One of Boise’s most famous and popular streets is evolving. Are you ready for the change?
Boise’s 8th Street, one of the city’s most famous and popular pipelines, could soon see its next evolution, with new plans and designs on the way.
The street connects some of the cultural highlights of the city, running from the Boise River in the south, through downtown, the North End, behind Camel’s Back Park and up into the Foothills, eventually turning into a smattering of winding roads you can take all the way to Bogus Basin.
The first modern evolution may have come when city leaders shut down the street from Bannock Street to the Boise Centre during the COVID-19 pandemic, turning it into a pedestrian- and bike-only stretch. City leaders have celebrated the move, welcoming the bustling pedestrian corridor full of shoppers, business lunch meetings and late night party-goers.
The southern terminus of the street by the Boise River is also seeing a blast of new changes, including the recently opened Wassmuth Center for Human Rights. There are also plans for an expansion of The Cabin literary organization, a new plaza and connections to the Boise River Greenbelt.
But the northern end of the street’s downtown stretch, between State and Fort streets, may see the greatest changes in the coming years. Developers are jumping in with plans to overhaul the area, including with two separate six-story condominium buildings.
Could more homes come to busy Boise area?
The Boise-based Pivot North architecture firm submitted an application to the city on Jan. 21 for an early assistance review on behalf of Boise’s Standard Properties for a six-story building at 622 N. 8th St. An early assistance review includes a conversation between a city planner and the development team to identify requirements and next steps.
The site is an empty lot on the southern corner of 8th Street and Franklin Street.
The early plans call for two multilevel town houses and 12 flats ranging from about 1,000 to 3,000 square feet, with ground floor amenities. Little else is known about the building. Requests to Pivot North for comment went unanswered.
Standard Properties lists orthopedic surgeon Michael Coughlin as the company’s governor. Coughlin was the founder of the Coughlin Clinic at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center and was a past president of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Surgery Society.
The newly proposed six-story building is also about 500 feet north of another six-story condominium building that was first proposed in 2022 at 800 W. State St., catty-corner to the Capitol.
That project from Shawn Swanby, the founder of Boise education technology company Ednetics, and Swanby Investment Group sought to demolish the former Home Federal bank building — a unique but underutilized 1960s-built, two-story stone building with large windows facing State Street. In its place, Swanby and Boise’s Hummel Architects planned to build a glossy six-story condominium building.
According to a letter from Hummel Architects, the ground floor would house three retail areas, a public lobby and amenities, while the second floor would include commercial office space. The third through fifth floor would include 20 one-, two- and three-bedroom condos, according to design plans. The sixth floor would include a penthouse and rooftop amenity space.
“We recognize this site is surrounded by buildings of historic nature and importance … a majority of which were designed by Hummel predecessor architects,” according to the letter.
Hummel Architects was first founded in 1896 as Tourtellotte and Hummel and designed some of the most iconic buildings in Boise. These include other nearby buildings like the Capitol, Boise High School, St. Michael’s Cathedral and St. John’s Cathedral — which used sandstone quarried from Table Rock.
“Each of the buildings were of their era with design aesthetics expressing use, quality and community value,” according to the letter. “We believe the design of our 8th and State project is of its era, clearly delineates its uses and is logically crafted to fit amongst the neighboring buildings and urban surroundings.”
Swanby previously told the Statesman that the building had been vacant for years and that he wanted to give the property a more public presence.
“I feel like the current property in that location is very underutilized,” Swanby told the Statesman in 2022. “There’s an opportunity to have it be a much larger contributor to the community, and we’d like to see that happen.”
The status of the project is not clear. Neither Swanby nor Hummel Architects returned requests for comment. But permit filings with the city of Boise show that Hummel Architects met with the city for a concept review in January 2024.
A new roadway for a growing Boise
The Ada County Highway District and the city’s urban renewal agency, the Capital City Development Corp., are also working on improvements to the same section between the two possible condominium buildings.
The stretch runs from St. Michael’s to the empty lot where the proposed six-story building would be built on the corner of 8th and Franklin. The highway district closed the road between State Street and Franklin Street on Jan. 7, and it will likely stay closed until September as it works on the upgrades, according to ACHD.
These changes include:
- Installing a new water line for Veolia.
- Removing a lane of traffic and adding protected northbound and southbound bike lanes.
- Installing new flashing pedestrian signals at Washington Street and Franklin Street.
- Building accessible sidewalks and pedestrian ramps.
“I’m just really thrilled to see this project moving forward,” said Capital City Development Corp. Chair Latonia Haney Keith in 2023. “I think it’s going to be a fantastic way to finish out 8th Street.”
Connecting the North End to Downtown Boise
Still more changes are coming to the street. About 700 feet to the north of the 8th and Franklin intersection, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise is building a three-story, 20,000-square-foot office building at 902 N. 8th St., across the street from the Boise Co-op.
The site is catty-corner to the Saint Joseph Catholic School and directly north of a newly remodeled Shell gas station and Jacksons Food Center. The site was a long-time location for Baird’s Dry Cleaning before it was demolished to make way for a four-story condominium building with ground floor retail space called the Metropolitan.
When the construction industry turned upside down during the COVID-19 pandemic, developer David Southers and colleague Tim Gardiner hit the pause button despite having most of the units already reserved, according to prior Statesman reporting.
The finances looked worse as the cost to build grew through 2020, Gardiner previously told the Statesman, meaning he would have to charge residents more. He instead sold it to the diocese — leaving a pit and empty ground at the demolished dry cleaning location.
“I did not want to get a reputation for being a bait-and-switch type of a person,” Gardiner said then. “After long and hard thought, I was nervous to go forward.”
The Boise City Council gave approval for the new diocese office in August, despite initial pushback from neighbors who wanted the site to become what had initially been proposed: housing.
The neighbors also opposed the building over its proposed height and questioned whether it was an appropriate addition to the “gateway to the North End,” according to prior Statesman reporting. But after the diocese conceded and dropped the height down, the North End Neighborhood Association put its support behind it.
Development moves in near 8th Street
Though not on 8th Street, several other projects are already in the works for the neighboring streets and area.
On 9th Street, across from the street from the Capitol lawn and next to McU Sports, the Idaho Wheat Commission demolished its aging building in mid-December to build a four-story building with space for ground-floor businesses.
The Wheat Commission would lease the first three floors as office or retail space and reserve the fourth floor for meeting space for the commission or the building’s other occupants.
Britany Hurst Marchant, the executive director of the Idaho Wheat Commission, told the Statesman in September that the development would cost around $14 million and wrap up construction in spring 2026.
About 500 feet to the northwest, crews also demolished the rest of the old Idaho Sporting Goods store in January 2024 to make way for a new $80 million Downtown Boise YMCA at 1010 W. Jefferson St., across State Street from the building the Y built in 1968. Construction on the building began in November.
The new three-story CapEd Downtown Boise YMCA would include and expand current features, including studio space, a gym, swimming pool complex and administration space. It would also include an indoor track, indoor play space, creator space, teen hangout area, child care center, Blue Cross of Idaho center and a ninja course.
The current Y would remain open until crews wrap up construction to provide members continuous service. Alyson Outen, spokesperson for the Y, said the organization is aiming to open in the fourth quarter of 2026.
On 7th Street — on the same block as the proposed six-story condominium building from Standard Properties — crews demolished the historic 1903-built J.W. McLean House and Terraces in May to make way for “the first and only luxury brownstone enclave in the heart of Downtown Boise.”
The development from Georgia-based CK Property Group, named Seventh & Franklin, calls for a two-story building with a third-floor penthouse, balcony and pool. It also includes two connected brownstone homes, each with a basement, two-car garage and two kitchens, one of which would be on the rooftop terrace.
“Boasting a limited collection of only three exquisite residences, Seventh & Franklin presents a rare opportunity to own a luxurious urban retreat in one of Boise’s most coveted neighborhoods,” according to its website.
What’s next
The concept six-story building at 622 N. 8th St. is likely to change during the permitting process. After the early assistance review, the development would go through a concept review, which would determine if the planning staff could approve it or if it would need approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission or the Boise City Council.
A breakdown of the city’s planning process can be found online if you go to cityofboise.org and search “Planning Process Overview.”
This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
