BOISE, Idaho —
On Friday, August 5, Idaho Department of Transportation’s (ITD) board declared the 61-year-old headquarters building on state street to be ‘surplus property,’ allowing ITD to sell the facility.
According to ITD, the department's Board of Examiners will transfer the property to the Department of Administration to have the property appraised and then be sold.
Keith Reynolds, Department of Administration director, said he is expecting the appraisal around October or November.
The decision to sell the property comes after the building suffered extensive flood damage when a pipe connected to the building’s HVAC system burst at the beginning of 2022. After the flooding, many employees moved to a temporary location at the State of Idaho Chinden Campus.
"The old HQ building served us well for decades," said Idaho Transportation Department Director Scott Stokes. "There have been entire generations of our workers who served their whole career in that building since it opened in 1961."
ITD is temporarily located in Chinden campus’s Building 8, but Building 3 will be remodeled and become the department’s permanent headquarters.
"This vote will facilitate the department's colocation with other state agencies, which will enhance efficiency and allow for better collaboration," said Idaho Transportation Board Chairman Bill Moad.
Tim Keane, City of Boise planning director, said the location of ITD's State Street campus is prime real estate, but that it is too early to tell whether the city will purchase the property.
Regardless, he said they will be heavily involved with the sale. Ensuring the building plans align with the goals of the city, like providing more affordable housing, is a top priority.
Keane said the campus is close to public transportation, which makes it a good location for affordable housing.
"When you build affordable housing, you want to build it in places where people don't have to own a car, ideally," he said. "This is one of those properties that kind of has all these attributes."
Since, there is so much land available, Keane says it is more than likely the land will be split up for multiple developers to buy.
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