This big development is going up fast near Garden City’s riverfront. It’s just the start
Fancy apartments. Rooftop hot tubs, fire pits and a theater. Restaurants and bars that link together the Boise River, the Greenbelt and these already-under-construction buildings.
The developer heading this development said it could create a city center for Garden City, which doesn’t have one now.
While other pieces of its massive Garden City project have been tied up gaining city approval, Boise’s Vida Properties is constructing the first three buildings of the Boardwalk, a housing development with restaurants and retail space included along the south side of the river, just east of Veterans Memorial Parkway.
When, and if, finished, the entire development would have about 400 residential units, including an 111-unit, 18-story condominium building at 510 E. 41st St.
The 18-story building, which is being called the Boardwalk Residential Tower, would be Idaho’s third tallest after the Eighth & Main and U.S. Bank buildings in downtown Boise. Or the fourth tallest, if Boise’s Oppenheimer Development Corp. succeeds in building its planned 27-story, 297-apartment building next to the Record Exchange downtown.
Vida is also planning a nearby fifth building called 408 Place with five stories, 38 residential units and two floors of internal parking. A sixth is in mind, too, Talbott said, with 15-20 residential units and more parking.
“I’m very excited about this. But I’m also very proud of this product,” Talbott said by phone. “When it’s finished, it’s going to be different. It’s gonna be pretty cool.”
1st 3 buildings set to be done in 2024
Vida Properties was formed in 2019. Michael Talbott, Vida Properties’ managing partner, had run his own development company since 1989 and developed and built multiple residential developments in southern California. He said a 200-unit apartment complex on 11 acres in Las Vegas is the development he’s worked on that most closely resembles the one in Boise.
Construction of the first three Boardwalk buildings is now about 35% complete with a target completion of early 2024, Talbott said.
The first three buildings cost $80 million, and the project is now fully funded, he said, thanks to a $67 million loan from Acres Capital, a New York commercial real estate lender.
The three buildings, named the Boardwalk Apartments, are being built at 521 E. 41st St. They’ll each be five stories tall and provide 234 apartments in total with studios, one bedrooms and two bedrooms.
Talbott said monthly rent prices will be market rate. He described the buildings as the first luxury apartments along the Boise River. For context, Roundhouse’s newly built Hearth on Broad building in downtown Boise has studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments ranging from $1,317 per month to $2,874 per month.
“It’s going to be built in a way that’s going to set a whole new mark,” Talbott said by phone. “If anyone wants to challenge the luxury market and go after it, that’s what this is.”
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Deck to have hot tubs, fire pits, outdoor theater
The north building, the one closest to the river, will have 64 units and 16,000 square feet of retail with an open plaza, restaurants, bars and electric bike and boat rental space. Talbott said sand will be put in so people can enjoy the river nearby, as well as fire pits and a babbling creek. The sixth floor, an amenity deck Talbott raved about, is where the hot tubs, fire pits and an outdoor theater are planned.
The second building, adjacent to 41st Street, is set to have 80 units, including 24 with stairways that lead to private rooftop decks.
The third building, to the south, is on track to have 90 units.
Each of the buildings will have parking underneath totaling 150 spots for all three buildings. Vida Properties is working with Andersen Construction and Erstad Architects.
“This development is creating probably the most unique and architecturally pleasing building on the river,” Talbott said. “We’re one of the first apartment complexes that can be built right on the river and take advantage of the Greenbelt, the river itself, and bring more activity and energy to the river for enjoyment. So we’re really excited about doing something very, very different.”
Previously on this land were a handful of cottage homes, a trailer park and a cement mixing station. Those have been replaced with a construction site for now, and eventually these new buildings.
Talbott said he’s applying to change the name of 41st Street to something that includes “Boardwalk.”
The Boardwalk’s first three buildings are separate from Vida Properties’ approved 18-story, 111-unit condominium building at 510 E. 41st St. That tower would be by far the tallest building in Garden City and one of the tallest in the state. Vida Properties received the green light for that building in December after it was previously denied.
Vida Properties owns multiple blocks in the same area and is planning on building it out. The 18-story building would be next to the Boardwalk project and is part of the next phases of development.
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
