This growing Idaho city needs more workforce housing. Over 500 new homes approved
Hundreds of homes and apartments that promise to be at market rate will soon be developed in Caldwell, after the City Council unanimously approved the housing projects.
The housing proposals total 551 new homes and came from two developers, one who has plans for single-family homes and townhouses and the other for apartment units.
“(This project) provides needed housing,” said Justin Fishburn, a local developer who proposed the apartment complex. “It does not create additional sprawl and it helps preserve the agriculture and water in our rural areas.”
Lavender Crossing adds market rate apartments
Local mother-and-son developers, Gennie and Justin Fishburn, plan to build 272 apartments in south Caldwell near Laster Lane and Interstate 84. Their apartment project, called Lavender Crossing, includes 12 apartment buildings with 24 apartment units in each. It also includes a clubhouse, community kitchen and lounge and a gym.
Lavender Crossing is surrounded by recent residential development, including Alante Homes, which includes 419 patio homes and townhouses.
Elizabeth Koeckeritz, an attorney with Givens Pursely who represented the Fishburns, said Lavender Crossing would fit in with Caldwell’s growth plan and with the development in the area.
“It really does help this middle-market niche and it does add additional housing to Caldwell, which as you know is rapidly growing and developing,” Koeckeritz said during the meeting.
The Fishburns plan to rent the apartments at market rate. According to Zumper.com, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Caldwell is $1,075.
Lavender Crossing includes six one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units and six three-bedroom units in each of the 12 buildings.
Justin Fishburn said Caldwell needs more “mid-level housing.” He told the council he spoke with Joey Palmer, Vallivue School District director of federal and state programs, who said the district has lost qualified teachers in recent years because they can’t afford or find local housing.
“Lavender Crossing will fulfill the need for situations such as this,” Fishburn said.
The Fishburns will donate money to the district, but even so, Palmer wrote a letter to the council opposing the development.
“Adding the Lavender Crossing subdivision without a bond approved by the community will only continue to make the effort to provide our students a quality education even more challenging,” Palmer wrote.
His letter was authored before the Vallivue bond passed in Tuesday’s election.
Fishburn said he plans to donate money to the district to help build a school, but the application did not say how much the donation is.
Traverse Creek adds townhouses, patio and single-family homes
Corey Barton, local Idaho developer, will build 279 homes to the northwest corner of Marble Front and Wells roads in east Caldwell.
The project, called Traverse Creek, includes 148 single-family homes, 14 townhouses and 117 patio homes, which are single-level homes attached by patio. The project would be on 84.5 acres, which has a creek and the Noble Drain running through it.
Bonnie Layton, a senior planner with NV5, represented Barton in the meeting. She said Traverse Creek would be close to Caldwell’s North Ranch Business Park, 115-acre mixed-used development with office, retail and industrial spaces, built by Tommy Ahlquist, the CEO of local development company Ball Ventures Ahlquist.
Traverse Creek, along with Lavender Crossing, hope to be homes for people who work in the area, many of whom have been priced out of larger homes in Caldwell.
“This makes it an easy commute. People could even walk to work,” Layton told the council.
Barton expects to build the subdivision in six phases, with the first phase planned to start next summer.
“The Department of Labor said there are almost 1,300 jobs available within the city of Caldwell,” Layton said. “We need those rooftops to help complement and have a place for those employees to live.”
