‘We’re locked and loaded’: Boise’s newest garage promises more than parking
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- The CCDC broke ground on a 446-stall mixed-use garage at 1010 Jefferson Street.
- The YMCA will open nearby and will use ground-floor space for a 124-kid daycare.
- The $40 million, 16-month CCDC project includes 20,000 square-feet of commercial space.
Boise’s newest garage broke ground Thursday on Jefferson Street, promising parking and public spaces next to the Treasure Valley YMCA’s flagship downtown campus.
The mixed-use plan for 1010 Jefferson calls for 446 parking stalls atop 20,000 square feet of commercial space on West Jefferson between 10th and 11th streets, making it the largest in-house project yet by the Capital City Development Corporation, Boise’s urban renewal agency. The garage will be the seventh in the ParkBoi portfolio.
The $40 million build should take about 16 months, CCDC Executive Director John Brunelle told the Idaho Statesman Thursday.
“We’re locked and loaded,” Brunelle said.
The property at 1010 W. Jefferson St. backs up to the $80 million CapEd Downtown Boise YMCA, which Brunelle said is on track to open about a year ahead of the garage. Though not linked, both the garage and the new YMCA are part of a CCDC-backed overhaul of a three block chunk of downtown south of Boise High School.
The Y, though, already plans to launch its expanded childcare program in a portion of 1010 Jefferson’s ground-floor commercial space. Made possible by a $2 million commitment from the Kissler family, the 124-child Kissler Family Early Education Center will double the size of the Y’s current daycare, according to Meagan Ellis, chief development officer for the Treasure Valley YMCA.
“Together, these facilities will make the downtown core more family friendly, more accessible and more supportive for people at every stage of their lives,” Ellis said of the garage and new gym.
The CCDC plans to hire a commercial real estate firm to market the three remaining spaces at street level, Brunelle said. The agency is targeting “active use” businesses, he said, like restaurants, coffee shops or healthcare operations.
“We’re hoping for public gathering places,” he said.
Ultimately, it’s parking that makes the project pencil. The CCDC’s Westside urban renewal district sunsets in September, meaning the agency won’t be able to draw any tax money from the new building. But citywide ParkBoi, the public parking system owned and operated by the CCDC, is now making more than $10 million per year, Brunelle said; the CCDC was able to secure bond financing for the 1010 Jefferson project backed by its eight-figure parking revenue.
Downtown garage a decade in the making
CCDC bought the property between Jefferson and State streets in 2017 with grand visions of affordable housing, according to previous reporting by the Idaho Statesman.
The garage will stand on part of a site once earmarked for one of the city’s largest apartment towers. The agency originally solicited plans including at least 225 apartments for the broader block, and at one point in 2021 approved a proposal for a 20-story tower supporting 450 apartments and 514 parking spots. That $180 million plan included the possibility of expanding to 626 units and 724 spots.
In the end, it came to nothing. The consortium of three developers behind the project failed to get it financed, CCDC spokesperson Lana Graybeal told the Statesman in March, and eventually abandoned the idea.
“It was optimistic,” Brunelle said Thursday of the shelved idea. “It challenged the status quo. But the timing was bad.”
With the housing plan dead, the CCDC pivoted to develop the property itself — a first in the agency’s modern history, according to Brunelle.
“It’s more than a parking garage,” he said during a speech. “It’s a catalyst that will drive more investment in this neighborhood.”