Apartments, a hotel, offices? How dreams of redeveloping a Boise parking lot stalled
At one point, Boise State University staff had big dreams for a surface parking lot kitty corner from Insomnia Cookies in the booming Lusk District.
The school signed a memorandum with the city of Boise in 2023 to jointly develop its site and two nearby properties as part of the city’s Lusk Redevelopment project, so-named for the Lusk District, the area generally between the university campus and Ann Morrison Park.
Boise State wanted to see what the market needed, envisioning potential mixed uses like parking, retail, office space, housing or maybe even a hotel, said Drew Alexander, associate vice president for campus operations. The goal was balance, in a neighborhood already teeming with student housing options.
But while the city is moving forward (and expected to break ground before the end of 2026) on hundreds of affordable housing units, the university backed out. Alexander cited a lack of clear vision and a tough development market. Rising interest rates and construction costs combined to leave the surface parking lot as just that for the foreseeable future.
“We approached the project with more flexibility and more of an openness … surprisingly, that was the harder thing to do,” Alexander said, sitting in a modular building a few blocks from Albertsons Stadium. “The city had really great clarity around their target for additional housing capacity and that’s in my opinion why their project is still moving forward.”
The Boise area has grown rapidly, and in the past decade the Lusk District has exploded with student housing complexes. Around the district’s tight blocks, visitors can see higher-rise buildings surrounded by trees alongside longtime staples like Lost Grove Brewing and the Boise Bicycle Project in squat structures.
But the Treasure Valley’s growth has a negative side for the construction business, too: Developers were among those raising the alarm ahead of megaprojects like Micron’s expansion that the big undertakings would snap up available workers, making it harder for places like Boise State University to make their projects work financially.
That was part of what led to Boise State’s reversal in February 2026, Alexander said, adding that he thought those ripple effects would last for some time.
Boise State wanted a revenue-neutral plan, not looking to commit university funds to the development, Alexander said. The plan was to lease the land to a partner who would build and operate whatever existed.
But running the numbers showed that the return on investment wouldn’t be enough, according to Alexander, especially because the zoning in the area provides developers numerous options. That’s because the Lusk District is zoned MX-5, or essentially what the zoning is downtown. Boise State could have tied itself to a project now when a better one in easier financial times could make more sense.
On the city side, Boise’s plan is to redevelop its parcels behind the university’s commuter lot, according to a city memo. The city’s design review commission approved the project on May 13, spokesperson Maria Ortega said in an email. The aim is to construct a seven-story development with over 325 apartments and 10,000 square feet of commercial space, according to the May meeting.
The project, which city documents called “transformative,” will create “dense, urban-scale affordable housing” and contribute “to the evolution of the Lusk District as a distinct downtown neighborhood.”
The idea has long been in the works, back when the city’s land in question served low-income tenants in apartments, according to previous Statesman reporting.
The existing buildings are expected to be demolished beginning in late summer 2026, Ortega said. The buildings have been fully vacated, with the last tenants relocated in November 2024, Ortega said.
