After more than a decade, Boise’s West End is about to see some big changes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Construction begins on The River District, a 10-acre mixed-use site in Boise's West End.
- Development includes a new CWI campus, hotel, housing, retail and a parking garage.
- Public-private partnership enabled the project without voter-approved tax funding.
For years, Boise’s West End neighborhood has seen promise after promise that the vacant, dirt and weed-filled lots along Fairview Avenue or Main Street would become something new and exciting.
They could become new apartments, new shops and hotels and cafes and restaurants, developers said.
Many of those dreams have faded or been paused. Driving down Fairview or Main, you’re still faced with the same empty lots that dominated the area in 2016, when investors and developers said they hoped to see the area flourish within the next decade.
But one key project to unlocking the West End, and something that could catalyze development of those still empty lots, is taking root: The River District. Developers, investors and stakeholders hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday to kick off construction for the 10-acre development at 3150 W. Main St.
The developers promise 220 town houses and apartments, a 125-room Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel, 20,000 square feet of retail space and a 640-stall parking garage. Most of all, they promise the long-sought Boise campus for the College of Western Idaho.
“This milestone is over a decade in the making,” said Gordon Jones, president of CWI, in a news release. “We acquired this land in 2015 with a vision to expand our impact and serve the community in new and meaningful ways. The River District reflects our commitment to investing in Idaho’s future through education, opportunity and innovation.”
CWI leases buildings throughout the Treasure Valley. The River District would bring many of its programs, such as computer science, cybersecurity and business, under one roof in a four-story, 101,000-square foot academic building.
The site — the former Bob Rice Ford car dealership on the northwest corner of Main and Whitewater Park Boulevard — abuts the Boise River Greenbelt and has for years acted as a parking lot for people using Quinn’s Pond and Whitewater Park.
“This is an ideal setting for a thriving, mixed-use development that enhances quality of life in Boise,” said Tommy Ahlquist, founder and CEO of Meridian development company Ahlquist, in the release.
CWI had planned to use the entire site for its campus when it bought the property for $8.8 million. But the plans faltered after voters in 2016 rejected a $180 million bond measure to build it.
Eight years later, CWI agreed to a public-private partnership with Ahlquist. The partnership let the college build a new campus with money from its own building fund, donors and expected business revenue without asking voters for tax money.
Ashley Smith, CWI spokesperson, told the Idaho Statesman in March that the academic building was to cost $38 million.
“CWI’s goal was to always have a facility in downtown Boise to serve our students in Ada County, and we’re still able to do that,” Smith said then.
CWI and Ahlquist brought on several partners, including Wisconsin-based Raymond Management Co., Sun Valley’s Centered wellness clinic, Boise’s Hummel Architects, Eagle’s Paradigm Construction Co. and Meridian’s Engineered Structures, Inc. Raymond Management also built downtown Boise’s Home2Suites hotel and the Hampton Inn & Suites.
Ahlquist told the Statesman in 2024 that the campus would have the look and feel of The Village at Meridian.
“I think they’re going to have a legacy site here,” Ahlquist said then. “This is going to be a wonderful place to live.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2025 at 1:10 PM.
