Hundreds of apartments could go up by this busy Meridian highway. What’s planned
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Boise developers eye 400+ multifamily homes, plus shops and offices in South Meridian.
- Project would line busy Meridian Rd/Idaho 69, where traffic could climb 55% over 25 years.
- Compass says development would generate 270 new jobs, put some strain on Amity Rd.
More than 400 apartments and town homes could go up over a high-traffic corridor in South Meridian.
Developers with Boise-based Hawkins Cos. submitted plans to build the multifamily homes, shops, restaurants and office space at the corner of Meridian and Amity roads. The proposed development would line the west side of busy Meridian Road, also known as Idaho 69, and straddle Amity to the north and south.
That would place the development within a section of Meridian Road whose traffic is expected to rise by 55% over the next 25 years, according to the Idaho Transportation Department, as the city’s southern reaches continue to grow. Developers argue the dense housing — and the cars that would come with it — are better suited there than in a part of the city where a new road would need to be built.
Plans filed with the city show that the development, called Syringa Crossing, would transform roughly 55 acres of now-agricultural land into up to 423 multifamily units, 141,000 square feet of commercial space — about two and a half football fields-worth — and 21,000 square feet of office space.
‘Garden-style’ apartments, retail would be built in 2 phases
Hawkins would develop the southwest corner of Amity and Meridian first, according to Ethan Mansfield, the company’s predevelopment manager. That section would include 322 apartments in primarily “garden-style” buildings, where tenants park outside the building and walk up a flight or two of outdoor or covered stairs to their units.
Three of the apartment buildings are expected to be “podium” style, with parking at the building’s base and a total of four stories, according to a conceptual site plan.
Amenities would include a clubhouse with a pool and an open grassy space for “residents and their guests,” Mansfield told the Idaho Statesman in an interview. A series of pathways would also connect residents to commercial buildings to the north.
“One thing that’s really important to us is kind of creating a sense of place when you enter the multifamily use, and creating a transition between the multifamily and commercial uses,” he said. “We want it to feel livable.”
In an email, Mansfield said expected rents are not yet known. “We just have no idea what the market will look like by the time these units are delivered,” he said.
Meridian’s average citywide rent is just shy of $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom apartment, according to rental listing website Apartment List.
Hawkins’ multifamily portfolio includes the recently opened Denton Street affordable apartments on the Boise Bench and the high-end Canyon Ridge complex near Micron.
Farther north along Amity, six commercial buildings would also be included in the first phase of development.
Those tenants are envisioned to be “community-serving,” Mansfield said. No leases would be signed until Syringa Crossing is approved, but developers hope to attract restaurants, a coffee shop, retail shops, a bank and a gas station along Meridian Road, he said.
“This is obviously an extremely heavily trafficked corridor here,” said Mansfield, noting ITD’s future plans to widen Meridian Road. A gas station would be developers’ way of “responding to public investment with private investment,” he said.
A second phase, planned for the intersection’s northwest corner, would be anchored by a roughly 65,000-square-foot “daily needs/grocery store,” according to an application narrative letter. The letter noted that a neighborhood meeting drew excitement over the proposed grocery store and possible restaurants.
That would put the grocery store at about the same size as Boise’s Albertsons on Broadway Avenue.
The development’s northwest section is also planned to have additional restaurants, shops and an office plaza, according to the letter. Those buildings “could hold anything from a medical office, a gym, a daycare, personal care services, or professional services like engineer or architect’s offices,” the letter said.
Other ideas include a yoga studio, dental offices and small financial services offices, Mansfield said. As for the retail, Mansfield said, Hawkins is looking at “whatever people are interested in shopping at.”
Early site plans show this section could also have a mix of 86 apartments and town homes, but developers are asking for the flexibility to build up to 101 units there.
Mansfield noted that the second phase of development in particular is subject to change.
Across both phases, developers anticipate building 127 one-bedroom units and 281 two- or three-bedroom units, application documents show.
Developers say housing density is needed
Apparently getting ahead of density or traffic concerns, developers advised city planners in the narrative letter that: “Reducing the scope or density of this project does not reduce existing residents’ need to for services or new residents’ need for housing. It only changes where this need will be fulfilled.”
The site is surrounded by existing and planned residential development — with apartments being “notably absent,” according to the letter — and people in those homes need places to shop.
“If services are provided here, it is logical that by adding more housing within walking distance ... it will reduce stress on local infrastructure, which will be required to expand elsewhere to meet the demand for housing somewhere other than this project,” the letter said.
“Wouldn’t you rather put people where you have infrastructure that’s designed to accommodate people, rather than building a new green-field subdivision somewhere,” Mansfield said.
He added that developers are proposing a right-in, right-out access with deceleration and acceleration lanes along Meridian Road, which would need the OK from ITD.
“We’re working through the process with ITD right now, and we’re looking to be partners,” he said. “We think it’s really critical to how the development functions.”
Data provided by Mansfield indicated that the development would generate roughly 12,200 new vehicle trips per day across its north and south properties, based on national estimates from the Institute of Transportation Engineers. An additional 4,500 trips would be “captured” — taken off the road by people walking within the development, the data estimated.
A report from the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho, or Compass, estimates that the development would create about 270 new jobs. It projects that the development would have a net positive financial impact on ACHD and city government but “reduce performance” on Amity Road for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Mansfield said in an email that the development would add 10-foot sidewalks along Amity and Meridian roads.
In a letter, the Meridian Police Department said it would take first responders roughly four minutes and 24 seconds to respond to emergencies in Syringa Crossing — about 18 seconds longer than the citywide average.
Learn more and have your say
The proposal is expected to be reviewed by the Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission in a public hearing on Thursday, Feb. 19, after being postponed from Thursday, Feb. 5, according to Mansfield. It is set to take place at 6 p.m. at Meridian City Hall.
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 12:46 PM.
