![]() |
Northwest Reading |
From a March 6 post on the Boise Guardian.
At the risk of posting another typical “growthophobe†story, we offer up a major caution in the rush to embrace the Gardner folks’ latest plan for downtown Boise.
As wise businessmen, they are gathering as much public funding as possible to build on some pretty small plots adjacent to the Grove Hotel and the U.S. Bank building.
Plans for their “City Center Plaza†call for buy-ins from Valley Transit for an underground transit hub as well as the Greater Boise Auditorium District which has money burning a hole in its pocket collected from the hotel tax.
There will be assorted easements and complex deals regarding above and below ground ownership as well. The Urban renewal agency, Capital City Development Corp (CCDC) will also give taxpayer funds to Gardner.
It wasn’t long ago that Mark Rivers was the heart throb of city development politicos. He went with the Lt. Guv to Europe, was featured speaker at the City Club and offered all sorts of plans to supplement his BoDo project. Well, BoDo was built, tenants have come and gone, a third of the parking spaces in the public parking garage are not available to the public and the rest of the spaces are so cramped they keep body shops in business fixing dents. It’s a success.
For more hints on why Rivers has faded from prominence, just do a Google search for MARK RIVERS DEVELOPER.
Gardner has filled the hole in the ground with the Zion’s Bank building and is looking for more. The problem we see is the urban renewal district expires in 2017. We expect some manipulation of the law and funds in order to extend the CCDC jurisdiction beyond 2017. The best we can learn from sources is “its unclear†who owns what and who pays after 2017.
In conclusion, we urge caution in putting too much faith–and public money–in one developer. We joke that “downtown Boise is so crowded no one goes there.†Jamming more buildings into our once “quaint†downtown creates shadows on existing structures, high winds with the venturi effect, and blocks the scenic views from many angles.
Washington, D.C. doesn’t allow tall buildings and that isn’t all bad. Our message is to reassess the need and desire to fill all the surfaces with megastructures. Do we really want to hide the capitol from view and create a big city feel?
Some would say building downtown condos, megastructures, etc. creates a demand for more traffic which can then be managed with a transit system which needs a transit center, which makes the foundation for another tall building…we see another Fairview and Eagle, but with no sunshine.