Treasure Valley Transformation: Downtown Meridian Development Plans Gain Civic Clout
It isn t just Boise that s changing quickly as in-migration picks up its pace in southwestern Idaho. May 24, 2021, 10am PDT | James Brasuell |
Plans for a community center on five city-owned parcels will push the transformation of downtown in Meridian, Idaho into high gear.
Autum Robertson reports that the Meridian Development Corporation (MDC) is seeking project proposals for the Civic Block on land owned by MDC and the city of Meridian. The parcels up for development grabs include the existing Centennial Park, a parking lot, and a community center. MDC is seeking a mixed-use development that achieves iconic status for the city s quickly changing downtown. The project area is designated as both an Urban Renewal District and an Opportunity Zone.
The importance of the Downtown Design Plan adopted this week by the Belgrade City Council canât be overstated, according to City Manager Ted Barkley.
âThis (plan) is a much bigger deal than simply talking to everybody and seeing what you want and putting together a nice presentation,â Barkley said. âThis becomes the aspirational template for how we end up spending the money that is being raised as a result of that urban renewal area the council created three years ago.â
Barkley was referring to the councilâs decision in 2017 to designate the cityâs commercial core an Urban Renewal District for which for tax increment money can be collected to finance downtown improvement projects. Now that the plan is in place, city officials say, that fund can soon be tapped to begin funding infrastructure projects.
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