Homebuilder offers 5-figure discounts. The latest on In-N-Out. What’s coming near you
The latest proposed developments, housing and other construction projects, and new businesses around Idaho’s Treasure Valley:
Boise
Boise-based Hawkins Cos. wants to build 287 apartments in five buildings in Southeast Boise near the Boise Factory Outlets and Gowen Road exit off Interstate 84.
Hawkins is calling the project Canyon Ridge. It says the apartments, at 2774 E. Gowen Road, would have one, two or three bedrooms.
Four of the five apartment buildings would be four stories tall, and the fifth would be five stories, according to an application.
A letter of intent submitted to the city says a 5,700-square-foot clubhouse, a gym, a barbecue area, a pool, a dog park and several playgrounds would be built. There would be 521 vehicle parking spaces and 305 bicycle parking spaces.
The project was reported by BuildZoom.
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The old Pizza Hut near Ann Morrison Park and Boise State University could be demolished to make way for apartments.
The Pizza Hut has been sitting vacant at 818 Ann Morrison Park Drive. Boise developer David Wali of Gardner Co. previously received approval to build a five-story, 91-unit, 280-bed building, with two-, three- and four-bedroom units, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting.
Wali previously said the project’s launch depends on costs. The proposal to demolish the Pizza Hut shows the project is moving along.
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The board of Boise’s urban renewal district, the Capital City Development Corp., voted to buy a lot in downtown Boise near the Boise River, Greenbelt and Boise Public Library.
Board members described the opportunity to buy the 0.2-acre lot on South 8th Street as “once in a lifetime,” “unparalleled” and “priceless.” But they haven’t said what they would do with it.
The parcel at 703 S. 8th St. is on the southwest corner of South 8th and West River streets. It has a small parking lot and two buildings on it. The district paid $1.9 million for it.
Buying the parcel was discussed in July, but board members held off because they wanted an appraisal first. The appraisal found the property worth $1,557,400. Board members went ahead and voted to buy the property anyway.
The parcel received high praise from Capital City Development Corp. board Chair Dana Zuckerman and Mayor Lauren McLean, a board member, because it’s adjacent to a swath of city-owned land.
It’s just north of an old warehouse the city bought and then leased to Biomark LLC, which makes electronic tags and monitoring devices for fish and wildlife. South of that is the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, the Greenbelt and the Boise River. Across 8th Street is the library.
By buying the 0.2-acre parcel, the city will own all the land bordered by River Street, 9th Street, Capitol Boulevard and the Boise River.
And just east of Capitol Boulevard is Julia Davis Park. That’s why Zuckerman said the small parcel has so much extra value to the urban renewal agency.
While the appraisal shows Capital City Development Corp. may have overpaid, Zuckerman said this parcel can’t be compared to others because of how it connects to the other land nearby that the city already owns.
The Biomark lease, however, was signed in 2011 and could last up to 60 years.
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Meridian-based Elevate Homes LLC wants to build a three-story, 12-unit apartment building on the Boise Bench, near the southwest corner of West Overland Road and Federal Way.
The building at 1805 W. Overland Road would be on the south side of Overland facing Adelita’s Mexican Restaurant, according to an application.
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RDL Concepts Inc. is looking to build a three-story, 18-unit apartment building on West State Street, west of Collister Drive.
Lofts at Lake Harbor is planned for 5033 W. State St., according to an application filed with the city. The application calls for a mix of one- and two-bedroom units and new sidewalks.
Applicant Richard Wilmot, of Chrysalis Architecture + Planning, said the project aligns with Boise’s urban renewal agency’s State Street Framework Plan. The plan highlights State Street as a major future transportation corridor with increased housing options along the road.
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Whatever happened to the proposal to move Boise’s fuel-tank farm and redevelop the site along Curtis Road?
After city leaders and a prominent developer discussed redeveloping the Boise Bench where the fuel tank farm sits, plans stalled for several years and haven’t been picked back up.
The Idaho Statesman reported in October 2019 that “a Florida-based fuel consultant, John Armbrust, is partnering with Meridian-based developer Ball Ventures Ahlquist, or BVA, on an ambitious project that would relocate the tank to the Boise Airport and transform the neighborhood into a high-density, mixed use commercial hub.”
The Statesman also reported that the city of Boise had been trying to find a new location for the tank farm for 15 years.
In December 2019, Mayor Lauren McLean unseated David Bieter. Conversations about the tank farm haven’t taken place since early in McLean’s term, city spokesperson Maria Weeg told the Statesman.
Whether the tank farm moves is up to the oil companies that own the tanks. Marathon Petroleum and Sinclair Oil own most of the property. If they don’t want the tanks to move, they won’t.
“At this time, we have no plans to relocate our facility,” Marathon spokesperson Stefanie Griffith told the Statesman in an email.
The tanks store jet and auto fuel that’s delivered through a pair of pipelines from Salt Lake City. When built in the 1950s, north of Franklin Road and on both sides of Curtis Road, the area was surrounded by farmland on the outskirts of Boise. Now, it’s in the middle of the Boise Bench.
“It would have been an ideal redevelopment site,” Ball Ventures Ahlquist CEO Tommy Ahlquist told the Statesman by phone. “So we did several plans and did a lot of performance to show what it might be worth if developed out. But ultimately, a lot of times we do projects like this that if the stars don’t align, it just doesn’t happen.”
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DC Engineering is looking to build 96 apartments across six buildings in Northwest Boise.
Hill Road Apartments is planned for 8133 N Bogart Lane, according to an application filed with the city. There would be 16 units in each multifamily building, as well as a clubhouse.
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Forge Building Co. is constructing 63 boat and RV storage units at 7373 S. Federal Way, according to a press release from the company. The average unit is about 700 square feet.
With this project, customers will own individual storage units rather than renting them.
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A condominium plat for new storage units called Exchange Street Condominiums is planned at 1183 E Exchange St., according to an application filed with the city.
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Covid Clinic Inc., a California company, wants to open a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at the Boise Towne Square mall.
Patients would make appointments at covidclinic.org and receive test results digitally, according to an application with the city.
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Meridian
Todd Smith, project manager for In-N-Out Burger, applied to build the In-N-Out drive thru in the Village at Meridian.
In-N-Out plans to construct a 3,879-square-foot restaurant at 3520 E. Fairview Avenue,
The application was first reported by BuildZoom.
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Notable
Toll Brothers Inc., the largest U.S. luxury-home builder, has increased buyer incentives to help navigate a slowdown in demand, Bloomberg reported Aug. 24.
Among Toll’s weakest markets now are Boise and other pandemic boomtowns such as Phoenix and Austin, Texas, Bloomberg reported.
August sales included incentives of about $30,000 per house, up from roughly $12,000 in May, $15,000 in June and $22,000 in July, executives said in a conference call with investors.
“Toll’s customers are mostly move-up buyers who can afford houses selling at an average price of about $1 million,” Bloomberg reported. “Still, mortgage rates that have almost doubled since the start of the year have cut into their purchasing power, while slowing sales of existing homes have made it harder for potential buyers to trade up.”
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The Idaho Public Utilities Commission said its staff will host two online, virtual public workshops to share information on Idaho Power’s study of the costs, benefits and compensation of rooftop solar or other energy generated by Idaho Power customers who deliver surplus energy to the utility.
Idaho Power customers can pay an independent contractor to have solar panels or other systems installed on their homes or property and then receive credit from Idaho Power for the energy they deliver, the commission said in a news release.
The first workshop is from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6. The second is at 12:30 pm. Wednesday, Sept. 7.
To participate Tuesday, visit idahogov.webex.com, and enter meeting number 2461 943 8931. At the next window, enter your name, e-mail address and this password: 0906Workshop. Or call 1-415-655-0001 and enter meeting number 2461 943 8931 when prompted.
To participate Wednesday, visit idahogov.webex.com and enter meeting number 2456 391 6010. Then enter your name, e-mail address and the password: 0907Workshop. To participate over the phone, please call 1-415-655-0001 and enter meeting number 2456 391 6010.
The commission said it will not accept oral testimony or formal comments at the workshops. It plans public hearings later this year for those.
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