This article was originally written by Margaret Camel, BoiseDev St. Reporter
A Lusk District apartment building will be trading students for families in the next year.
On Tuesday, the Idaho State Board of Education unanimously approved a request from Boise State University to sell the Park Apartments at 860 W. Sherwood Street to the City of Boise. The university is selling the 47-unit apartment building and its 65 parking spaces for $8.14 million, which is market value for the property.
Under city control, the apartment complex will be designated for families in the city’s homeless community. It will be a permanent supportive housing project, which means it will provide housing along with supportive services on-site regardless of the family’s employment status, criminal background, credit or other factors. It will join the city’s other two permanent supportive housing developments that cater to single adults: New Path Community Housing on Fairview and Valor Pointe for homeless veteranson State Street.
The city will not take possession of the property until August 2024 when a 278-bed building BSU leased for housing directly next door is open to students to maintain the university’s housing capacity. If the city does not go through with its project, the ownership will revert back to Boise State.
‘A true sense of place’ for 1025 S. CapitolThis project is in conjunction with a major redevelopment effort between the City of Boise and Boise State to redevelop the city’s affordable housing complex at 1025 S. Capitol and an adjoining BSU-owned parking lot. The aging property, a former motel, is home to 110 apartments that serve some of Boise’s lowest-income residents.
The city and BSU tapped J Fischer Companies earlier this year to design and develop the site, with the hopes of building roughly 500 housing units with half of them devoted to affordable housing. City staff told BoiseDev that when the project was announced, the “number one priority” was to ensure current residents are relocated to other city affordable housing units and not made homeless as a result of the project. This is the same development team behind the city’s affordable housing project currently underway at the intersection of Franklin Road and Orchard Street.
There is no concept design or details on unit counts, rents or what commercial space will be included in the project available yet. The SBOE approved a joint powers agreement between BSU and the City of Boise on Tuesday for the site, which allows J Fischer to start creating its design for the site.
Drew Alexander, Boise State’s associate vice president for campus operations, told the state board Tuesday the hope is for “student-focused” restaurants and shopping on the site and possibly an “urban scale” grocery store and pharmacy to help make the Lusk District a full-service neighborhood. This area, which is located across the street from BSU, is home to more than 1,000 students and has the largest concentration of off-campus housing in the city.
“The scale of the project also provides the ability to develop the project with a true sense of place, one that is appealing to the campus and the community alike,” Alexander said.
