A ‘gateway’ to the Greenbelt: Boise signs off on new West End hotel

Boise just cleared the way for a new hotel at the College of Western Idaho’s emerging riverfront, putting developers one step closer to realize the long-sought West End hub.

After three months of fine-tuning, the city’s Design Review Board on Wednesday approved plans for the five-story, 126-room hotel at 3150 W. Main St., a large, open lot by the Boise Greenbelt between North Whitewater Boulevard and the border with Garden City. The approval means that developers can apply for a building permit, pending a 10-day appeal period.

Madison, Wisconsin, hospitality specialists Raymond Management Co. owns the project, which will operate under Hilton’s Homewood Suites banner, according to documents filed with the city in February.

But the hotel is one piece of a larger build-up near Bernadette Quinn Riverside Park. CWI and Meridian developer Ahlquist are spearheading the plan, which aims to expand the Nampa college’s footprint in the capital. Its centerpiece would be 101,000-square-foot classroom building, which would be flanked by storefronts, apartments, a parking garage and the Hilton hotel.

Ahlquist broke ground on the “River District” campus in June and received an early round of approvals from the city in December. In January, Ahlquist Chief Operating Officer Ryan Cleverley told the Idaho Statesman that his team was closing in on building permits for the classrooms, retail spaces and parking garage. At the time, Cleverley said the academic building would be ready for students to start the 2027-‘28 school year.

The hotel shouldn’t be far behind.

“We’re very excited for the lasting impression that this area is going to have, having sat vacant for so many years,” Ahlquist Chief Development Officer Ryan Cutler said in Wednesday’s public hearing.

At City Hall, the three design review commissioners present at Wednesday’s meeting were happy, too. Plans first came to the board in November. That design was kicked back to the architects with orders to rework the building to connect more closely to the Greenbelt, reorient pedestrian and drop-off traffic, and adopt a more “urban, boutique feel.”

The developer took the recommendations and came back with what Commissioner Matt Geserick saw as a “vast improvement” and a new “gateway” to the Greenbelt.

“This is a much better product than what was initially submitted, he said.

Originally, Geserick said passersby “wouldn’t even know the Greenbelt was there.” The final plan opens up a larger pedestrian-first pathway into the campus with less vegetation blocking views of the river.

David Anderson, a spokesman for the West End Neighborhood Association, agreed, praising the “flow through” that his group hoped to see. “They hit on all the marks,” he said.

One concern: The once-vacant lot has long been an easy access point for Quinn’s Pond and the Whitewater Park, popular water sport hubs. Anderson was worried about people lugging gear through the campus.

That will have to work itself out once all the building is done — likely two to three years, said Commission Co-Chair Ryan Erstad.

“I think the site layout is everything we can ask it to be,” he said.