River-Myrtle/Old Boise URD Projects Update
July 13, 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) opened for customers in mid-March under a temporary certificate of occupancy. On May 1, CCDC began leasing 200 spaces for public use, specifically reserved monthly parkers. The hotel portion of the development is still on schedule 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. Chair Zuckerman represents CCDC on the selection committee. Other members represent the development group, the City Arts & History Commission, and local artists. The selection committee will review artist applications.
500 S. 8th Street – Trailhead – Agency Leased Property: The Board approved a new two-year lease of this property at its May 18, 2020 public meeting for continued Trailhead occupancy.
200 Myrtle Street – Boise Caddis – PP Type 2: Construction continues on the Boise Caddis project with post-tensioned concrete work underway. Wood framing is underway. Apartment facade finishes will start in early August. The project, scheduled to open in the summer of 2021, includes 160 rental units and 400 parking spaces. Ada County will purchase a 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: This project includes 160 apartment units and 176 structured parking spaces. 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.
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 Eligible Expenses. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2020.
600 Front Street – The Vanguard – PP Type 2: Visium Development is constructing 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 for approximately $400,000 of public improvements, including streetscapes and utility work. The Type 2 Agreement was approved at the December 2019 Board meeting.
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. Reconstruction of the 6th and Grove intersection required a full street closure and was moved 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.
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 in March 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: This project will apply repair patches of spray-on fire-proofing throughout this garage. The original contract was canceled due to performance issues. A new estimate has been received that is less than the $25,000 minimum threshold required to solicit bids. The new contractor, Spray On Solutions, has visited and assessed the site and has the proper materials on-hand. Work is planned to commence in early August 2020 and be completed in one week.
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.
505 S. Bannock St – 505 Bannock – T1 Designation: Local general contractor Visser Construction is building a three-story mixed-use property at the site of the former Wells Fargo bank branch. The project features over 11,000 sq ft of dining space between two restaurants, and 3,700 sq ft top floor office space. The project is an estimated $5.5 million in total development costs. The project requests reimbursement to replace the public improvements in its narrow storefront, as well as install a transformer on-site that will replace existing pole-mounted transformers in the alley-way right-of-way. Total anticipated reimbursement is over $80,000. Applicant is I M IRIE TWO LLC, the site owner’s controlling entity.
ParkBOI – 11th & Front Parking Garage – Agency Owned Property: No significant maintenance performed in recent months. 160 of the Agency’s 250 spaces are currently available for lease.
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 place-making strategy for the Old Boise Blocks on Grove Street. The process begins in June with 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. Stakeholder visioning meetings were held on June 11 and July 9.
RMOB Public Art – City of Boise Broad Street Sculpture – PP Type 4: Final concepts have been submitted. The City Department of Arts & History is running its process. CCDC stands ready to assist.