David Hale says first phase of redevelopment almost complete, area now ready to produce housing

By Joe Estrella - jestrella@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 06/16/07

Click here to view original article

In 2005, developer David Hale envisioned a six-block area on the western outskirts of Downtown Boise that would rival Greenwich Village in New York, or at least the Pearl District in his native Portland, Oregon. He dubbed it The Linen District. Hale says he's now ready to join in the movement to produce Downtown housing.

What is the status of the Linen District?

We are approaching end of the first phase, which encompasses the acquisition of the buildings, the redevelopment and the leasing out of all the space. It's taken a little longer because the acquisition of the hotel (the former Boise Centre Guest Lodge at 1314 Grove St.) was not originally part of the first phase. Now it's the Modern Hotel. So, I would say we are about two weeks away from completing the first phase. My offices will move into The Linen Building, and we're making an event center out of the first floor. That will signify the end of Phase 1.

What will Phase 2 involve?

Phase 2 involves looking at redeveloping some of the existing buildings and adding residential on top. I have a couple of other pieces of property that will be fully redeveloped with brand-new buildings where we're thinking about putting residential mixed-use buildings. That's probably a good 12 months out. I'd like to say that within two or three years you'll see some residential in the Linen District. There has already been some positive progress around the area. Neighborhood Housing Services has 20 condos that are under construction, six of which I think are already under contract. And that's on the boundary of the Linen District, on the south side of the Connector.

Won't there be a lot of competition if all these condos are built?

It's all market driven. In my position, I'm glad I didn't bring residential into the first phase because of all of the products coming into the Downtown, which really is untested territory. There seems to be a lot of residential coming online. I'll be interested to see what the absorption rate is. Personally, I would like to bring (residential) product into the market that is priced around $200,000. I think there is a huge market for those types of products, which would be younger urbanites who want to live close to Downtown.

What else are you doing besides the Linen District?

My residential infill business is booming. I have been doing infill for 10 years. I looked on my commercial business as something to get me to a higher level. We do a lot of infill attached housing, mainly townhomes. We have 17 units under construction and we have another 127 units planned.

There were some business people who believed in your vision for the Linen District from the beginning, weren't there?

I have been fortunate that people like Sara Fendley of Big City Coffee and Don MacKenzie of Donnie Mac's restaurant believed in my vision. They believed in the area and became partners in the sense that they brought their businesses down here. The beauty of something like the Linen District is that I don't own every building. There are other property owners with older buildings that one day will probably be torn down and replaced with new buildings. Whether or not I'm doing that or they're doing it does not matter. My role was to bring the vision to fruition. Everyone in the Linen District realizes that it has been successful. That will prompt other property owners to potentially look at what they can do with their buildings.

What will the Linen District look like in 10 years?

I'd like to see more residential. The more foot traffic, the safer environment it creates. I would say we could see 150, 200 units down here. I could see surface parking lots that I own now being redeveloped into residential, mixed-use buildings. If we generate more foot traffic, that could allow for building a parking garage.

What role did Capital City Development Corp. play in the Linen District?

Not as much as I would have liked. The verbal support I have received has been positive. From a financial aspect, it's always difficult to pay for all of the streetscapes and improvements that are required. We didn't have street lights down here, or trees in the sidewalks. When a developer has to pay for those things, it makes it hard for the project to pencil out. So from a financial aspect, I wish I had seen more support from CCDC.

Has CCDC outlived its usefulness?

I wouldn't be the person to answer that.

Joe Estrella: 377-6465