Posted on 08/25/2017 7:18:36 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Local entities involved in the proposed Interstate 15 Siphon Road interchange signed off this week on plans to start construction on a project expected to dramatically increase the Pocatello area’s population and greatly improve the local economy.
Those behind the effort to build the interchange say that with its construction, the area north of Pocatello and Chubbuck will see massive development in the future, including a technology park employing thousands of people, shopping centers, dozens of new neighborhoods, parks, trails and even new concert venues.
But before such unheralded growth can occur, the interchange needs to be built.
While the Idaho Department of Transportation agreed to support the project in June, constructing the connecting roads to the interchange site — located about three-quarters of a mile north of the Chubbuck Road Interstate 15 overpass — could not begin until the five other backers signed the official contract.
Those backers — the cities of Chubbuck and Pocatello, Bannock County and two private development groups — agreed to the contract earlier this week and the Idaho Transportation Department Board is expected to give its final OK on Friday, at which point the interchange and connecting roads will have all the approvals needed to become a reality.
Construction on the interchange project including the connecting roads is expected to begin in the early spring of 2018 and it should be completed by the fall of 2018.
“The coolest thing about this is it’s the first project of its kind in Idaho,” said Ed Bala, an engineer with the Idaho Transportation Department. “It’s going to be groundbreaking and I think private-public partnerships like this is where the future lies in terms of infrastructure projects.”
The project, called the Northgate Interchange, includes extending Siphon Road and Olympus Drive to what will be a new interchange on Interstate 15.
After the $9 million project is completed, the private developers will go to work on building infrastructure surrounding the interchange that will enable them to open up that entire area to massive commercial and residential development.
Buck Swany of Millennial Development, one of the two private development groups involved in the interchange project, said the ideal development around the interchange will include a new urbanism design concept.
The first phase will consist of a new retail shopping center, initial construction of a 1 million-square-foot information technology park and about 500 to 1,000 residential units.
“So much work has gone into this project that started in May of 2016,” Swany said. “For the community, I think it’s worth knowing that their leaders including the contributions of Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad, Chubbuck Mayor Kevin England and Bannock County Commissioner Evan Frasure have been absolutely essential to the success of the project.”
Blad has previously said that several large-scale businesses will eventually move into industrial parks built along the interstate near the interchange. The mayor said the new businesses will require many workers and in the end Pocatello’s population could double.
Swany said that Millennial Development, and the private partnership that includes Portneuf Development, has plans to construct what amounts to a community around the new interchange that will integrate opportunities to live, work and play.
“Northgate will be unlike any other community,” Swany said. “It is a millennial city, a place where the American dream is restored and well-paying jobs coexist with excellent, affordable housing. Each neighborhood owns its own style and artfully combines housing diversity.”
No matter where a person resides in the Northgate community, they will have easy access to parks and miles of dedicated trails and paths that will allow people to bike or walk to work, Swany said. There will also be grocery stores, retail shops, restaurants and venues for concerts and other events, according to Swany.
The Northgate master plan projects about 10,000 residential units will eventually be built in the area around the interchange. This will include an array of luxury homes built on larger properties, condos, apartments and everything in between.
Soon, Chubbuck will drain the Hiline canal to construct a bridge that will eventually connect Siphon Road to the new interchange.
The technology park will eventually employ 6,000 people, Swany said.
“Some of the core development infrastructure — the Northgate Interchange and Olympus Road extension — is being funded in public-private partnerships,” Swany said.
But he said the commercial and residential development is being funded solely by the private developers — Millennial and the group including Portneuf Development.
The location of the new interchange will open up thousands of acres to development both west of Interstate 15 in Chubbuck and east of the interstate in Chubbuck, Pocatello and Bannock County, Swany said.
Bannock County Commissioner Frasure said the new Northgate Interchange will not be a repeat of the highly congested Interstate 86 exit and entrance at Yellowstone Avenue. He said the new technology park will be far enough away from the Northgate Interchange to allow proper traffic flow.
With a finalized contract agreed upon to begin construction on the interchange, discussions to determine the responsibilities of Pocatello, Chubbuck and Bannock County to provide specific utility connections are ongoing. So far, it appears one of the two cities will be in charge of providing water and sewer connections, and the county will take care of providing the electrical infrastructure.
Swany said a big reason why the developers chose to invest in the Pocatello area is the available “talentshed” of potential students enrolled in nearby institutions of higher learning, including Idaho State University. Swany said there are more than 188,000 college students within the 200-mile area surrounding Pocatello.
That’s more than three times the number of college students in the Boise area, Swany added.
Regional growth was another contributing factor for the developers in their choice to build in the Pocatello area.
“By the year 2040, Boise is expected to grow by more than 440,000 and the Wasatch Front is expected to grow by more than 789,000,” Swany said. “This regional growth is pushing those markets away from affordability and toward new urban challenges such as poor air quality, traffic jams and sprawl. Pocatello can absorb some of this growth efficiently, and without fundamentally altering its excellent pace and quality of life.”
Lastly, Swany mentioned affordability as a major incentive to choose the Gate City area.
“Pocatello is unmatched in its combination of affordability, quality of labor and business friendly environment,” Swany said. “While housing in Silicon Valley is almost four times the national average, and the Salt Lake (and) Boise markets push toward 1.5 times the national average, the cost of housing in Pocatello sits at less than 80 percent of the average.”
He continued, “Affordable housing is one of the greatest challenges the millennial generation will face, and Pocatello is part of the solution.”
Methinks this sounds pretty ambitious. I am familiar with that area. It abuts the Shoshone-Bannock Indian Reservation and the nearest city to entertain young people is nearly three hours away, even with the 85 mph speed limit. Winters can be harsh. Outdoors type might love the area but I think CEOs and executive staff people would get pretty bored there.
How did Pullman Village work out?
More than twenty-five years ago my husband’s Silicon Valley employer was looking to expand. It was at the height of the dotcom boom and office space in Silicon Valley was practically nonexistent. The company had a branch office in Salt Lake City and the company polled workers as to whether they might be interested in relocating there. The professional and support employees were interested. Housing was crazy in California and the commutes were killers. But the managerial staff couldn’t bear being separated from San Francisco, Monterey, and all the trappings California offers the wealthy. They voted it down. A short time later the dotcom bust solved their problem as numerous companies went bust and office space in Silicon Valley was a dime a dozen. If managerial staff wasn’t interested in Salt Lake City, believe me, Pocatello hasn’t a prayer of attracting established companies.
BTW I'm glad that liberal Califoricators from Silicon Valley are loathe to relocate to the frozen North. :)
I’m glad too, even though I would be presumed one of those Californivators today. I grew up in Blackfoot, which as you know is a few miles north of there. Btw, where I live now people like me are called “trash from over the pass”. The pass was Donner if you came from the east, or Altamont if you moved here from the west. Can’ win.
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