River-Myrtle/Old Boise URD Projects Update
June 11, 2020News Update on CCDC Projects in the River-Myrtle/Old Boise URD
The city’s largest district, River-Myrtle/Old Boise is made up of two distinct zones: the areas adjacent to the Boise River, public parks, and the historic downtown section known as Old Boise.
5th & Front Streets – Hotel and Parking Garage – Participation Program (PP) Type 3, 5: The parking garage portion of this project (540 total spaces) received a temporary certificate of occupancy in mid-March allowing it to open to customers. CCDC began leasing 200 spaces for public use starting on May 1, 2020. All 200 spaces are reserved for monthly parkers. The hotel portion of the development is scheduled to open Summer 2020. The developer is planning a public art element on the stairwell wall facing Front Street, and is working with the City of Boise Arts and History Department on the selection process. The CCDC Board approved an additional $90,000 in eligible expenses for public art at its December 2019 meeting. The selection committee will include a representative from CCDC, the development group, an Arts & History commissioner and local artists. The selection committee is planning to discuss artist applications this month.
500 S. 8th Street – Trailhead – Agency Leased Property: The Board approved a new two-year lease at its May 18, 2020 public meeting.
200 Myrtle Street – Boise Caddis – PP Type 2: Construction continues on the Boise Caddis project with post-tensioned concrete work underway. Wood framing is expected to begin this month. Apartment facade finishes will start in early August. The project is scheduled to open in the summer of 2021. The project includes 160 rental units and 400 parking spaces. Ada County will purchase a certain number of the parking spaces for use by its nearby Courthouse complex workforce. The Type 2 Agreement includes approximately $1.2 million in eligible expenses for public improvements on 2nd, 3rd, and Myrtle Streets and a small portion of Broad Street. Reimbursement will come from tax increment revenue generated by the project.
204 Myrtle Street – CDG Boise – PP Type 2: The Board designated this project for Type 2 funding at its November 2019 meeting. CDG Boise is building a 249-unit apartment building with 353 parking spaces, and has requested reimbursement for approximately $980,000 of public improvements including streetscapes and utility work. The Type 2 Agreement was approved at the December 2019 Board meeting. Construction is scheduled to begin at a later date.
406 Broad Street – Cartee Apartments – PP Type 2: Construction and mobilization began in October 2019. Excavation, footings, and first floor columns are complete. Currently concrete work is being performed on the first floor slab and garage ramp. The agreement between CCDC and the developer contemplates approximately $1.3 million in eligible expenses to be reimbursed from project-generated tax increment revenue. The project includes approximately 160 apartment units and 176 structured parking spaces.
512 W Grove Street – 5th & Grove Mixed Use Residential – PP Type 2: At its March 2020 meeting, the CCDC Board approved a Type 2 General Assistance Participation Agreement with 5th and Grove Investors, LLC. The project includes 114 for-rent apartments and 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail. Fifty of the apartment units will be dedicated to workforce housing, serving 120% AMI (area median income) and below. The project qualifies for Level A status and is eligible to receive 80% of the tax increment revenue it generates to reimburse Eligible Expenses. The project includes approximately $1 million in Eligible Expenses for public improvements along 5th Street, Grove Street and alley. It is estimated that tax increment revenue can reimburse approximately $700,000 of Eligible Expenses. CCDC will construct and pay for the already-planned Grove Street streetscape improvements currently in the Agency’s 5-year Capital Improvement Plan, accounting for approximately $347,000 in Eligible Expenses. If construction timelines do not align, CCDC will reimburse the developer for that work upon completion of the project and not through project-generated tax increment revenue. Those two sources will reimburse the developer for all of the project’s Eligible Expenses. Construction is scheduled to begin Summer 2020.
116 6th Street – 6th & Grove Mixed Used, Income Restricted Residential – PP Type 2: At its March 2020 meeting, the CCDC Board approved a Type 2 General Assistance Participation Agreement with the developers of the 6th & Grove project. This is a mixed-use residential and retail project being developed by Capital Partners, Galena Fund, and deChase Miksis. It will be comprised of 60 apartment units (income restricted and market rate), 5,000 square feet of retail and 9,000 square feet of office space. The project includes approximately $600,000 of Eligible Expenses for public improvements in the alley and streetscapes along Grove and 6th streets. CCDC will construct and pay for the already-planned Grove Street streetscape improvements currently in the Agency’s 5-year Capital Improvement Plan, accounting for approximately $130,000 in Eligible Expenses. Sixth Street improvements are included in CCDC’s current year CIP and will be reimbursed upon completion. The remainder of the Eligible Expenses will be reimbursed using tax increment revenue generated by the project between 2022 and 2025. These funding sources will reimburse the developer for all of their project’s Eligible Expenses. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2020.
600 Front Street – The Vanguard – PP Type 2: Visium Development has begun construction of a 75-unit multi-family apartment building on the corner of 6th and Front streets (formerly home to Biz Print). The CCDC Board designated this project for Type 2 funding at its November 2019 meeting. Visium has requested reimbursement funds for approximately $400,000 of public improvements, including streetscapes and utility work. The Type 2 Agreement has been finalized and was approved at the December 2019 Board meeting.
535 S. 15th Street – River Street Lofts – PP Type 1: Townhome Lofts received its Certificate of Occupancy, the developer has submitted and CCDC has reviewed its cost documentation items for reimbursement. Eligible Expenses greater than $150,000 have been approved. Per the Type 1 Streetscapes program, CCDC issued a $150,000 reimbursement for the project.
6th Street Streetscape – Front Street to Main Street: Design and construction of streetscape improvements on 6th Street between Main and Front streets. The Land Group is the design professional. The construction contract was awarded to Guho Corp at the Board’s August 2019 meeting. Guho Corp is currently working on streetscapes on the west side of 6th Street between Main and Front streets. The project is ahead of schedule due to the coronavirus related cancellation of the annual Treefort indie music festival. Reconstruction of the 6th and Grove intersection requires a full street closure. This closure was moved up to April 2020 from June 2020 to take advantage of the pandemic-caused low traffic volumes. The project is substantially complete and the walk through was performed on June 4.
RMOB – Consolidated Newspaper Racks: The Agency is assisting the City of Boise in locating and installing consolidated news racks downtown to ensure sidewalk accessibility, reduce clutter and damage to individual racks. Guho Corp has completed all but two of the planned installations, both located in the Westside District. The City Council approved the news rack ordinance on May 5, 2020. The old boxes will be removed and publications moved into the new racks.
5th St & Myrtle St – Signalized Crossing: This project seeks to install signal control on Myrtle Street at the 5th Street intersection to provide a safe crossing between Julia Davis Park and the Central Addition, and to extend the signal-coordinated calming of Myrtle Street. Kittelson & Associates has completed a preliminary warrant analysis and representatives of ACHD, City of Boise, CCDC, and ITD met on March 12, 2020 to discuss next steps. CCDC and the City are working on a request to ITD outlining the rationale for a signal and how it will not set a precedent.
ParkBOI – Capitol & Myrtle Parking Garage – Agency Owned Property: CCDC has contracted with Specialty Systems of Utah to repair patches of spray-on fire-proofing in this garage. Temperatures of at least 40 degrees are required throughout the application process. The work has a tentative start date of June 22, weather and COVID-19 restrictions permitting.
ParkBOI – 11th & Front Parking Garage – Agency Owned Property: No significant maintenance performed in recent months. Fewer than 100 of the 722 spaces that were originally available for general public monthly use remain available for lease.
5th & 6th Streets – City of Boise/ACHD Traffic Configuration: ACHD has this project on indefinite hold until there is programmed construction funding. The Agency stands ready to assist and anticipates direction in the near future.
Grove Street – Multi-Block Improvement Project: The Old Boise Blocks on Grove Street, between 3rd and 5th Streets downtown, is ready for a catalytic transformation. With a few nearby projects already underway, CCDC is kicking off an inclusive community-driven visioning process to develop a placemaking strategy for the Old Boise Blocks on Grove Street. The process is just getting started and begins in June with creating a series of stakeholder visioning meetings to create a community-supported vision for the area. The public will have several opportunities to engage in the visioning process through summer and fall 2020. The first group stakeholder visioning meeting is scheduled for June 11.
RMOB Public Art – City of Boise Broad Street Sculpture – PP Type 4: Final concepts have been submitted. The City Department of Arts & History is currently gathering feedback on the concepts with a review scheduled for June 4.