Apartments eyed along busy Eagle Road in Meridian. What early plans show
One of the last few empty fields along busy Eagle Road in South Meridian could sprout apartments and town houses if a developer’s new plans for the property pan out.
National multifamily development firm Quarterra filed preliminary application materials with the city of Meridian on June 9 to build a 250-unit residential project near the northeast corner of Eagle and Victory roads.
That’s nearly double the number of units that were previously approved to go up on the 14-acre plot in 2023.
If built, the new proposal would close another gap of development along a corridor that’s still growing but nearly built out, according to Bill Parsons, a Meridian planning supervisor. But first, it would have to clear a city approvals process that would likely require justification for the increased density, Parsons said.
Quarterra’s proposal, called Emblem Meridian, would include 204 apartments and 46 town house units, early conceptual plans show. Roughly half of the units would have one bedroom, with the other half being a mix of two- and three-bedroom units. In all, the development could clock in at nearly 440 bedrooms.
Apartments and town houses would be joined by a clubhouse, a swimming pool, and more than 500 parking spaces, early plans show.
Developers have not yet met with city planning staff nor filed a formal application, according to city records, and plans could change as they progress. In an email to the Idaho Statesman, Brad Machat, the managing director of Pacific Northwest development at Quarterra, declined to comment on the proposal, noting that the company is still early in its process and “exploring options.”
Quarterra is a multifamily development firm owned by national home builder Lennar and private equity firm TPG.
New plans could bring ‘bump’ in housing density
In a phone interview with the Statesman, Parsons noted that if the developer chose to move the proposal forward, it would have to go through a public hearings process with the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission and eventually the City Council.
He said he expects that considerations could hinge on the proposed density, as well as open space requirements and neighborhood feedback.
The city had in 2023 approved a 138-unit multifamily development called Artisan Victory Market on the same property, Parsons said. But the apartments and town houses never went up, and now the Denver-based developers, Baron Properties, appear interested in selling, Parsons said.
“They’re wanting to sell the property and double the density,” he said, referring to Quarterra’s new proposal.
Parsons said the site is located within an area designated for mixed-use development in the city’s comprehensive plan, allowing for residential development up to 15 units per acre. The early conceptual plan for Emblem clocks in at 18 units per acre, he said.
“When we meet with applicants, we ask them … how are you going to justify that bump in density?” he said.
“In order for us to support it, they have to have a strong justification or argument of why we should do it that way and why it makes sense,” he said, though he said that planning staff only make recommendations and that the City Council has final say.
“I still think there’s an uphill battle to do that,” he said.
South Meridian still growing but Eagle Road filling up
Parsons said the area along South Eagle Road in Meridian still has “some pockets” of undeveloped land that could be annexed into the city for development, but they’re becoming few and far between.
“There is a potential for more development, but (the) majority of it is built out with residential, with a few pockets of commercial,” he said.
In the mixed-use designated area at Eagle and Victory roads, Emblem could one day join The Pointe at Meridian, a senior living center, and the Primrose School’s southern location.
But most of the city’s growth hot spots south of Interstate 84 are happening farther south and west from where Emblem is proposed, Parsons said. Areas like the Meridian Road corridor, the intersection of Linder and Amity roads, and the southern side of Lake Hazel Road are growing quickly, Parsons said.
Farther south on Eagle Road, developers have applied to build a 211-home subdivision on roughly 60 acres of land near the northeast corner of Columbia Road. That proposal, called Starling Ridge, is expected to head to the Planning and Zoning Commission for consideration in August.
