Low-income housing in works for increasingly upscale district near Boise State
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Boise plans to redevelop Sherwood Apartments into affordable family housing.
- Project includes YMCA childcare and Terry Reilly health services on-site.
- Apartments target households earning 30% to 60% of Boise's median income.
The Lusk District, wedged between Boise State University and Ann Morrison Park, is almost unrecognizable compared with two decades ago, when it was filled with industrial buildings, dirt lots, auto-repair shops and semitrailer parking.
Today, it’s the home to upscale student apartments and popular stops like Lost Grove Brewing and Dawson Taylor coffee, along with the Boise Bicycle Project.
The area is tipping toward another wave of change as the city of Boise prepares to rehabilitate and redevelop an aging and battered apartment building. The city says the rehab is “a cornerstone” of its larger effort to recast the area.
The city, Terry Reilly Health Services, the Boise City Housing Authority, the Treasure Valley YMCA and Northwest Real Estate Capital Corp. plan to repurpose the University Park Apartments at 860 W. Sherwood St. to provide low-income housing and supportive services for families experiencing homelessness in Boise.
The city bought the property in 2023 for $8.1 million from the State Board of Education, but students at nearby Boise State University continued to live there through 2024.
A Boise nonprofit, the Northwest Real Estate Capital Corp., would develop, manage and own the renovated property, which would be named The Sherwood. The nonprofit, which has built affordable housing across the Rocky Mountain region, submitted an early concept application to the city of Boise in mid-June, teeing up the approval process and eventual construction.
The 48-apartment project complex would include a YMCA day care center and a community lounge that would include support space for Terry Reilly Health Services, according to an application for federal funding.
The Sherwood “is the culmination of several organizations working to provide desperately needed affordable housing options in a thoughtful designed building that will become a community gathering space for families looking for a new start,” according to the application.
Northwest Real Estate Capital applied for $1.2 million in federal low-income housing tax credits from the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, but was not selected in 2025. Regardless, it appears the company is moving forward with plans.
The proposal comes after the city saw an explosion in population during the COVID-19 pandemic that spurred an increase in housing costs and a related increase in homelessness.
“This included several households with children, causing difficulties in academics and intrapersonal relationships,” according to the application. “The Sherwood is designed to help address this issue, providing two-bedroom and three-bedroom units for families of various sizes.”
The YMCA would bring child care to residents to a region suffering from a day care shortage, while Terry Reilly would offer preventative health care and limited medical facilities.
The Sherwood is within a 20-minute walk of a grocery store, retail shopping, a pharmacy, banks, a post office, bus stops and the Boise River Greenbelt, according to the application.
Each apartment would include large windows and a washer and dryer along with an electric range, refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave oven in the kitchen. Other amenities include a front desk and lobby, community lounge, outdoor courtyard with playground, computer lab and on-site property management.
Plans call for five market-rate units and another five reserved for households earning 30% of the area median income, two units for those earning 40%, 12 units for those earning 50% and 26 for those earning 60%.
Rents for the affordable units would be capped at 30% of a household’s income.
In Boise in 2025, 60% of the area median income for a one-person household is $44,941, a two-person household is $51,360, and a three-person household is $57,780, according to the city’s income guidelines. That means monthly rent in one of those 26 apartments would be capped at $1,124 for a one-person household, $1,284 for a two-person household and $1,445 for a three-person household.
A problem property for Boise State
The University Park Apartments haven’t always been perfect for Boise State. The building was built in 1940 and its age has shown in recent years.
According to emails received through a public records request, several student tenants in 2023 and 2024 struggled with problems including flooding, discolored water, mold and asbestos.
One apartment repeatedly dealt with brown water coming out of all the faucets in 2024, which a student said may have led to episodes of severe skin irritation, when none of the three tenants had prior histories of skin conditions or sensitivity.
“We chalked it up to allergies or season dryness,” the student wrote. “This is horrifying and unacceptable.”
In another unit, a tenant complained to Boise State that a wall was always wet, which led to “mounds” and peeling paint.
“It gets worse whenever it rains and there’s a stench that accompanies it,” the student wrote. “The wall is an eyesore, but I can’t avoid looking at it.”
Emails showed that campus staff moved students between apartments as they worked on problems at the same time in 2023 and 2024. Some repairs required putting apartments under negative air pressure to prevent the spread of asbestos.
According to Jill Youmans, spokesperson for the city of Boise, the issues from the aging property were part of the reason the city was looking to rehabilitate it into The Sherwood.
“We never intended for it to be turnkey,” Youmans said by phone in March. “We were planning significant renovations.”
