ITD land on State Street in Boise is prime development property. Don’t blow it

The sale of Idaho Transportation Department land on State Street provides a golden opportunity for the city of Boise and the whole community.

As previously reported, ITD officials announced last week that the agency is officially vacating the 45-acre headquarters property that it has held for the past 60 years.

Situated on State Street at Whitewater Park Boulevard, the sprawling campus is in a prime location for development.

The property stretches back to the Greenbelt and the Boise River, and is adjacent to Esther Simplot Park and Boise Whitewater Park. Veterans Memorial Park is just around the corner.

It’s just minutes away from downtown and is not far from a hub of bars, restaurants, shops, grocery stores and other amenities.

It’s on a major transit line on State Street, providing easy, car-less access to downtown Boise for untold numbers of residents who could be living in that development.

If developed the right way, it could be a crown jewel along one of the city’s key corridors.

If developed the wrong way, it could be a boring, ugly mess.

Let’s make sure it’s developed the right way.

To do that, Idaho state officials should work closely with Boise city officials now — before the sale of the land — to establish a set of criteria for what the development will look like in the end.

That could be a specific area plan, a zoning district overlay or a planned-unit development plan already in place before the land hits the auction block.

And getting a plan in place has a number of advantages.

It streamlines the approval process because the city has already set the expectations. Developers know what they’re expected to provide, and in turn the city can quickly approve developments that meet those expectations.

The community knows in advance what to expect and can weigh in. Of course, not everyone will be happy with any changes, but residents will get to have their say and won’t be surprised by the final product.

Having entitlements and zoning already in place will also increase the value of the land, increasing the sales price at auction.

We would expect any development to be mixed-use, including multifamily housing and commercial, with shops and restaurants.

Because of its location and proximity to public transportation, it should include a good amount of high-density housing, especially fronting State Street.

And because of its location, any development should include open space, walking and bike trails, and water features to incorporate with the Greenbelt, the Boise River and Esther Simplot Park.

That meshes with the vision for that area set forth in Blueprint Boise, the city’s long-term growth plan.

The best-case scenario is a developer who comes in and sees this property for the gem that it is and creates a development that the whole community can be proud of.

What we’d hate to see is a developer overextend to buy the property, only to cheap out on boring, unimaginative housing units that don’t capitalize on the property’s prime location and potential.

The best way to prevent that worst-case scenario is if the state works hand-in-hand with the city on a plan to map out what’s expected there.

If city and state officials aren’t already talking about this, someone needs to get on the phone now and get that conversation started.

This opportunity has been a long time coming. The community has high hopes — and high expectations.

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members Johanna Jones, Maryanne Jordan and Ben Ysursa.