First fire, now sale: Major Boise Foothills property hits the market
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A 3.7-acre parcel at 2291 N. 15 St. in Boise’s North End is listed for sale.
- Lee & Associates is accepting bids through June 30 (year not specified).
- The prior plan for 138 senior apartments had entitlements that Eakins said are expired.
On May 21, 2006, flames leaped 140 feet above Boise’s Hill Road, scorching the paint across 15th Street and gutting the empty Villa Highlands Luxury Retirement Community at the base of the Foothills.
Now, 20 years later, the property is ready for a reboot.
Real estate brokers Lee & Associates are taking bids through June 30 on the plot at 2291 N. 15 St. in Boise’s North End — one of final pieces of open, developable land at the entrance to the city’s Foothills.
With new ownership, one-time senior home could be one again, according to Lee broker Chase Erkins. Or, under Boise’s updated zoning code, it could become some other form of multifamily housing, like town homes or apartments. Developers could also add a retail component if they’re interested, Erkins told the Statesman in an interview.
Either way, the property — five lots totalling some 3.7 acres — is re-starting the path to substantial development. The previous plan called for 138 senior apartments. Those entitlements are expired, Erkins said, but he recently spoke to an interested developer who envisioned 125 units on the land.
“We’re looking at Boise’s last large-scale Foothills development site — at least the last one that will be approved,” Erkins said in an interview.
In February, the Boise City Council moved to stem future development in the city’s Foothills, vowing not to annex land deeper into the canyons north of town. The decision aimed to preserve open space, limit wildfire liability and ease strain on city services. But it also made land in one of the city’s highest-dollar neighborhoods an even scarcer commodity. In June, the median list price for a home in the Foothills ran $1.1 million, according to data from Eagle-based Waypoint Real Estate Group.
From the start, the Hill Road plan skewed high end. Fifteen units at Villa Highlands were leased out when the building burned, the Statesman reported in 2010; rents stood at $2,700 per month when leased in 2006, the equivalent of around $4,500 today.
The lots, which are owned by senior living developer Paramount Parks, carry a collective assessed value of around $2.87 million, according to state and Ada County records. Erkins did not share an estimate of what he thought it might sell for on the open market.
“There are a lot of people interested,” he said, “and I’m excited to see what comes in at the end of the month.”