Garden City Report | Quarter 2

I’ve put together a quarterly newsletter to show potential projects, on market properties, what’s leased and sold in the last quarter. It’s an exciting time in the commercial real estate market in Garden City, but this is still relatively unknown.

Nestled between the West Boise and North Boise sub markets lies this hidden gem. With the Boise River running through the middle this market consists of approximately 756 commercial properties. It is a relatively small sub market compared to the surrounding Boise and Meridian markets, but with this small size comes big opportunities.

Garden City property close to the river and east of Veterans has seen a high increase in prices over the past several years. In some cases, land has been consolidated and small pockets of development have sprung up along the riverbank. This trend appears to be continuing with proposed developments such as The Boardwalk, a boutique hotel, two apartment buildings, bars, cafes and more.  

Another notable development that recently popped up is a proposal to revamp the Expo Idaho site, which has been discussed for years, but now has a proposal in front of Ada County. The proposal is to re-develop the 240 acre site into a mixed use project consisting of retail, office, single and multifamily housing, a new baseball stadium, playing fields and the continued existence of the fair grounds. Click here for details. 

These projects have a long way to go, but as complexes like these continue to be built, will rapidly and forever change the landscape in Garden City from the once industrial suburb of Boise, to a new central hub for living and playing. In the meantime, many smaller projects have appeared over the last five years.

Driving around you can see pocket neighborhoods of affordable housing, market rate apartment complexes, new wineries/breweries, and remodels of existing buildings for new businesses. These have helped create a new trendy vibe in Garden City, particularly near the Riverside Hotel up to Veterans.

What hasn’t seemed to change much in the city are the commercial rents (residential is a different story). Property prices have seen positive increases since 2015, due in part to hype from one particular land buyer. Rents however have been slow to climb and don’t support investment in many cases. The one area that doesn’t follow this trend is for industrial properties. Like the rest of the valley, and the United States for that matter, industrial property rents have seen a large increase in Garden City over the last five years. In several cases a tenant on a 5-year lease signed in 2014 has faced renewals near $.20/sf higher just five years later on the same property. This has made some development of new industrial possible, but the lack of land zoned for this use and some struggles of getting these projects through the city will make it so Garden City won’t see a great deal of development in this product type.

Overall, Garden City appears to be on an upward trajectory along with the rest of the Treasure Valley. In my opinion, increased in-migration to the Boise Metro will cause Garden City to see more pressure to re-develop older buildings into multifamily developments. The incredibly close proximity to downtown Boise, the Boise River, the Foothills, and Quinn’s pond make it an ideal area for living and playing.

The report includes the list of transactions from the second quarter of 2020 showing what was on the market, what sold, and what was under contract; many changes to these already in the third quarter. To download the report, fill out the brief form below.

For more information on Garden City or to discuss the commercial real estate market please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a time to talk at 208.789.4900 or email at chasee@leeidaho.com.