A longstanding hotel in South Boise near Boise Airport could be torn down and replaced with apartments, a new hotel and a Hindu temple. And a well-known Boiséan proposes the development.
Former Mayor David Bieter met with city officials July 28 to discuss Gardner Co.’s plans. Bieter now works at Gardner, the Utah development company with an Idaho office in Boise.
The site, 3300 S. Vista Ave., is just north of the Interstate 84 Vista Avenue exit. The Ramada by Wyndham Boise is there now and takes up most of the space. America’s Best Value Inn & Suites is smaller and just north of that. Lotus by Hotel Inn is southeast of these two other hotels and also smaller than the Ramada.
The Ramada by Wyndham Boise was built in 1966 as a Holiday Inn. In 2011 it became the Boise Hotel and Conference Center, and in 2015 the Wyndham Garden Boise Airport, before its Ramada brand.
Phase 1 of Gardner’s plan calls for two five-story apartment buildings on the southeast portion of the property. There would be 105 apartments in one of these buildings and 80 in the other. In total, there would be five studios, 115 one-bedroom apartments, 60 two-bedroom apartments and five three-bedroom apartments.
In a letter to the city, Bieter wrote that Gardner plans to rent 20% of the units to people earning 100% of the area’s median income. This would allow the company to build more units on the same amount of land than is normally permitted by zoning. It would also allow for the height of five stories and a 20% reduction in the number of parking spaces required.
The Lotus by Hotel Inn would be demolished as part of the first phase.
The Ramada by Wyndham Boise would be demolished as part of Phase 2, along with America’s Best Value Inn & Suites.
Phase 2 calls for the construction of a 222-room hotel on the northwest side of the property with a restaurant, swimming pool, gym and meeting space. A Hindu temple would be built as part of the hotel structure, according to plans filed with the city.
The redevelopment would not include the convenience store next to the hotel property at the southeast corner of Vista Avenue and Sunrise Rim Road. It would also not include homes on Apple Blossom Way immediately to the east and Sunrise Rim Road to the north.
Currently, the zoning of the property is split between single family residential and general commercial. Gardner’s proposal would apply general commercial zoning to the entire property.
Bieter asked to organize a neighborhood meeting for the project. He declined an interview, saying he would rather wait until the proposal is presented to the Boise Planning and Zoning Commission, possibly in October.
This story was originally published August 5, 2022 04:00.
