MERIDIAN, IDAHO — If you consider the Village at Meridian's 88 acres to be "pretty big," then I'd love to know how you would classify the impending District at Ten Mile.
"It'll be a 222-acre masterplanned site right at the freeway, right in the center of the valley. We're really spending a lot of time trying to get it right and make it super walkable and integrate the multi-family and the housing in a way that has not been done before," said BVA Development CEO Tommy Ahlquist.
And on that note, fans of the Village will be happy to know that a big name in the development world is joining in on the District's creation.
"Fred Bruning, who was the CEO of CenterCal for years that did the Village (at Meridian). He developed it, created it with his team, and then they own also Treasure Valley Marketplace in Nampa," said Ahlquist.
Right now, the area looks like a giant, frozen tundra of dirt and snow being worked on by a skeleton crew that isn't afraid of the elements. But it will all look very different come spring of next year.
"I'll just say that we already have four hotel users that want to be there, so have some mix of hotels. The retailers are kind of lining up with Fred, people that have gone to his other projects and that's a mix of a lot of restaurants that aren't in our Valley currently. And then a lot of the traditional quicker drive-up stuff is also looking at the site. And then entertainment users, right? So there are still additional entertainment users, which is kind of that mix you need for a vibrant site. You need somewhere where you can go, it's comfortable where you can go to have some entertainment," said Ahlquist.
Another major factor for the District? To quote most people in real estate at some point in their lives, "location, location, location."
"I mean here in the center of the valley with Highway 16 going in and with it being so accessible, it's also a great place for people to come from all over," said Ahlquist.
As for when to expect to start seeing any buildings start popping up, think spring of 2025. But as for when you'll see a fully-developed area? That's up in the air, but could be sooner than you might expect.
"The Valley's so hot right now and it's just gonna get hotter. Where there's need, there's a way to get things done quicker so, we don't set artificial timelines on something like that, we're more numbers focused like, ok, when does it make sense financially, when can we finance it? We're pretty data driven, and so if the need's there, and we're ready to go, then we do it. And I'll tell you right now, those timelines are saying that it needs to go relatively quickly, the whole thing," said Ahlquist.
