Boise Development Thread - Part II

[jakor21]

Yes! Finally a brewery in the lusk area I have been waiting for years for something like that.. a med school? I don't know why we haven't had one sooner..

And with the Marriott rendering what's with Boise and cheap ass little windows?! Hope this hotel won't be as lame as the rendering..

[Architecture Buff]

Hotel windows seem to have become standard small units, but one hotel at 475 Parkcenter Blvd. the remodeled Holiday Inn Express has continuous horizontal windows. The web site here shows the beautiful design.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...fo0&ajaxhist=0



The Residence Inn Marriott has a great vertical look for Capitol Blvd., and the roof design is one the best with three colors accenting the compete design.
Finally a tall building in the downtown core with COLOR:-)

[Sawtooth]

Remodel on the old CC Anderson Department Store, aka The Bon Marché, aka Bon-Macys, aka Macys and soon to be Athlos Academies




Exclusive Sawtooth SSP views of progress on the Hyatt hotel.






A warm rainy morning and the calm before the Saturday night crowds. I was downtown last night and it was very busy, typical crowds when the weather warms up. I think everyone has Spring fever.
8th Street


Something new, 9th Street Nook opening soon.












Freak Alley

[IdaBoi]

Thank you Sawtooth for another epic update. You have a great eye.


This is beautiful.

Originally Posted by Sawtooth

[Cottonwood]

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/ric...nt?oid=3727219

Richard's Café Vicino is Moving Downtown

Chef Richard Langston, of North End staple Richard’s Café Vicino, is relocating his popular Italian restaurant to the Inn at 500 Capitol.

The six-story, 112-room boutique hotel is currently under construction at Capitol Boulevard and Myrtle Street, in the parking lot adjacent to The Flicks. Obie Development Partners LLC, which owns a similar hotel in Eugene, Ore., broke ground on the property last October.

[TVurban]

The "circulator" lives!!

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/in-...nt?oid=3728379

Personally, I'm still a little skeptical about running the streetcar along the 9th and Main couplet. The roads doesn't seem right for it, especially in the sense that they seem to be pushing it as a development tool rather than a serious transportation option. I would rather see it run along 8th but this would make it difficult to connect to Idaho/Main due to the grove.

[OhGoodGlavin]

Originally Posted by TVurban

The "circulator" lives!!

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/in-...nt?oid=3728379



Personally, I'm still a little skeptical about running the streetcar along the 9th and Main couplet. The roads doesn't seem right for it, especially in the sense that they seem to be pushing it as a development tool rather than a serious transportation option. I would rather see it run along 8th but this would make it difficult to connect to Idaho/Main due to the grove.

I don't know if you caught this bit last week about the success of streetcars in other (larger) cities on NPR, but it was a bit discouraging to hear:

http://www.npr.org/2016/02/23/467813...disappointment

[Cottonwood]

3 Mountain West cities in the Top 10...or 2 for those who consider Boise a Northwest city.

http://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/pre...-live-rankings

U.S. News & World Report Launches the Best Places to Live Rankings

2016 U.S. News Best Places to Live Rankings – Top 10


1.Denver, CO
2.Austin, TX
3.Fayetteville, AR
4.Raleigh-Durham, NC
5.Colorado Springs, CO
6.Boise, ID
7.Seattle, WA
8.Washington, DC
9.San Francisco, CA
10.San Jose, CA

http://realestate.usnews.com/places/...places-to-live

http://realestate.usnews.com/places/idaho/boise

Boise is a recreationalist's paradise. If you value the outdoors and time spent among rivers, mountains, canyons, deserts and lakes – and all the activities encapsulated therein – it's worth a serious look.

[Sawtooth]

824 Idaho Street
photos in the night and 53 degrees on March 2
no tripod, please excuse any fuzziness you might encounter
there are a few extras following the remodel for west elm





the alley looking in

[jakor21]

Originally Posted by TVurban

The "circulator" lives!!

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/in-...nt?oid=3728379



Personally, I'm still a little skeptical about running the streetcar along the 9th and Main couplet. The roads doesn't seem right for it, especially in the sense that they seem to be pushing it as a development tool rather than a serious transportation option. I would rather see it run along 8th but this would make it difficult to connect to Idaho/Main due to the grove.

Yeah I agree but connecting BSU to downtown would be interesting. What about a loop through University Dr. up Broadway and into downtown.. who knows. It would be fascinating to see a streetcar in Boise though

[BoiseBMW]

Originally Posted by Cottonwood

3 Mountain West cities in the Top 10...or 2 for those who consider Boise a Northwest city.

It's a PNW city. It's a fact.

Originally Posted by OhGoodGlavin

I don't know if you caught this bit last week about the success of streetcars in other (larger) cities on NPR, but it was a bit discouraging to hear:

http://www.npr.org/2016/02/23/467813...disappointment

I heard that on NPR as well. It also reminded me of the book Thinking Fast and Slow. The author (nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman) talks about how rail ridership is nearly always overestimated by optimistic planers who want to see a project succeed, and underestimate the cost of the project.

I don't think a streetcar is a good idea. I think it will end up costing far too much with very little pay off. Sure, emotionally I want it, but logically it just doesn't make sense.

[Cottonwood]

http://idahobusinessreview.com/2016/...to-the-owyhee/

Tavern at Bown Crossing to expand into The Owyhee

Tavern at Bown Crossing will remain. The Owyhee Tavern won’t be a copy.

“We’re not a pub,” Werner said about Bown Crossing. “We’re a neighborhood place. Downtown will be an extension of that.”

The Owyhee Tavern will have a focus on seafood and oysters but will not have a sushi bar as Bown Crossing has. Owyhee Tavern will offer Kobe-style beef and “maybe a burger or two.”

Read more: http://idahobusinessreview.com/2016/...#ixzz41x349v5Y

[TVurban]

I don't know if any one else saw this, but here's the Urban Land Institutes report on the Vista Avenue Corridor. For those that don't know, Vista was selected as a demonstration corridor for the Healthy Corridors Initiative by the ULI. They looked at different corridors and their potential/constraints. I've attached the link to the site describing the project.
Some of the interesting suggestions that were made were:
1. Remove the slip lane at Vista and Overland.
2. Reduce Vista to 1 lane in either direction w/ parking or off-peak parallel parking in the out-side lanes.
3. Mix-use infill
4. Continue public art along the road way to match the airport
5. Make it the Brooklyn of Idaho or a new creative district.


Presentation Link:
http://uli.org/wp-content/uploads/UL...enue-final.pdf

Project Website:
http://uli.org/research/centers-init...thy-corridors/

[frankster]

So, number 6 best place to live and number 6 best downtown in America. Pretty sweet.

http://www.livability.com/top-10/dow.../2016/id/boise

[boisecynic]

Reduce Vista to 1 lane in either direction w/ parking or off-peak parallel parking in the out-side lanes.

I think this might be doable. I like the idea. Do it on Orchard too. I proposed this idea (off peak parallel parking on WWP) to a lot of people during the Whitewater Parkway discussions pretty much to deaf ears. Bicycle lane fever is too entrenched even though WWP has the greenbelt on one side and 27th on the other for bicycle travel. Reasons: Off peak drivers on WWP are regularly exceeding 40 or even 50 mph I'm willing to bet. Parking would narrow the road and theoretically slow traffic. Future whitewater competitions are going to need more parking than what's being built.

Regarding Vista, it's a long term project though because zoning would have to be tweaked to allow businesses to figure out a way to take advantage of the change.

Edit: Hah, reset to a new page again. For more context I was replying to turban's post:

Originally Posted by TVurban

I don't know if any one else saw this, but here's the Urban Land Institutes report on the Vista Avenue Corridor. For those that don't know, Vista was selected as a demonstration corridor for the Healthy Corridors Initiative by the ULI. They looked at different corridors and their potential/constraints. I've attached the link to the site describing the project.
Some of the interesting suggestions that were made were:

1. Remove the slip lane at Vista and Overland.
2. Reduce Vista to 1 lane in either direction w/ parking or off-peak parallel parking in the out-side lanes.
3. Mix-use infill
4. Continue public art along the road way to match the airport
5. Make it the Brooklyn of Idaho or a new creative district.


Presentation Link:
http://uli.org/wp-content/uploads/UL...enue-final.pdf

Project Website:
http://uli.org/research/centers-init...thy-corridors/

[boisenative]

If anyone is better than me at navigating Boise PDS site, feel free to look into permits for Gardner's new Parcel B building. I came across a tweet by IdahoBusinessReview that mentioned Garder was planning a new 6-story office building, but being the law student that I am, I cannot afford to view the rest of the article on their website. Lets hope this is the best damn 6-story building we've ever seen since it would be one of the most visible buildings upon entering the city.

[BOI-IDA]

Originally Posted by boisenative

If anyone is better than me at navigating Boise PDS site, feel free to look into permits for Gardner's new Parcel B building. I came across a tweet by IdahoBusinessReview that mentioned Garder was planning a new 6-story office building, but being the law student that I am, I cannot afford to view the rest of the article on their website. Lets hope this is the best damn 6-story building we've ever seen since it would be one of the most visible buildings upon entering the city.

http://pdsonline.cityofboise.org/pds...id=DRH16-00079

I assume this is what you are looking for.

Certainly nothing to get excited about

[TVurban]

Originally Posted by boisenative

If anyone is better than me at navigating Boise PDS site, feel free to look into permits for Gardner's new Parcel B building. I came across a tweet by IdahoBusinessReview that mentioned Garder was planning a new 6-story office building, but being the law student that I am, I cannot afford to view the rest of the article on their website. Lets hope this is the best damn 6-story building we've ever seen since it would be one of the most visible buildings upon entering the city.

Here is the link:

http://pdsonline.cityofboise.org/pds...id=DRH16-00079

Underwhelming at best... The hotel designs where better...

[BOI-IDA]

Very disappointing. Gardener should be ashamed. This is a suburban office park that doesn't belong at the gateway to downtown Boise.

[boisenative]

I agree. I'd much rather have it sit as a dirt lot than be built as planned. Gardner has done such great things for Boise that this is uncharacteristic of them and frankly, disappointing. While I understand the parking garage with potential to build on top, the rest of the plan is hard to visualize as being an asset to our city.