Boise Neighbors Discuss Mississippi Lofts Project

The property at site 1, 4138 N Mississippi Ave, includes 200 feet of frontage on the avenue. The development team, investors, and concerned neighbors met tonight (11.19.05) at the Mississippi Rising Ballroom to see some sketches of the development, listen to some community opinions, and field a few questions about their development.

The discussion started with a brief introduction of the developers/investors. David Yoho, land use co-chair for the Boise neighborhood and investor (? i am unsure of this) of the project, spoke first and introduced the planner for the project (i beleive), Peter. Peter explained his history in the NE neighborhoods and showed some awards he'd gotten and some images of his previous works. The idea seemed to be urban sanctuaries, and it looked nice. Then on of the architects was introduced. The architect firm is "Michael Willis Architects," and they started it off by explaining the initial design. The initial design is a four story (45ft) mixed use building, with retail in the front, parking in the back, and the the condos would be built on top of the parking structure/retail base.

The parking was the first large issue, in this neighborhood parking has become a problem. With all of the destination businesses between fremont and shaver, the lack of adequate parking has become apparent. On a weekend night, it is hard for residents within two blocks of the area to find parking near their home. New developments in the area are addressing parking in some way. These developers have decided to use alley access parking, with the initial idea of having at least one parking space for each residential unit they offer. They said that the condos wouldnt come with a parking space, that the parking spaces would be an additional fee. They used words like transit-oriented, saying that they would like to encourage alternative transit and that parking spaces would be sold at a premium. They are just a few blocks east of the light rail, steps away from the crowded number 4, will provide ample bicycle parking, and will include at least one flex-car space.

Some concerns included the increase of traffic in the alleyway, the parking not being for retail shoppers thus continuing the cycle of nearby residents searching for parking. It also didnt appear as if the the developers/architects reached out to the nearby residents to explain their plan personally to them (especially the homeowners/renters that will be bordering the new development.)

The building they plan to build will, by all accounts, be huge! 45 feet is the code, however, they are building 45ft high at the north end of the property, and there is a 6ft slope to the south end, meaning that the south end will be 51ft if the building is to be level. Above the retail will be two floors of residential, the back half will be two floor townhouses, and the front half will be two floors of single floor residential units. The fourth floor, penthouse lofts, are what makes this building stand out. The architects have tentatively set the fourth floor back ten feet on the front and part of the sides so that the visual impact looks to be only 3 stories. The ten foot loss of livable space will be a deck for the residents. This is nice because of the visual impact, however it also doesnt appear to be economically affordable for the current demographic. But, it will probably offer a spectacular view.

There were alos alot of questions about the retail spaces that they are planning. One of the developers deals specifically with retail and they have a basic retail plan. Based on the community surveys of the EDH Company (page 16), boise neighborhood associations polls, and a survey done by Our United Villages the ideal establishment would be a small market. A market that offers fresh produce and other edible goods for the folks that live in the neighborhood. The developers seemed intent of trying to bring in a semi-upscale market like Food Front, or PastaWorks. One very good question asked was "how will this market affect Big City Produce?" Big City Produce is a local community oriented market about 10 blocks north of the current site.

In total, they laid out a nice plan with and seem genuine in their intentions, and relatively honest about their motives (a few of them admitted that they would be partial to living in the lofts). However, being community minded and business oriented is a bit of a polar opposite. The forces of business move much quicker than the collective effort of communities. When asked what their timeline was, they said they would start in late spring 06. They said they would continue to come to neighborhood association meetings and field questions, report updates, etc. Ultimately, they said they wanted to gaint he support of the community, and "want to set a precedent with how devolpers interact with the community."

Again, that all sounded genuine, and the design looks nice. They said that the market rate for development contiunes to rise and that plans change. The costs of development are always fluctacting and the feasability of offering a community oriented neighborhood positive building could continue to reduce to the point that what is said now is nothing like what we get. It is important for the folks that are concerned to continue to ask questions and represent your views to the architects, developers and the Boise Neighborhood Association. It is also important for developers to engage the residents that abutt their project and listen especially well to what is requested.

As positive as this all sounds, it is a business venture and the main goal of business and capitalism is to create money and create a market for making money. One of the problems with the new destination business that have gone up in the last few years is that there isnt a strong enough community here to support them, there are too many folks from a past era to currently make things economical. With the Kaiser lofts, the Mississippi lofts, and at least two other condo developments coming up, that new community may be only a year away. And, one last quick thing. With the large Kurisu development at the northeast corner of Mississippi and Shaver, and the Mississippi Lofts on the southeast corner of Mississippi and Skidmore, the business district is decidedly expanding. And what is all residential (for the most part) in between will now be sandwhiched the foreboding large scale (tall) buildings and the residents between these two will probably suffer...thats just my opinion, as one of those residents.