Affordable homes. Shops. Food trucks. What’s planned for new affordable Boise housing
Affordable housing, new retail capacity and even space for food trucks appear in the designs for a development planned for the southwest corner of West Franklin Road and South Orchard Street on the Boise Bench.
A nonbinding memorandum of understanding for the project, approved by the Boise City Council on Tuesday, offers a look into a project that would bring at least 210 units, divided between townhouses and apartments, to Boise’s Central Bench, with as many as 90% planned for affordable housing.
The development is planned on the site of the historic Franklin School. The school was torn down 10 years ago, and a Maverik gas station and convenience store was to be built on part of it. The property owners later agreed to sell the 4.7 acre site to the city, which bought it last year with affordable housing development in mind.
Plans show four residential buildings, each at least three stories high. The memorandum shows 74 one-bedroom, 128 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom units for a total of 214 homes.
Other planned features include unspecified “construction infrastructure” for a future Valley Regional Transit bus stop, playground equipment for the adjacent Franklin Park (which now has only open play areas) and a public restroom.
A designated space for food trucks is planned along Hilton Street on the site’s west side. Storefronts are planned for three corners -- Franklin and Hilton, Franklin and Orchard, and Orchard and Peg Street. of the project. Three trees will need to be preserved along Franklin Road, according to the agreement.
The parcel is just across Franklin from a Fred Meyer store and is on ValleyRide’s No. 6 Orchard bus route, making it what Boise calls a “community activity center.”
When asked what was considered affordable or if the housing would get tax credits through the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, a spokesperson for Mayor Lauren McLean said she did not have answers readily available.
McLean announced in May that the city intends to award J Fisher Cos., a Centerville, Utah firm that works mostly in the Salt Lake City area, the contract to build the project. According to the memo, J Fisher “submitted a plan that was innovative in its design, features and alignment with a community activity center.”
J Fisher was one of five development teams that made proposals for the site. The proposals were looked at by 15 committee members from several city departments as well as Central Bench Neighborhood residents.
According to the agreement, the company would need to break ground by Sept. 30, 2021, unless another date is agreed upon.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 10:11 PM.
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