Aspen Loft

Developer of Boise's ‘skinny building' says about 100 on waiting list
Photo by Joe Jaszweski/idaho statesman

What's the status of The Aspen project?

We're about finished with our building permit and expect to have it in about 30 days. About a month ago we went to the sales stage. Once we get some of these units sold to where our bank is satisfied, we'll begin our excavation. We've gone ahead and sent out contracts to some folks who have been on our waiting list for over a year. I would guess that in about 30 to 60 days our bank will be happy and they'll give us the go-ahead.

How many people are on the waiting list?

We have a 100 or so. We feel comfortable that we can go to the contract phase, where we actually sell these units. We've sent these things out to folks, so their lawyers can look at it. As part of our deal, we'll work out custom floor plans. A lot of condo developments will say ‘You have option A, B and C. Which do you want?' We're saying ‘Here's a suggested floor plan, but how do you want us to change it?' We can move a wall here or there. If somebody asks us to come up with a custom floor plan, that means they've put a lot of thought into this and they're very serious. We have a lot of buyers that are doing that right now.

How much of a problem has it been getting financing for such an unconventional project?

It was easier than I thought. It's because the bank looks at each project individually. They all have their merits, they all have their risks. My plan has always been not to jump too soon. Take (Rick) Peterson's Boise Tower project. He started digging before he had everything nailed down. So when a problem popped up, he was already committed and had money in the ground. So we ended up with a hole that was uncompleted and had been there forever. I don't want to do that. I want the bank completely behind us, with our building permits in place, all the entitlements done and buyers to get us started. Once I've got all those things, I'll start the project, and not before.

What's attracting folks to the project?

One, the location. They really like the idea of being able to go downstairs and walk over to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning, or go around the corner to P.F. Chang's, or walk across the street to the hockey arena. And we're not that far from the airport. Those are all very important reasons. Another thing is they really like the look of the building. I think we've got a winner in terms of the appearance.

How many units will you have?

Roughly 70 . But say we've got two one-bedrooms and somebody wants to buy both, we redo the floor plan and you have one unit. That could change our count. We won't know how many we'll have until we're done.

Once you begin, how long will construction take?

It will take one year to put the main structure up. Then we'll start doing the interiors. We'll finish a floor and move people in on that floor. Those people will not know the building is not finished on the floor above or below them. The hallways will all be done, the elevator and exterior will all be done. Some of the units may be sold and will be be waiting their turn to be finished.

What's the demographic of the people expressing interest in buying?

The majority are what you would call baby boomers or empty-nesters. Their kids are off to college, or out of the house. They have a three- or four-bedroom home they don't need anymore. They want to shift gears and move onto the second phase of their lives where they can go out to dinner a lot and travel. So they're going to sell and move Downtown. But I also have young single people who like the Downtown scene. They like to go to the bars, concerts and things like that and they want to live Downtown.

Has the design of the project changed?

It's evolved. We've perfected a few things as we went along. For example, the parking situation. At first, we weren't sure how many parking spaces we wanted to include in the building, or even how important they were. As I began talking to buyers, it became apparent that private parking was very high on their list. The Washington Mutual Building was built back in the '90s with no parking. All the owners park next door in the public garage where they rent space from Capital City Development Corp. We didn't want to do that, so we put in two floors of parking into the project.

Why a location that is only 32 feet deep?

The thing I looked for was the best location. Everybody wants that location as close as you can get to the Downtown core. I knew this site would work — even with tight parameters — given what Mark Rivers had done with BoDo, the hockey arena across the street, Alive After Five and such. It also has the highest zoning in the city. We could go 40 stories at that location if we wanted to. But we don't want to. We'll be about the same height as The Grove.

What's going to be the biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge will be storing materials. You need someplace close by to unload trucks and store materials. That's going to be tough because there is no space next door. It's all buildings around us and street in front of us. There are several vacant lots west of us and we'll try and rent some space there and ferry stuff over on trailers. We're still working with CCDC to use the top floor of the City Center Garage. They've already approved the use of it and we're working on the insurance that would go with it. We'll be able to put certain things up there like cars and some materials. But we wouldn't want to store anything real heavy up there, so we'll still need some other space where we can put things that are heavy and bulky.

Any plans for another Boise project after this one is done?

I've got my eye on a couple of sites that I would like to start negotiating on next year. I think 10 to 20 years from now this Downtown is going to look more like Portland. We have a beautiful, clean Downtown, compared with some cities. And as a city grows it reaches a critical mass where suddenly the distance to drive to the nearest suburb becomes too much travel. Road are clogged with traffic and people say ‘That's it. Why drive an hour and a half to Nampa when I can live Downtown?' You spend three hours driving every day and that adds a lot of time to your work week. So for the next 10 years I'm going to looking for sites Downtown where I can do projects similar to this.

Reach reporter Joe Estrella at jestrella@idahostatesman.com or 377-6465.