Downtown Boise’s New Parking Project Could Unlock More Than Just Parking
Parking garages don’t usually sound like major commercial real estate stories.
But Downtown Boise’s newest project is about much more than finding a place to leave your car.
A new development at 1010 W. Jefferson Street will combine hundreds of public parking spaces with commercial real estate, childcare, bicycle amenities and public gathering areas.
For Boise commercial real estate, the interesting part is how all of those pieces work together.
According to reporting by IBR Staff in the Idaho Business Review, Capital City Development Corporation, or CCDC, has broken ground on the 1010 W. Jefferson Street Commercial Space & Public Parking Facility.
The project includes 446 public parking stalls and five ground-floor commercial condominium spaces. It will also become home to a new Treasure Valley YMCA early education center.
You can read the original Idaho Business Review article here:
For landlords, businesses and developers, this project offers an interesting example of how public infrastructure can support private commercial activity.
Downtown Growth Needs More Than New Buildings
One of the challenges with successful downtown development is that every new building creates additional demand on everything around it.
More apartments bring residents.
More offices bring employees.
Restaurants and retailers attract customers.
Hotels bring visitors.
All those people need ways to get downtown, move around downtown and access the businesses located there.
Parking remains part of that equation.
The Jefferson Street project will add 446 public parking spaces and become the seventh garage in the ParkBOI system.
But the project isn’t using valuable downtown land solely for parking.
The ground floor will include five commercial condominiums, creating opportunities for businesses and services at street level.
That’s an important distinction.
A traditional parking structure can solve a transportation problem while doing very little to activate the sidewalk.
Putting commercial space along the ground floor can help create pedestrian activity and make the development contribute more directly to the surrounding neighborhood.
For retail leasing in Boise, that matters.
The best downtown blocks usually aren’t simply collections of buildings. They are places where people have multiple reasons to walk, shop, eat, work and spend time.
Childcare Is Commercial Infrastructure Too
One of the most interesting components of the development may not be the parking or commercial space.
It’s childcare.
The Treasure Valley YMCA Kissler Family Early Education Center is planned for the property.
According to the Idaho Business Review, the new center is expected to allow the YMCA to double its downtown early-learning childcare capacity.
That could have a meaningful economic impact.
Childcare is often treated as a social service issue.
From a commercial real estate perspective, it can also be viewed as workforce infrastructure.
If employers want workers downtown, those workers need practical ways to manage their daily lives.
That includes transportation.
It includes food and services.
And for many households, it includes reliable childcare.
Adding childcare close to employment centers can make downtown employment more practical for parents.
That can benefit employers trying to recruit workers and potentially make Downtown Boise more attractive to companies considering office locations.
It can also create additional daily activity.
Parents dropping children off in the morning or picking them up later become potential customers for nearby coffee shops, restaurants, grocery concepts and other service businesses.
That creates another layer of demand supporting Downtown Boise retail and commercial space.
Public Investment Can Help Private Development Work
This project also highlights an important part of urban development that isn’t always visible.
Private developers don’t operate independently of public infrastructure.
Successful commercial districts need roads, sidewalks, utilities, parking, public spaces and transportation systems.
CCDC, Boise’s redevelopment and urban renewal agency, has played a significant role in providing infrastructure intended to encourage private investment throughout the city.
The Jefferson Street project is located within the Westside Urban Renewal District, an area that has seen substantial development activity.
Projects like this can create a multiplier effect.
A developer considering a nearby apartment, office or mixed-use project may view additional public parking as an amenity.
A restaurant considering Downtown Boise may see more parking as reducing friction for customers.
An employer may value nearby childcare.
A retailer may benefit from additional pedestrian activity.
None of those factors guarantees a commercial project’s success.
Together, however, they can make an area easier to develop, lease and operate within.
That is where public infrastructure can have a meaningful effect on Boise development.
Local Insight: The Ground Floor May Matter Most
From a commercial real estate standpoint, I’m particularly interested in the five commercial condominium spaces.
Parking solves a practical problem.
Commercial space creates economic activity.
Combining the two can make better use of expensive downtown land.
The question will be what types of businesses ultimately occupy those spaces.
Neighborhood-serving concepts could be particularly interesting.
Coffee.
Food.
Medical or wellness services.
Personal services.
Convenience-oriented retail.
Businesses serving downtown employees, residents and families could potentially benefit from having several different customer groups within walking distance.
The YMCA component adds another source of regular daily traffic.
For Boise retail leasing, that’s something worth watching.
Commercial tenants generally want three things: visibility, accessibility and customers.
A project combining parking, childcare, businesses and public gathering areas has the potential to generate all three.
What This Could Mean for Downtown Boise Commercial Real Estate
Downtown Boise continues to evolve from primarily an employment and entertainment district into a more complete mixed-use neighborhood.
People increasingly live downtown.
They work downtown.
They eat and shop downtown.
They attend events downtown.
That means future Downtown Boise commercial real estate development has to support more than the traditional nine-to-five office population.
Projects need to accommodate residents, workers, families, visitors and businesses simultaneously.
The Jefferson Street development provides an interesting model.
Instead of dedicating an entire property to one use, it combines several pieces of urban infrastructure:
- Public parking
- Ground-floor commercial space
- Early childhood education
- Bicycle amenities
- Public gathering areas
That combination could make the property more valuable to the surrounding neighborhood than any single component would be on its own.
And that may be the larger lesson for Boise commercial real estate developers and investors.
As Downtown Boise becomes denser, successful projects will increasingly depend on how buildings interact with everything around them.
The opportunity isn’t simply to build more square footage.
It’s to create places that make the surrounding commercial district work better.
Mike Gioioso (joy-OH-so) has for 16+ years been helping companies of all sizes buy, build, and lease perfect places for business in greater Boise, Idaho and beyond.
www.streetsmartidaho.com mike@streetsmartidaho.com 208-209-9166
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