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EPA 560-F-10-216
June 2010
CITYSIDE LOFTS
Boise, Idaho
Targeted Brownfields Assessment Program
An Urban Brownfields Property Creates
Smart Residential Living Choices in Downtown Boise
ADDRESS:
PROPERTY SIZE:
FORMER USE:
CURRENT USES:
13th and Myrtle St., Boise, Idaho
0.87 Acres
Vacant Lot
Downtown residential housing
EPA TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE RECIPIENT:
PROJECT PARTNERS:
Capital City Development Corporation
utilized $5,000 in EPA Targeted Brownfields
Assessment funding.
The Hosac Company,
Boise, Idaho
For additional data and geographic
information for this and other
Brownfields Grants, please visit
EPA's Cleanups in My Community -
,epa.2oy/Cleanups/
PROJECT BACKGROUND:
Boise, Idaho has experienced an increase in the number of people interested in living downtown, but the demand far
exceeds the supply of downtown living options. The Capital City Development Corporation (CCDC), Boise's urban
renewal agency, developed the Urban Housing Initiative to help attract development partners and create new living
opportunities in the downtown area. One such project located in the heart of Boise was a 0.87-acre urban brownfields
property; the property was owned by CCDC and viewed as a catalyst for badly needed downtown residential develop-
ment. However, concerns about the possibility of environmental contamination needed to be addressed before CCDC
could offer the property as leverage to potential developers. To address this concern and at the request of CCDC, EPA
completed a Phase I Targeted Brownfield Assessment (TBA) in February 2004 that found no contamination; as a result,
the vacant property was ready for reuse.
KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
• Phase I TBA removed a key barrier impeding the reuse of the property
for needed downtown affordable housing.
• CitySide Lofts is CCDC's first Urban Housing Initiative project and the
first owner-occupied multi-family project in Boise in over 20 years.
• The vacant brownfield property had no taxable value; the redeveloped
property now has an estimated value of over $21 million.
• The CitySide Lofts project served as a catalyst for additional downtown
residential condominium projects, including four large-scale and two
small-scale condominium projects in downtown Boise.
OUTCOME:
CCDC worked with the Hosac Company—a local commercial and residential developer—through a development and
disposition agreement to create the first owner-occupied multi-family project in Boise in over 20 years. The CitySide
Lofts, a 77-unit condominium project, was completed in 2008 on a former downtown brownfield. Most of these con-
dominiums have already been sold. In 2009, the CitySide Lofts project received an Idaho Smart Growth "Grow Smart"
award due to its urban scale, attractive design and pedestrian-friendly amenities. The success of the CitySide Lofts proj-
ect has also served as a catalyst for additional residential housing projects in downtown Boise, including four-large scale
and two small-scale condominium developments.
The CitySide Lofts, after redevelopment.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields or call EPA Region 10 at (206) 553-7299
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