The head of the Treasure Valley Family YMCA and the developer tasked with building a new downtown Boise Y are committed to getting the facility across the finish line — one way or another.
Treasure Valley Family YMCA CEO David Duro and developer Dean Papé want to make one thing clear: Plans to build the YMCA portion of a complex arrangement are moving forward, and are not directly affected by the changes and uncertainty surrounding other parts of the project.
“The Y is so fortunate that everyone is lined up behind making sure that the Y portion is successful above anything else, really,” Duro said in an interview at his office. “And so we are confident that the Y is moving forward, and I think that’s the message that might have gotten lost.”
News stories in recent weeks have cast a pall over the whole project, which involves several owners, including the YMCA, St. Luke’s, the development team and the city’s urban renewal agency, Capital City Development Corp.
It also involves three main pieces:
The big snag has come because the development team of Edlen & Co., deChase Miksis and Elton Cos. has said it won’t be able deliver on all of what was originally approved by CCDC.
Higher interest rates, increased construction costs and a tighter construction labor market mean that some of the parts of the private development don’t make financial sense any longer.
Developers have had to scrap plans altogether for the senior living units that would have gone above the parking garage.
And the developers are seeking a partnership with the Boise City Ada County Housing Authorities to take over the workforce housing units.
At the same time, the clock is running out because the urban renewal district encompassing the project sunsets in two years, meaning the projects have to get going in order for the CCDC to spend money on infrastructure.
“If it wasn’t for the sunset that affects this (affordable housing) piece, we’d just have more time to make it all happen,” Duro said.
But Duro and Papé, partner at deChase Miksis, emphasize that the new 100,000-square-foot YMCA will move on. There are still a couple of hurdles to jump over, but Duro and Papé said the community should not confuse the obstacles facing the rest of the project with the Downtown Y portion.
“We want, more than anything, for the entire project to happen,” Duro said. “We’re working to support and make sure that happens. But you know, at the end of the day, at a minimum, the Y will move forward as a fruit of everyone’s labor.”
Land swap
One of the complexities of the deal involves a land swap with the CCDC so that the Y building occupies the north half of the block along State Street between 10th and 11th streets.
The YMCA is swapping its half-block to the west in exchange for a quarter-block of land on the southwest corner of State and 10th streets, along with some cash in the deal to make it even.
That land swap is scheduled to close Sept. 30.
“And once that trade is made, we can build here, regardless,” Duro said. “Nothing else needs to happen. It’s not contingent upon anything.”
The Y has scheduled a special board meeting on Oct. 16, at which time the board will be asked to approve signing a construction contract.
“That will put us in the ground, actively working, as early as November,” Duro said, with the goal of interior work beginning this time next year and an opening in late 2026 or early 2027.
Parking garage
A key part in the whole deal is parking. As part of the plan to develop the site, developers would build a parking garage just south of the new Downtown Y, in which the Y would own 210 spaces.
Papé and Duro said the parking garage, along with the Y’s child care center and St. Luke’s clinic space, is going to happen one way or the other, whether it’s owned by the developers or by CCDC.
“So we’re confident between us and the partners, being it with CCDC or the development team and St. Luke’s, we will get this garage built,” Duro said. “And you know, CCDC has made statements in board meetings and privately about their commitment to making sure this parking goes forward, too.”
Fundraising
Meanwhile, the Y is trying to finish that last mile in its marathon to raise money for the new facility. The total cost is $80 million, and they’re still about $5.5 million away from hitting the goal.
“We certainly have a path to get there, to close that gap,” said Meagan Ellis, chief development officer for the Treasure Valley Family YMCA. “And this is a community resource, and every Y is built by its community, so we do rely on those community donations to continue to come in, even after we start construction. So though we have a path to get there, we’ll still be asking and raising those dollars and minimizing the debt needed.”
When I wrote a column this year about Fundsy and the construction of the current YMCA on State Street in 1967, I noted that the Y got itself into a pickle because all the money was gone before they could finish construction. I raised that specter with Duro, on whom the reference was not lost.
“The one thing we don’t want to do is lose any urgency that people might have,” Duro said. “We really need the community to step up now and help us finish this out, and we think we can. We think people will support us. It may not be by October, but the more it is, the easier it’s going to be for the Y and the Y board to approve it (on Oct. 16).”
At the end of the day, the most important piece — the piece that precipitated this whole thing — is the new Downtown Y.
“I think the focus is the Y, moving the Y forward,” Papé said. “And all the other stuff going on around the Y, we will find a solution for it; we’ll find a path forward for it. But right now we’ve got to focus on getting the Y in the ground.”
For Duro, it has to happen to continue serving the community for the next 50 years — and beyond.
“We can’t wait, because this building (the current YMCA) is in a condition where the longer we wait, the worse it gets,” Duro said. “And we also know that this environment that we’re in right now, with construction costs and pressure on the market, it’s not going to get better, in our opinion, in Boise anytime soon.
“You know, in fact, it could get worse before it gets better with these makeup projects going on. So we feel like, even without CCDC’s sunset, which doesn’t have really anything to do with our building, even without that, there’s a great deal of urgency.”
Source Agencies
