Run-down shopping centers could get help from city of Boise

Capital City Development Corp. is considering the creation of urban renewal districts to improve blighted and largely vacant shopping centers outside downtown Boise.

Sites under consideration include the Hillcrest Shopping Center at Orchard Street and Overland Road, a shopping center on Collister Drive, and another at Orchard and Emerald streets, CCDC Executive Director Phil Kushlan said.

“Orchard and Emerald is an area that could use some love,” Boise Mayor David Bieter said at a housing conference last week.

The city expects to have more specific plans in four to five months, Bieter said.

CCDC, the redevelopment agency for the city of Boise, builds parking garages and pays for street improvements, landscaping and public art within its districts. The agency also enters into public-private partnerships to assist developers with projects that revitalize undeveloped or underdeveloped areas.

Too late

A renovation of Vista Village shopping center should be finished by spring, said Donna Jacobs, a property manager for Day Realty.

It’s part of a large revitalization on Vista Avenue, driven by local businesses.

“I think the whole neighborhood seems to be going through a Renaissance,” she said.

However, Day Realty could have used help from the city on the $5 million Vista Village project, she said.

“Sadly enough, we are doing things all on our own,” she said.

The area could use some public art or funding to improve the streetscape, she said. A parking garage and landscaping would have been great, said David Day, of Day Realty.

Although Vista serves as the main artery between the airport and downtown, CCDC has until recently always focused its redevelopment efforts downtown.

“I don’t want to take anything away from downtown,” Jacobs said. “But the city needs to make sure the Vista neighborhood looks good. It’s often visitors’ first impression as they come to Boise.”

For Day, the prospect of the city helping other ailing shopping centers raises questions about competition.

“It’s kind of a problem when government gets involved in competition,” he said. “When somebody builds you a parking garage…” he said.

However, he made it clear that the Vista Village renovation would have happened regardless.

Bieter said Vista Village is a great example of how the private sector can redevelop areas without government assistance. The shopping center has spurred a revitalization movement that includes the Farmers & Merchants and Wells Fargo bank buildings on Vista, he said.

Other areas

Kushlan didn’t rule out extending urban renewal assistance to Vista, but other areas seem to be a higher priority for the city, he said.

Fowler Property Acquisitions, which bought the Hillcrest Shopping Center, started demolition work two months ago on a $4 million rehabilitation project. The company plans to rebuild taller stucco facades to increase visibility and match the upgrades made to the nearby Albertsons, said Chad Eisenbud, vice president of Fowler’s commercial division. The project should be finished by the end of the year, he said.

“It’s probably bad timing for us,” he said of the CCDC proposal. “Obviously it’s great for other centers around the city. If they want to contact us, we’ll definitely talk to them. But it’s not going to slow up our process.”

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