The Boise Outlet Mall is closed. Plans for what’s next just shifted into high gear

Once, shopping. Soon, shipping.

Washington truck manufacturer Kenworth on Wednesday filed a package permits to build a two-story dealership, warehouse and service center on the site that once held the Boise Outlet Mall, a longtime discount staple off South Eisenman Road.

The $33 million project will span more than 17 acres at 6850 S. Eisenman Road, nearly quadrupling the trucking firm’s Boise footprint. Kenworth Sales Co. currently runs a smaller office off the south end of Broadway Avenue between Interstate 84 and the Boise Airport.

Once built, the move will grab the trucking and equipment giant a larger piece of the Boise metro at a time of intensifying interest in the Treasure Valley as a shipping and distribution hub. Peterbilt, a trucking competitor, is mirroring the move with an expansion of its own farther south, the Statesman reported in March, retrofitting a new lot and service center.

Kenworth’s plan spans 105,000 square feet over two buildings, according to city records. The extra space should draw more jobs, too: A spokesperson for the company previously told the Statesman that the concept would employ 90 people with salaries averaging $90,000.

A spokesperson for Kenworth did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Boise outlets closed, then burned

At its peak, the Boise Outlet Mall hosted 38 stores. Soon, Kenworth will build on an array of parking lots that once surrounded the shopping center — buildings that earlier this year were creatively destroyed.

The last outlet at the beleaguered mall closed on Jan. 28. Not long after, the Boise Fire Department spent two weeks burning most of the buildings down. The mall’s last act was a live-fire training exercise in late January and early February, offering firefighters a rare chance to practice on large structures.

The final business on the property, a screenprinting shop, moved out in early June. Its building was then demolished.

Boise primed for trucking boom

Kenworth’s new hub is years in the making. Plans for the showroom emerged in 2023, the Statesman reported at the time. Primed by Micron’s expansion and Idaho’s ongoing population boom, southeast Boise has transformed in the years since. The area is now developing into the city’s most prominent industrial corridor, anchored by Micron’s $50 billion expansion and, subsequently, some of the state’s largest warehouses and distribution centers.

The Boise metro area has added roughly 8 million square feet of industrial buildings since 2022, Devin Pierce, a partner at TOK, a Boise commercial real estate agency, told the Statesman in March. That’s four times as much as was built in the five years prior, Pierce said. In square footage, it’s about the footprint of Ann Morrison and Kathryn Albertson parks put together.

And even more is on the way.

As of the fourth quarter of 2025, another 8 million square feet were under construction in and around Boise, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a national commercial real estate firm. Once that’s done, Boise will have added some 360 acres of industrial buildings since 2022, most of it built to rent without a specific tenant in mind. The total addition would be 20% bigger than the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

These businesses need truckers for distribution, and truckers need support — like Kenworth and Peterbilt — nearby. By law, truckers can drive 11 hours in a 14-hour work window. At 350 miles, Salt Lake from Boise is light work. Portland, Seattle and Reno are all in range. So is Las Vegas, even San Francisco, if traffic sets up right. That puts the Treasure Valley in a prime position amid a growing Pacific Northwest, according to commercial real estate brokers familiar with the market.

Back in 2023, Kenworth spokesperson Martha Mills said the site, which sits along the transit corridor, could serve a larger number of customers than the current dealership. With more regional and national industries are making their way through Boise, she said, “we need more room to accommodate all their growth.”

This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 2:11 PM.