Riverside Renaissance? Housing promises a ‘sense of place’ in Boise’s West End

A long-sought facelift for a fallow section of Boise’s riverfront got a boost in January after federal financing came through for low-income housing — the latest win for a burgeoning corner of the city’s West End neighborhood.

Boise developer Roundhouse in January received low-income housing tax credits worth as much as $13.5 million over 10 years to fund the second stage of its Finch apartment complex between Main Street and Fairview Avenue east of the Boise River, bolstering the company’s plan for part of its six-acre parcel diagonally adjacent to the College of Western Idaho’s forthcoming downtown campus.

Finch II would add 46 apartments at 150 S. 28th St. — 41 income-restricted for people making 60% or less of Boise’s area median income. Roundhouse’s Finch I is already framed next door; 36 of its 40 units will be set aside for tenants making 60% of AMI or less.

For example, a two-person household at the 60% level earning $51,360 per year would pay no more than $1,284 per month, per Boise’s 2025 guidelines. Other apartments would be earmarked for renters making far less — as low as 30% of area median, according to Patrick Boel, Roundhouse’s managing director of development.

The Finch project is the one new feature of a rapid overhaul of the neighborhood, which once held a set of car lots by the Main and Fairview bridges to Garden City.

CWI and Meridian developer Ahlquist broke ground on the college’s “River District” campus last June, promising storefronts, housing, a hotel and a parking garage alongside a four-story classroom building.

Alquist Chief Operating Officer Ryan Cleverley told the Idaho Statesman in January that his team is finalizing building permits for the classroom building, as well as the retail space and parking garage. The hotel is undergoing design review now, he said, and shouldn’t be far behind. The site’s 216-unit apartment complex is taking the longest as the developer works out a housing plan with the city.

CWI is planning to finish academic building in time for classes in fall 2027, he said.

That timeline should align nicely with the completion of Finch II. Boel hopes to start the one-year build on June 1. Finch I is on track to open soon after at the end of July.

Once done, Roundhouse aims to turn its focus to the rest of its roughly six-acre property between Main and Fairview. The Finch project takes up about an acre between 27th Street and anewly constructed extension of 28th Street.

Plans for the rest of the site are still in the ether, Boel said, but will likely include a mix of market-rate housing and commercial development, along with a deliberate attempt at “placemaking” — that is, designed to foster a welcoming and distinct public space.

“This end of town has struggled a lot,” Boel said. “There’s no sense of place — at least not yet. We want [this property] to be a catalyst for that.”

West End rebuild a long time coming

Roundhouse got what it calls the “Whitewater site” late in 2015 through a land swap with the city of Boise, trading the 20-acre Spalding Ranch, a historic farm site on North Cole Road, for the central property.

The developer, then called LocalConstruct, first planned a larger market-rate complex for the property but pivoted to low-income housing — and public funding — after it failed to find financing for the original design.

Both Finch I and II rely on significant federal support. Last year, Finch I won $1.2 million in annual tax credits for ten years from Idaho Housing and Finance Association, a quasi-governmental agency that administers several federal affordable-housing programs in the state. In this year’s round, Finch II received $1.35 million annually for 10 years.

To realize the money, the developer must sell those credits to companies or investors looking to ease their tax liability and put the proceeds toward construction. It’s unlikely Roundhouse would get the full $25.5 million value on the open market. Boel said that the going rate for these tax credits is 86–87 cents on the dollar, which would translate to roughly $22 million for Roundhouse.

In exchange, federal law requires the building to have the average rents affordable at or below 60% of area median income, according to Jason Lantz, spokesman Idaho Housing and Finance.

The Finch buildings have a few market-rate apartments, but others are well below, with one-, two- and three-bedroom units aimed at renters making 60%, 50%, 45% and 30% of Boise’s median income. Boel expects income-restricted rents to range from $900 per month for the cheapest one bedroom to $1,900 for the priciest three bedroom.

The development also received funding from the Capital City Development Corp., Boise’s urban renewal agency, which committed $200,000 to help build infrastructure and lighting along the newly built extension of 28th Street.

“You’re not going to be able to tell it’s affordable housing,” Boel said. “This is kind of a special project — it’s a true win for all stakeholders.”