Developer revives plans for apartments in Boise’s West End. What changed?

A California developer is looking to revive long-stalled plans for a seven-story apartment complex in the city’s West End after years of back-and-forth with local officials over the site design.

Urban Capital Partners of Murrieta, California, filed an application Friday to build 185 apartments at 2850 W. Fletcher St. between Fairview Avenue and the I-184 Connector west of the Boise River.

The plan calls for five stories of apartments atop two floors of covered parking. The ground floor would also have space for storefronts, Seattle architect Grant Seaman stated in the application.

With designs for 32 studios, 108 one bedrooms and 45 two bedrooms, the new plan marks a scaled-back vision for the 27th & Fairview Apartments. That’s likely just the start for the vacant lot: In an interview, Seaman told the Idaho Statesman that the plan will now be done in stages, though he did not have a timeline for subsequent phases or a clear picture of the shape they may take.

The site has been a target for developers since at least 2021, according to previous Statesman reporting. Back then, Boise’s Design Review Commission approved the plan proposed Temecula, California, developer Kal Pacific that would have seen 358 units spanning two apartment buildings. The plan also called for an office tower to round out the three-building campus.

It never broke ground. In November 2024, the commission denied Kal Pacific’s request for an extension, with commissioners saying they wanted a “fresh set of eyes” on the project, since it had taken so long to progress, the Statesman reported.

The commissioners emphasized that the city had approved it the original plan well before Boise’s new zoning code went live in December 2023. The new code places more emphasis on “active” commercial uses, like retail shops or restaurants, rather than passive uses like parking lots, Seaman said. His new design includes changes “that are needed to meet code.”

The project owner, Urban Capital Partners, does not have a website; the address listed on the Fletcher Street application links to a box at a Murrieta UPS Store. But Seaman told the Statesman the development team remains the same, and that Don Veasey, founder of Kal Pacific, set up a new corporation to spearhead the revamped Fletcher Street project this time around.

“We’re still figuring out what the remainder of the property is going to be,” Seaman said. “The market has changed a lot since this project was initially approved.”

In March, Seaman told the Statesman that the development team was working with the Ada County Highway District on technical details before applying for a fresh permit. “Once our friends at ACHD get everything finished, then in theory we could quickly get a building permit,” Seaman said at the time. “(It) all kind of hinges on ACHD.”

After at least two years, those discussions appear successful. The revised plan will incorporate a suite of suggestions from ACHD staff.

Redeveloping Boise’s Fairview Avenue

“This mixed-use multifamily project represents the next step in the redevelopment of the Fairview corridor and builds upon previous design review efforts, coordination with ACHD, and recent infrastructure approvals,” Seaman wrote in a letter to the city accompanying the application.

Seaman’s design “emphasizes pedestrian activity through transparent storefronts, weather protection, and multiple pedestrian entry points” along Fairview Avenue and Fletcher Street via the Whitewater Park Boulevard Extension, he wrote.

“The 27th & Fairview Apartments project advances the City’s vision for a connected, walkable, mixed use Fairview corridor,” he wrote.