401 S. 5th Street – The Fowler Apartments
The Fowler is a 159-unit mixed-use apartment project being developed by Local Construct. It is located at the corner of 5th and Broad streets in downtown Boise. It is adjacent to Boise Brewing, across the street from Concordia Law School, and in close proximity to multiple services (grocery, coffee shop, restaurants, etc.). The building program includes two floors of parking, five floors of apartment units, and approximately 4,000 square feet of retail space on the ground level.
The CCDC Board of Commissioners approved the project as a Type 3 Transformative Assistance Participation project in August 2015 based on several months negotiations and research including the Downtown Boise Housing Study and due diligence performed by a third party consultant. The third party consultant’s financial analysis confirmed the level of CCDC assistance appropriate for the project.
Downtown housing is a priority of the City of Boise and CCDC as it leads to stronger and more vibrant downtown community. The housing study identified several barriers to entry including parking and lack of residential comparables. The Fowler is one of the first housing projects of its kind in downtown Boise (large-scale, for-rent, market-rate apartments), and CCDC is excited to assist this project succeed specifically through an investment in parking.
The Type 3 Transformative Assistance Agreement includes reimbursement for eligible public improvements, predevelopment expenses, and purchase of public parking not to exceed $3,240,000. This includes approximately $82,000 for historic preservation of structures that were located on site, $568,000 in public improvement costs, and the purchase one level of parking to be made available to the public for approximately $2,600,000.
The Fowler groundbreaking took place in January of 2016 and the project is expected to be complete in 2017.
CCDC Development Director, Todd Bunderson, managed this project.
