Boise News - June 2019

[Account Closed]

This is the June 2019 set of news clippings that I've collected and send to our investors - I hope you find it useful.

Our little company doesn't usually look to make the local news, but we've broken ground on our two homes in Eagle and one large home in Nampa/Caldwell.  All three are spec builds for investors.  We also received design approval from Caldwell for our 24-unit building in downtown Caldwell and have another Caldwell site under evaluation which looks like it will yield 39 total units in 4 buildings.

June 2019 News:

A 2,000-home master planned community breaks ground on the south side of Boise. https://boisedev.com/news/2019/05/31/construction-starts-on-large-2000-home-boise-development-with-new-name/

913-home subdivision is up for approval on the western edge of Eagle. https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/west-ada/article231044388.html

Caldwell approves 187-home subdivision. https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/caldwell-approves--home-subdivision-off-marble-front-road/article_7c828edb-5954-5a48-92c1-045bdea4f4a8.html

Nampa is raising funds to add momentum to their downtown redevelopment efforts. https://boisedev.com/news/2019/06/07/new-fund-to-help-make-over-nampas-main-street-area/

Micron, one of Boise’s largest employers, has been cutting staff recently. https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/past-and-current-micron-employees-report-job-cuts-micron-silent/article_532e02a8-40ac-5cb3-9a87-7fde69714dc8.html

Downtown to get a new “jewel” office project. https://boisedev.com/news/2019/06/10/11th-and-idaho/

Boise approves changes to Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) regulations to allow larger units, but keeps the requirement that the owner live on-site. They will continue to look to other ways to add residential to existing neighborhoods. https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/boise-city-council-reduces-regulations-on-mother-in-law-suites/article_af524d2d-8bd7-5479-818b-c2ea3c67dc7f.html

A new hotel (Fairfield Inn) is planned on the northwest side of Boise Towne Square mall. https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article231432183.html

Jerry’s Market on 27th street is being torn down for a new housing project near downtown Boise. https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article231443793.html

Ada County home prices set another record last month. The median price for a single-family home is $342,990 – up $8,000 (2.4%) from the prior month’s record price of $335,000. This is a 12.5% increase over last May. https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article231477538.html#storylink=mainstage_card3

Another out-of-state developer looking to Boise. This one is converting an old hotel into apartments in downtown. https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article231558938.html

In the not so good news column, Fitch Ratings is estimating that home prices in Idaho are overvalued by 20% or more. It looks to be a factor of home prices rising faster than wages. I’m not so sure that the supply/demand dynamics locally are accurately captured in their analysis but only time will tell. https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article231529863.html

A hearing for a major mixed-use development on 52-acres at the I-84 / Eagle Road intersection. This includes Boise’s first “Top Golf like” facility. https://boisedev.com/news/2019/06/18/eagle-view-landing/

Another downtown Boise apartment building planned. This one is targeting young professionals at rents the developer calls “attainable”. https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/story-apartment-building-going-next-to-downtown-boise-winco/article_6c4fcfd1-5858-57b2-a537-38adb4e95e31.html

Downtown Caldwell is growing enough to start talking about building structured parking garages. https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/2cscoop/could-a-parking-garage-be-in-caldwell-s-future-city/article_6352821d-c669-5e5b-8115-a32c400f8807.html

Another big transaction, this time to a Seattle investment firm. Two downtown high rises have been sold. https://boisedev.com/news/2019/06/19/laird-norton-us-bank-gardner/

Construction activity in the City of Boise (just the City, not the entire metro) have hit the highest levels in 5 years. https://boisedev.com/news/2019/06/20/boise-building-permits-hit-five-year-high/

A new commercial project in Eagle is looking at a condo approach (sales of units rather than leases). https://boisedev.com/news/2019/06/20/new-project-on-the-way-to-mccall-could-add-retail-and-more-before-you-leave-town/

Idaho unemployment numbers are out and continues (for the 18th month) to be sub-3% statewide. https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/idaho-unemployment-rate-remains-under/article_8dbd1c4a-c8ea-5338-9a67-25ee4020d9f7.html

Caldwell and Nampa will “move closer” to Boise – ITD plans to widen I-84 which should significantly reduce commute times. Our opinion: With jobs also moving westward (toward Meridian and Nampa) and the lower cost of housing in Canyon County, this area is expected to see a spike in development growth. https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/canyon-county/article231805598.html

Albertson’s is adding another store in the fast growing south Meridian area. https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/west-ada/article232024977.html

[Jim Paulson]

Boise has appreciated quicker than lower income wages; however, you don't have to travel too far to adjacent cities/counties with commutes of 30 minutes to an hour to get much less expensive homes / property.  Many people are retiring and moving here and paying cash for homes since we are still much cheaper than major metro areas in the Pacific Northwest and especially cheaper than most of California.