

Boise’s historic
armory sold: New
owners consider
plan for building,
site
Reported by Don Day - BoiseDev Editor & Founder
August 11, 2021

The Reserve St. Armory in Boise, ID. Photo: Don Day/BoiseDev

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After decades of disrepair and scores

of announcements on potential
projects that never materialized, the
fate of the historic Reserve St. Armory
is in new hands.

Plans could add a mixed-use

development on the site, while
keeping the 1930s-era Idaho National
Guard Armory in place.

Ada County recorded a sale from

previous owner J&M Land, LLC to
Alpha-Armory Boise, LLC on July 21st.

The project is controlled by Alpha

Development Group, a joint-venture
of Ball Ventures, Wadsworth
Development Group, and dbURBAN
Communities.

‘Landmark’ property

The East End Armory on Reserve St. in Boise. Photo:

Don Day/BoiseDev

The armory sits on a 5-acre set of

parcels at Reserve St. and Avenue H
near Military Reserve in Boise’s East
End. Ball Ventures CEO Cortney
Liddiard said they are excited about
the project.

“The armory building and surrounding

property has been a landmark in this
region for generations and we are
excited to be part of its transitioning
into a neighborhood and community
amenity,” Liddiard said.

No applications have been filed with

the City of Boise detailing any future
plans for the site. Lidiard says he and
his partners on the project are
working to detail a plan.

[2020: Preservation activists, designer

clash over partially demolished East
End home]

“While the final plan for the site is still

being refined, we anticipate
integrating the historic structure as a
key component of a vertically
integrated mixed-use project with
residential housing, creative office
space, and retail.”

Lidiard said the armory’s central

location and proximity to the foothills
and community offerings made it
attractive.

“We are excited to make certain the

Armory project integrates into the
surrounding area and provides a
benefit to the greater community,” he
said.

Alpha said it would engage with the

community for input “as plans
progress.”

Three partners on project

Alpha-Armory Boise is a Utah
company that lists Kip Wadsworth as
principal, according to Utah business
records.

Wadsworth is CEO of Wadsworth

Development Company of Draper
Utah, a real estate development firm
with projects across the Intermountain
region, including a retail project in
progress at Eagle & Ustick in
Meridian.

Wadsworth teamed with Idaho Falls-

based Ball Ventures and Salt Lake
City firm dbURBAN Communities for
the project.

Ball Ventures has investments in real

estate, hospitality, energy, and more.
The company owns significant real
estate assets across Idaho, including
in the Boise area. It is a related
company to Meridian’s Ball Ventures
Ahlquist, but BVA isn’t currently
involved in the Armory project
according to the company.

dbURBAN specializes in multi-family

housing projects, primarily in the Salt
Lake valley.

[Living at the mall: new details on

apartment project on old Sears site]

Long Boise history

Historic image of the Armory from the files of Charles

Hummel.

The Idaho National Guard Armory at

801 Reserve St. building went up in
1931 and housed a variety of Idaho
National Guard facilities and
personnel. Expansions over the years
in 1936, 1940, and 1956 added office
space and more. The building is
anchored by a large drill hall designed
by Boise architecture firm Tourtellotte
& Hummel.

“Works Progress Administration (WPA)

funds, matched by monies from the
City of Boise, were obtained to
continue construction of the Armory,”
a narrative of the building included
with the application for the National
Register of Historic Places read. “This
new construction was begun in 1936
and completed in 1937. It included the
construction of the drill hall, the entire
first floor of the front unit and the
central section of the second floor of
the front unit. The building was
dedicated in the summer of 1937 and
was headquarters for the Idaho
National Guard throughout the
historic period. It was, when
completed, the largest and best-
equipped armory in Idaho.”

The Idaho National Guard stopped

using the facility in the early 1970s,
and the State of Idaho used it for
office space. It later fell into disrepair,
targeted by vandals, and sat largely
empty in recent decades. The City of
Boise acquired the building and used
it for storage for city equipment and
community initiatives like the Yellow
Bike Project for 20 years.

The building saw formal listing on the

National Register of Historic Places in
1999.

In 2002, a nonprofit group announced

a campaign to raise $7 million to build
a “state-of-the-art theater complex” in
the building to be anchored by New
Heritage Theater Company. The
project never materialized and it’s
unclear what became of the
fundraising campaign.

Project stalled in private

hands

A 2012 rendering of potential changes to the

Reserver St. Armory, included in the City of Boise’s
agreement to swap the property to J&M Land. Via
public filing

A decade later, in 2012, J&M

completed a land swap to acquire the
property from the City of Boise.

J&M Land is owned by billionaire

Silicon Valley real estate mogul John
Arrillaga and PowerBar co-founder
Mike McCollum. Arrillaga was born in
the Basque region of Spain and is a
long-time investor in the Silicon Valley
region of California.

The city touted big plans for the

property when selling it to J&M under
former mayor Dave Bieter which
didn’t come to fruition. The city
entered into an agreement with J&M
that called for the rehabilitation of the
building and placed some limits on
development types on the property,
calling for limits to parking.

J&M completed some updates to the

building, including adding new
windows and painting the exterior.

The swap agreement ruled out a

number of uses usually allowed in a
mixed-use zone like a car wash, bikini
bar, golf course, firing range, or car
sales lot. The development
agreement carries over to any new
owners or they would have to apply to
make specific changes.

A City of Boise spokesperson tells

BoiseDev the agreements remain in
place even with the sale of the
property.

J&M won approval for a rezone and

development agreement for a portion
of the property that would allow for
mixed-use commercial on the
property.

Project: Boise Idaho National

Guard Armory redevelopment

Related developer: Wadsworth

Development Group

Related developer: Ball Ventures

    

Don Day - BoiseDev

Editor & Founder

Don is the founder and

publisher of BoiseDev. He is
a National Edward R. Murrow
Award winner and a Stanford
University John S. Knight
Fellow. Contact him at
don@boisedev.com. His
Twitter handle is @donlday

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