New grocery store in W. Downtown Boise? Possible idea for empty lot peeks into view

“Offering visitors an urban, park-like setting with ample green spacing, Whitewater + Main will become Boise’s next destination location,” a marketing flier from Boise firm TOK Commercial touts.

A site plan shows a possible 32,183-square-foot grocery store site on the ground floor of one of the buildings facing Main Street, next to the KDP Accounting building.  Two more 9,000-square-foot retail sites, plus a 2,000-square-foot and 1,635-square-foot spaces are also included.

The buildings would be placed along a new set of internal driveways which would form an upside-down T.  Though the sales flier does not directly address it, renderings show a set of five buildings ringing the outside perimeter of the site that could include apartments, office space or a mix of both.

In March, Roundhouse submitted an early concept to the city for a possible 100-unit project on the eastern portion of the site that would include a series of walk-up-style apartment buildings.  A formal proposal has not yet been applied for that project. No permits have been filed for the possible retail and mid-rise development on the west side, either.

Many proposals

The western portion of Downtown Boise, once home to a number of car dealerships and other auto-centric uses, could see a boom in development – though so far, none of a raft of proposed projects have yet moved forward.

In addition to the Roundhouse Whitewater projects, Ball Ventures Ahlquist and the College of Western Idaho hope to build a mixed-use concept with retail, restaurant, classroom space, housing and hotel along the Boise River on the opposite corner.  

Urban Capital Partners has proposed building nearly 400 apartments and office space at Whitewater Park Blvd. and Fairview along the river.

Subtext Living received approval for 271 apartments at 27th and Fairview.

Greenstone Properties won approval for 169 apartments on the current site of the Symposion bar on Fletcher St. near I-184. The site is for sale.

If all the projects materialize, it would bring more than 1,000 new apartment units online in the area.

Long, winding history

The former Larry Barnes/Roundtree Chevrolet site has been vacant since the 1990s. A number of proposals for the site have come and gone over the years.

1946

Mission Inn restaurant opens at Fairview Ave. and 27th St. It was an early Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, and KFC founder Col. Sanders was said to visit and make chicken.

1964

Larry Barnes purchases the site and building and converts it for car dealership franchises including Chevrolet, Geo and Isuzu.

1997

Roundtree Chevrolet closes and moves to a site further west on Fairview. Later, it is renamed Lithia Chevrolet and ultimately acquired by Peterson Automotive.

1997

That same year, Barnes announced a new project using the Mission Inn name, with a sports arena, nightclub, private members club, deli, three restaurants, tennis courts, and more, with the first phase to open in early 1998.  The project doesn’t materialize.

2000

The Mission Inn/car dealership building is torn down.

2001

Then-Boise Mayor Brent Coles announces the city has acquired the site for a downtown police station.

2002

A district judge tells the city it can’t build the police station with debt financing.

2016

After years without any serious activity, LocalConstruct (now Roundhouse) makes a trade with the City of Boise, swapping the 6.5-acre site for the Spaulding Ranch property in West Boise.

2018

The City of Boise under then-Boise Mayor Dave Bieter works to help Greenstone Properties acquire the site for a baseball stadium from LocalConstruct, but no deal ever materializes.

2019

A US Bank branch at 27th St. and Fairview Ave. is closed. Roundhouse later acquires the property, and combines it with the rest of its land holdings to the west.

2020

The city reached an agreement to restructure its deal with Roundhouse on the site, including adding affordable housing units.

2021

Roundhouse proposes to build The Avens, a 169-unit apartment complex.

2022

Work begins to add a new 28th St. road north-south through the property where the car dealership once stood.  The road was part of the 2016 deal.

2023

Roundhouse principal Casey Lynch tells BoiseDev they were reworking plans on the site.

2024

A new project is proposed with 102 apartment units.