BOISE, Idaho — This story originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Two planned residential housing facilities will no longer be part of downtown Boise’s future.
Capital City Development Corporation (CCDC) moved to terminate contract agreements for a mixed-use housing development next to the new YMCA and a workforce housing project on an adjacent block in a board meeting earlier this month. The move, which was first reported by BoiseDev, terminates plans that were looking to incorporate an exterior block of the Boise downtown area into an urban renewal district.
Though a parking structure — located adjacent to the new YMCA site — will continue to be developed with revenues from CCDC’s parking system, the residential plans that were initially intended to reshape the complexion of the area will no longer be moving forward.
A prior agreement between CCDC and partner developers set a deadline for the workforce housing project to be completed by September 2025. Though an extension was provided in December of last year, “this summer it be(came) clear the project would not be advancing,” Lana Graybeal, CCDC’s director of external affairs, said in an email statement. Plans for a residential housing project for seniors, that was to be located above the planned parking garage were similarly halted in a prior board meeting.
With the residential housing on Blocks 68 South and 69 North both being cancelled, the projects no longer aligned with the redevelopment plans for the area, resulting in the mutual termination of both contract agreements at a November CCDC Board of Commissioners meeting. While these plans won’t be moving forward, Alex Monjar, CCDC senior project manager, said they will still be pursuing future partnerships with developer deChase Miksis.
“The commitment that they have had amidst very challenging market conditions has been evident and we welcome future opportunities to partner with them,” Monjar said in the meeting.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) — used by local governments to fund development with future tax revenues — is the “primary financial tool” the agency uses to fund public improvements. In order to be eligible for these reimbursements, however, the projects have to be complete within a current urban renewal district, Graybeal said in an email statement. Since the Block 68 and Block 69 projects were part of Boise’s Westside Urban Renewal Plan, the residential housing projects needed to be completed by the end of 2026 in order to be eligible for reimbursement. Though extensions were provided in the hopes of maintaining the eligibility of both projects, what Graybeal described as “volatile market conditions” contributed to both developments falling through.
“The market and time were not on our side,” Dean Papé, partner at deChase Miksis, said in the November board meeting. “We all understand there’s a timeline that (we) need to complete the projects within and the market conditions drastically changed throughout the course of the project.”
With the Block 68 agreement terminated, this will also put the previously announced Kissler Family Early Education Center on hold since it was being pursued by the YMCA in conjunction with CCDC.
“The Y and CCDC will be talking about how those components come together, but I’m confident that they will come together,” David Duro, Treasure Valley YMCA President and CEO, said.
BACKGROUND FOR THE BLOCK
Boise’s new YMCA facility broke ground in October of this year, marking the start of a significant reimagining of a downtown Boise staple that has been in place since 1968. The YMCA’s 10-year effort to replace its aging facility coincided with a broader redevelopment project from the CCDC. This project, initiated in 2017, opened the door for the YMCA’s relocation, as previously reported by the Idaho Press.
In 2021, Capital City Development Corporation began seeking a development partner for the Block 68 Catalytic Redevelopment Project. The project’s area — which lies between State Street to the north, Jefferson Street to the south, and 10th and 11th streets running east to west — was looking to to provide affordable housing as well as parking and mobility resources next to the new downtown YMCA, according to the CCDC website.
As part of the YMCA’s land exchange, which was completed in September, the city received property that was originally planned to feature workforce housing on the block west of the YMCA’s new location. South of the new YMCA building and above the adjacent parking garage — both of which are still in place — was going to be senior living residential apartments, according to documentation submitted to the city in December of 2023.
“CCDC purchased property on Block 68 south with the intention to develop structured parking to catalyze the redevelopment of surrounding surface parking lots and the agency remains committed to this vision,” Monjar said in the November meeting.
What will go in place of these planned residential units has yet to be determined. At present, CCDC is planning to move forward with reservation agreements made with St. Luke’s and the YMCA.
“This means a medical clinic and a childcare facility could be included in the future redevelopment of Block 68 South 1010 W. Jefferson St.,” Graybeal said in an email statement. “While details and precise timing are in process, our goal is to host a ribbon cutting in 30-36 months.”
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