More downtown demolition, and then: Here’s what’s planned for Jefferson Street

The wrecking ball is coming for another downtown Boise building.

This time, it’s a little-known office complex on Jefferson Street, just south of where the iconic Idaho Sporting Goods store was torn down in 2024. Together, the demolitions intend to clear the way for a long-planned redevelopment on the south side of State Street near Boise High School, across from the Downtown Boise YMCA.

The Capital City Development Corp., Boise’s urban renewal agency, plans to build storefronts and a 6½-story parking structure at 1010 W. Jefferson St., which backs up to the YMCA’s forthcoming $80 million flagship gym, child-care center, sports hub and aquatics center.

First, though, it must tear down the office building on the site — a process that began with interior demolition in January and escalated on Monday to the outside at the corner of 10th and Jefferson.

With construction expected to wrap in fall 2027, the mixed-use garage “will provide much-needed structured parking and support the surrounding businesses, housing, and activity in the Westside District,” CCDC spokesman Lana Graybeal told the Idaho Statesman in an email.

Though not linked, both the garage and the CapEd Downtown Boise YMCA are part of a CCDC-backed overhaul of a three block chunk of downtown south of Boise High School.

The YMCA obtained the land for its new home through a swap deal with the CCDC struck in 2022. In August the city signed off on the plan to build the roughly 446-stall parking structure atop 20,000 square feet of street-level commercial space. So far, those storefronts don’t have businesses attached; the CCDC is seeking buyers for the space through a request for proposal due April 7.

The goal, according to a January press release, is to “catalyze additional investment in housing, retail, dining, and community services while expanding mobility options and improving the pedestrian experience throughout the district.”

“An active and welcoming ground floor is essential to creating a dynamic, connected neighborhood,” CCDC Executive Director John Brunelle said in the release. “This RFP represents an opportunity for businesses and organizations to establish a long-term presence in one of Boise’s most thriving urban districts.”

The garage will be the seventh in CCDC’s public ParkBoi inventory. It’s designed with photovoltaic cells on the roof and an emphasis on charging electric cars. While only 1% of spots will have charging outlets initially, the CCDC says it can expand capacity to 20% “in the future,” according to the agency.

CCDC bought the property between Jefferson and State streets in 2017 with grand visions of affordable housing, according to previous reporting by the Idaho Statesman.

The garage would stand on part of a site once earmarked for one of the city’s largest apartment towers. The agency originally solicited plans including at least 225 apartments for the broader block, and at one point in 2021 approved a proposal for a 20-story tower supporting 450 apartments and 514 parking spots. That $180 million plan included the possibility of expanding to 626 units and 724 spots.

But ultimately it came to nothing. The consortium of three developers behind the project failed to get it financed, Graybeal told the Statesman in an email, and eventually abandoned the idea.

With the housing plan dead, the CCDC pivoted to develop the parking portion of the property itself.

While nearby, the garage and the YMCA are “independent efforts,” Graybeal said, though the CCDC was “excited to see the long-envisioned expansion of the YMCA moving forward in downtown Boise.”

“The YMCA has been an important part of our community for generations,” she said, “and this investment is a big step forward for downtown.”

This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 4:00 AM.