Article published Jun 19, 2005
From The Idaho Statesman
www.idahostatesman.com

Project is aimed at reviving industrial area by luring 'creative class'

Developer David Hale thinks Boise needs its own version of Portland's downtown Pearl District, or maybe New York's Greenwich Village.

Like those venues, he envisions a bustling area where people live, work and play.

His plan is to redevelop a six-block area on the western outskirts of downtown that he says has been overlooked so far in the rejuvenation of the core downtown district.
He's dubbed his vision the Linen District, where he expects an industrial atmosphere to give way to new condominiums, trendy restaurants and art galleries over the next several years.

Local businesses that have signed on to relocate or open shops in the new district believe it will attract customers looking for the offbeat. It's people like Don MacKenzie, who plans to open a restaurant with a desert roadside cafe atmosphere. Or Samuel and Anneliessa Stimpert, whose art gallery will be a haven for local artists and musicians. Or Sarah Fendley's Big City Coffee shop, which will do all its own baking.
The proposed redevelopment district (or area) would run from 13th Street west to 16th Street, and from Main Street south to Front Street and could be rezoned for mixed use.

Hale says he chose the Linen District name because of the American Linen Building, home to a linen-supply company originally built as a school in the early 1900s.

"The Linen Building is the landmark building in the district," Hale says. "It will be the anchor of the district."
Hale says he wants the new Linen District to be a Mecca for people accustomed to the unconventional.

"I'm going to try and lure people and businesses associated with the creative class," he said. "We're talking artists, musicians, the cool, the hip, the fun."
First, however, he'll have to convince city officials to rezone the several blocks for mixed use such as residential, office and commercial. The neighborhood's current zoning designation limits development to strip mall projects similar to those found on Fairview Avenue.

"It's not real conducive to a mixed-use environment," Hale says.
Rewriting the rules to permit creativity
Boise city officials have been impressed enough that they suggested Hale draft an ordinance the city can incorporate into its existing zoning rules, according to Hal Simmons, director of the Boise Department of Planning and Zoning.

Such an ordinance would create zoning that allows residential, retail and office projects. It also would govern such things as a structure's height, architectural style, distance from the curb and parking requirements.
Mayor Dave Bieter says Hale's idea is "so creative" that the city's current zoning ordinance doesn't provide for anything like the Linen District.

"Our planning staff is currently working to revise and update our zoning code, which will help accommodate innovative proposals like this," Bieter says. "In the meantime, use of the 'specific plan' provision in our comprehensive plan means the Linen District project and others that are good for the community can move forward."
The "specific plan" provision allows developers to create zoning regulations specific to their project.
Writing his own standards
But Simmons said a developer has never used the specific plan proposal in Boise.

"Oftentimes, trying to work with existing zoning rules can mean compromising (a developer's) project," he said. "But by crafting their own zoning regulations, they can get to do what they want to do.

"We told David that this was a good opportunity to write his own standards."
Hale says he hopes to have his ordinance ready for review within three months by Planning and Zoning officials and the City Council.

The Linen District would sit partly in the Westside urban-renewal district approved by the city in 2001, and partly in the River Myrtle District authorized in 1995. Capital City Development Corp., the city's urban renewal agency, is drafting its own revisions to the existing zoning codes for the westside area.
CCDC executive director Phil Kushlan said the agency is prepared to work with Hale and will take his plans into account as it drafts its own ordinance.

"I don't see where there would be any conflict," Kushlan said. "We think this is a great opportunity. We want to see specifics of his plan."

The agency might even help out by providing funding for support infrastructure like sidewalk improvements or street-scaping, says Mike Hall, CCDC planning manager. CCDC collects revenue for redevelopment from taxes on the increased property values that improvements generate in the districts.
What CCDC does will depend on the project's timing and the tax dollars available, Hall cautioned. The agency already has agreed to pay almost $6 million to purchase the new 380-space garage being built at the northwest corner of Myrtle and Capitol as part of the BoDo redevelopment project.

"We have a lot of irons in the fire," Hall conceded. "Everybody has a limited capacity to participate in projects."
Buying property, lining up tenants
In the meantime, Hale isn't wasting time. He's spent $5 million purchasing the area's three best-known structures and has begun signing tenants.
"I'm just going to be the catalyst for this area," Hale said. "As other tenants come in, this will be an investment that will pay off over time because this is going to create a lot of foot traffic, so that existing businesses will be able to look at growing."

Hale said the consumer traffic is already there, noting that studies performed by the Ada County Highway District have found 10,000 automobile trips on 15th street each day. Some 12,000 automobiles travel on Main Street daily, while 8,000 use 16th Street, he said.

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