This article was originally published by Don Day in BoiseDev.
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.
The Hillcrest apartments would include 36 one-bedroom and 72 two-bedroom apartments for a total of 180 bedrooms. Parking for 147 vehicles is also provided, one more than the city requires.
Several previous projects to build apartments, including a 2015 effort approved by the city, didn’t come to pass. In 2020, the City of Boise considered buying the land for $2.475 million from Red Tail in hopes of building affordable housing through its land trust. The deal did not go through. BoiseDev reported last year that theidea fell through over issues around site requirements and with the owner of the neighboring Hillcrest Shopping Center.
The project plans submitted to the city show a series of three-story apartment buildings surrounded by surface parking.
Project architect David Glancey with Galncey Rockwell Associates called the buildings “modest,” and said they tried to buffer from the large shopping center parking lot and nearby residential neighborhood.
“(The) design approach was to create a residential enclave, protected from public streets on two sides by the steep hillside yet have the convenience (sic) access and connectivity with adjacent commercial center and surrounding neighborhoods,” he wrote. “Utilizing the established commercial center, we will have excellent walkability to shopping, eateries, entertainment, and public transpiration. A desire was to have a clear delineation of proposed residential project from the large adjacent commercial parking lot. This is achieved utilizing a well-defined boundary with landscaping, a low wrought iron fence and security gates at the drive entrances.”
The project will need a planned unit development permit from the City of Boise. A hearing date has not yet been set.
