has long been a relatively underutilized industrial zone, with some areas like the nearby Boise Factory Outlets decaying amid declining business sales. But the area has seen a slow resurgence as Boise has grown over the last several years and Micron continues its $15 billion expansion.
In March, the city of Boise approved a plan to redevelop the Boise Factory Outlets into a new Kenworth Truck Dealership. More homes east of Micron along Columbia Road have also cropped up over the past several years.
The City Council created an urban renewal district there called Gateway East in 2020. The city’s urban renewal agency, the Capital City Development Corp. or CCDC, is helping fund several projects in the district, including $8.7 million to EastPort Logistics for utility and street improvements for its first phase, which Lincoln estimated would cost $101.5 million.
The CCDC funds would go toward extending WinCo Court and building Warehouse Way, according to agency meeting materials from October. The funds would also add a transformer and extend power, water and sewer lines.
According to Lana Graybeal, CCDC spokesperson, the company has not applied for CCDC funding for its second phase.
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 4:00 AM.
