New Boise apartment complex OK’d near ‘largest opportunity for change’ by River Street
More than 300 new apartments could be coming to Boise’s Shoreline District.
A mix of 335 studio, one- and two-bedroom units in an eight-story building at 703 S. Americana Boulevard received approval from the Boise City Council on Tuesday.
A Denver- and Las Vegas-based developer, Morgan Stonehill, is behind the project. The same developer received approval earlier this year to build 358 apartments on the Boise Bench, and Morgan Stonehill also has built apartments in Meridian.
Council members unanimously voted to approve the project, which required a zoning change. The area is zoned for commercial development and required a change to allow for unlimited residential density.
In addition to the apartments, the building would include 8,000 square feet of retail space on the first and second floors, as well as a pool and courtyards. The project also would include what is called podium parking for residents — in-building spaces — and surface parking for retail use.
The application includes more parking than is required by city law, according to a memorandum from the developers. It would include 442 spaces, which exceeds the 335 spaces for residents, 34 guest spaces and 15 retail spaces required by law, according to the memo.
What amenities would the building have?
The apartment building would have a fitness center, a plaza and a dog park, according to the developer’s memo.
At the site of the three-acre property is a small shopping mall that is the location of a St. Luke’s Orthopedics Clinic and Imaging Center.
The property is within the Shoreline Urban Renewal District. Another apartment building a few blocks east, which is expected to include some designated affordable units, was approved by the council earlier this year.
As part of an agreement included with the city’s approval, the developer will be required to construct half of a new public street north of the parcel, extending the existing Spa Street, according to a Planning Department staff member. The River Street Master Plan, a document that lays out what the city envisions for the neighborhood, includes dense urban housing, podium rather than surface parking, and additional local streets in the Shoreline area.
The existing St. Luke’s building includes a large parking lot.
“The large parking lots throughout the district are another major opportunity for new development of a more urban nature; and even for a catalyst project,” according to the master plan, which dates from 2017. “The Americana Boulevard frontage currently occupied by St. Luke’s is probably the largest opportunity for change in the entire River Street neighborhood.”
