The McCall Planning and Zoning Commission heard a pre-application that would bring some affordable housing to the city. The affordable housing would sit at 500 1st McCall on what is now vacant land. The applicant lists 47 park model units on a little under six acres. This is a preliminary plan and the applicant Leo Stoddard said there could be 40 to 60 units on the property.  There would also be an administration building on site. “It’s basically a bunch of cabins, which was a little different than what we’ve seen there,” he said. “But I know affordability is a challenge in the community ..read more

The site of a former Fred Meyer store in Boise could turn into a new apartment project if a plan proposed to the City of Boise comes to life. Irvine, California developer Red Tail Acquisitions has applied to build a 108-unit apartment complex on a portion of the Hillcrest Shopping Center site in Boise. The site at Overland Rd. and Phillipi St. formerly included a large Fred Meyer store and several smaller retail stores before they were torn down in late 2009. [Apartments, restaurants, and ‘The Bridge’: Village at Meridian files initial plan for large-scale expansion] The Hillcrest apartments w ..read more

The Valley County Commission has come out against a plan by the Idaho Department of lands to auction a Payette Lake island. The commission finished crafting a letter to the Idaho Department of Lands outlining its opposition to a process to auction the 14-acre Cougar Island. IDL hired Corbett-Bottles Real Estate Auctions to sell the five lots on the land, as BoiseDev reported last week. “We do not support auctioning the endowment lands,” commissioner Sherry Maupin said during a public hearing Monday in Cascade. “This (letter) has also gone through United Payette since we are also in partnership ..read more

After much fanfare of a potential renovation, the future of an iconic downtown building is in limbo.  The Carnegie Library’s future looked bright in 2019. After years of sitting dormant after a 1980s renovation turned it into a law office, Boise-based education technology firm Ednetics purchased the building and vowed to renovate it into new offices for their staff and an event space after a top to bottom revamp.  [‘Pretty cool’: Relic Boise neon signs could pop up as public art in Downtown Boise project] Then, things changed course. In the final moments of the 2021 legislative sessi ..read more

Idaho is home to more than 3,100 miles of river – that’s more than any other state. Some of those miles are from the St. Joe River in Northern Idaho. Commonly called “The Joe,” the river runs 144 miles across the Idaho Panhandle. It flows from the high mountain towns of Avery and St. Maries before meeting up with Lake Coeur d’Alene. It’s also called “The Shadowy Joe” due to the lush trees shading the river. There is even a campground with this name. According to Rivers.gov, it was originally named the “St. Joseph” by Father Pierre-Jean Desmet – a Catholic priest who established a mission near ..read more

St. Lukes has purchased a property in McCall to help alleviate the workforce housing shortage in the area.  The building at 212 N. Third Street is a mixed-use property with four retail spaces and 10 studio apartments.  Over the past few years, St. Lukes McCall said it has struggled to fill positions because of the housing shortage. According to a St. Luke’s blog, the medical center has contracted more agency staff to fill positions and vacancies. Agency staff is travelers that work under short-term contracts.  “This year, we have had to contract with more travelers for longer pe ..read more

The Joe’s Crab Shack on the Boise River Greenbelt in Garden City could get a new look — and a new use. Cushing Terrel Architects applied with the City of Garden City to revamp the restaurant site for Ling & Louie’s, a small Arizona-based chain of Asian-style restaurants, which currently has a location along Eagle Rd. in Meridian. A rendering shows a possible bridge over the Settlers Canal to connect the Crab Shack to the nearby Riverside Hotel, but the application does not include the bridge. [You Asked: What’s going up in the parking lot of the Riverside Hotel?] Boise developer David Wali ..read more

Last week we told you The Village at Meridian could look to expand, and file information with the City of Meridian later this year. It’s later this year. Centercal, the developer of the large regional shopping center, and Salt Development of Salt Lake City are listed on pre-application materials for The Bridge at The Village at Meridian. The large-scale project appears to be named for a distinctive six-story skybridge that would span E. Longwing Lane and run parallel to Eagle Rd. Longwing Ln. is the primary entrance to the Village core area for drivers heading southbound on Eagle. Project plan ..read more

An island in the middle of Payette Lake could go up for auction soon. The 14.21-acre Cougar Island is the largest in the iconic lake bordered by McCall. Now, the Idaho Department of Lands hopes to auction it off to the highest bidder. The island is part of Idaho’s endowment land (see explainer below). Now, the state has contracted with Corbett Bottles Real Estate Auctions to sell the property. “Cougar Island is a private 14.21-acre island located in McCall, Idaho,” Corbett Bottles wrote in the auction description. It’s of note the island is not in McCall but in unincorporated Valley County, ho ..read more

Boise’s redistricting process for the 2023 city council election is getting a last minute shakeup.  Council members heard public testimony and deliberated at length earlier this month on a proposed ordinance to set up a redistricting commission. They voted to write an ordinance requiring Mayor McLean to appoint the commissioners who will draw the 2023 lines from separate geographic areas of the city. Everything seemed decided and tied up neatly.  Up until City Council Member Patrick Bageant expressed other ideas.   At the top of last Tuesday’s city council meeting, he objected t ..read more