‘Perfect place for this’: Boise agency moves ahead with plan for new downtown corridor
As Boise grows, so does its downtown. And a five-pronged project from the city’s urban renewal agency demonstrates how the core of that downtown could be expanding.
Later this month, construction is set to begin on Capital City Development Corp.’s “Rebuilding 11th Street” project. The centerpieces of the project are a protected bikeway to connect the Greenbelt to the North End and various streetscape improvements.
The vision is to “bring this street to life,” Development Director Doug Woodruff said during Monday’s CCDC meeting.
The urban renewal agency is going to work on five projects at once, the other three being utility upgrades, road reconstruction and canal bridge replacement. But it’s the bike path and street improvements that are likely to alter the 11th Street vibe and make it feel more a part of the central downtown area, officials said.
“Eleventh Street is the perfect place for this,” agency Chair Dana Zuckerman said Monday. “... Our downtown is moving west, so 11th Street now feels more and more central. I think this will be a great north-south artery to add to the whole mobility of our city. I can’t wait to see it. The renderings are beautiful. I can just see lots of people using it and 11th Street getting busy in the best way possible.”
Construction along 11th from River to Idaho streets is set to begin May 23. The section from River to Front Street is scheduled to be completed by December, and the section from Front to Idaho Street is scheduled to be completed by March 2023. That’s when construction from Idaho to State Street is set to begin.
Capital City Development Corp. has 11 partnership agreements in the area that have led to $320 million in private investment, Woodruff said, and these partnerships could bring in up to $600 million more for the projects.
A few years ago, there were 77 apartment units along 11th Street, Woodruff said. Today there are about 800 more apartments in the works, 450 of which are planned as part of CCDC’s Block 68 project, designed to help invigorate the western side of downtown. The Block 68 project includes a proposed 20-story apartment building at 10th and Jefferson streets and a seven-story building at 11th and State streets.
“A central component of this is delivering public infrastructure that supports all that,” Woodruff said.
One of the requirements for developers bidding for the Block 68 project was to consider how to interact with 11th Street, Capital City Development Corp. spokesperson Jordyn Neerdaels told the Idaho Statesman.
Forty-eight apartments are planned at the southwest corner of 11th and Lee streets, at 1103 W. Lee St. A 27-story luxury apartment building is planned just west of 11th Street at 1115 W. Idaho. Cherie Buckner-Webb Park was finished last year at 11th and Bannock streets, and Hotel Renegade broke ground last month at 11th and Grove streets.
“It’s really just going to be this activated space that people are going to want to live adjacent to as they consider their work-life style,” Amy Fimbel, CCDC project manager, told the Statesman. “And do they want to live downtown and work downtown, and have less of a footprint and use a mobility quarter that’s the latest and greatest thing?”
Former Boise Mayor David Bieter, a Capital City commissioner, questioned whether it was necessary to have 3 feet of concrete separating on-street parking from the bike lane. He cited recent incidents of vehicles colliding with bus stop islands along Main Street and Fairview Avenue.
Woodruff said 3 feet is about the width of a car door, so this design allows unsuspecting vehicle passengers to swing open a door without accidentally hitting a cyclist. And Woodruff and Fimbel emphasized that the goal of the protected bike path is to help people of all ages and all abilities.
“That’s what’s landed us at the concept design we have, and that’s why you have that concrete protected buffer area,” Fimbel told the Statesman. “That’s the goal of the project, to make everyone feel safe and comfortable.”
Eleventh Street’s design maintains on-street parking and sidewalks, providing infrastructure for the multiple modes of transportation city leadership has prioritized.
At Monday’s meeting, Capital City Development Corp.’s board approved an agreement with the Ada County Highway District for each to contribute to the $14.2 million bill for McAlvain Construction to complete the bikeway and streetscape projects. ACHD will cover $6,048,582, while CCDC will pay $8,237,563.
McAlvain Construction is set to begin work in two weeks.
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
