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Work continues on Boise’s new low-income
apartments.
Michael Journee
The
Idaho Statesman
While other downtown building projects have stalled, construction
of 299 low-income apartments in downtown´s most active area
of development has moved quietly forward.
Just over five months after breaking ground, developers of Civic
Plaza celebrated Tuesday the placement of the final steel beam
for the first of two new apartment buildings, which together will
double the number of downtown housing units.
The project is seen by planners as a cornerstone for the creation
of an urban village amid the growing governmental and institutional
development near the new Ada County Courthouse.
Situated near the intersection of Front Street and Broadway Avenue,
Civic Plaza is the residential component of the Courthouse Corridor
complex, a large government-driven development featuring the courthouse
and the troubled University Place project. The first phase of the
two-building Civic Plaza project will be completed in October.
On Tuesday, construction workers placed the final girder on the
superstructure of Civic Plaza´s first building, which is under
construction on top of the Ada County Courthouse´s parking
garage, just east of the courthouse and west of Avenue A. It will
add four stories to the courthouse garage, housing 155 new apartments
and retail space on the ground floor — plus the existing three
floors of parking.
“These apartments will be open in November,” said Sam
Semingson, a spokesperson for Civic Partners, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based
company that specializes in mixed use urban redevelopment projects.
Civic Partners is one of a number of local and out-of-state partners
involved in the project. The companion building, expected to be
completed by April 2004, will have 144 apartments on five floors
above a ground floor of retail shops and an underground parking
garage. It will be built just east of the first building, across
Avenue A.
Civic Plaza developers are focusing on drawing “low- or very-low-income”
tenants to the project. In fact, one of the partners — a Grandville,
Ohio firm called Paramount — specializes in so-called affordable
housing projects made possible by federal tax credits.
Of the 299 apartments, 27 will be dedicated to people who earn
less than $26,800 annually — or half of Ada County´s
median per capita salary of $53,600.
The remaining 272 apartments are reserved for people who earn less
than $32,160, or 60 percent of the median income, according to Jeff
Pomeroy, an officer at Civic Partners.
Rent will be determined on a sliding scale that takes into account
income and the number of people who will live in the apartment,
Pomeroy said. For a one-bedroom apartment, tenants can expect a
range of $466 to $568 each month. Two-bedroom units will run from
$555 to $678.
Steadfast Properties and Development Co., also a Newport Beach,
Calif., firm that will manage the apartments, won´t start
taking applications for units until July 1.
Prospective tenants will be able to get information about the project
sooner than that, however.
“There will be banners going up in the next week or so with
a phone number for the on-site leasing office,” Pomeroy said.
The $45 million mixed-use project will include not only one- and
two-bedroom apartments, but also 320 new parking spaces and more
than 28,000 square feet of shops, bistros and other retail services.
To offer story ideas or comments, contact Michael Journee
mjournee@idahostatesman.com or 208-377-6465
Edition Date: 03-26-2003
Original Article
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