One Nineteen developers to build urban modern condos

One Nineteen subscribes to a new school of downtown condominium living, one where you can park your car, store your canoe and occupy square footage deemed large for suburban apartments.

One Nineteen is the proposed condo project at Grove and 10^th with the “coming soon” sign across from the Boise Farmers Market.

Developer Shane Felker wants to throw the downtown condo stereotype on its ear. Downtown living in many cities is synonymous with tight square footage, no parking or certainly far less spaces than living units. Storage space isn’t guaranteed.

But “you don’t have to sacrifice to live downtown,” Felker insisted.

One Nineteen will offer a design aesthetic common in Seattle, San Francisco and San Diego but new to Boise, said Felker, who brought on the Boise architecture firm CSHQA to design the structure.

“We thought there might be an appetite for a more modern, urban product,” said Felker, chief executive of Sawtooth Development Group, based in Ketchum. “Historically, the design taste for Boise has been very traditional. We thought this might be a refreshing change.”

One Nineteen will deliver 10-foot ceilings (18 feet high on the penthouse level),  floor-to-ceiling  windows, open floor plans, polished concrete floors, “Euro-style hardwood cabinetry,” and contemporary fixtures, he said.

The project will have two levels of parking and four levels of condos with 26 units in all. Each condo on a level will have a different floor plan, ranging from long and narrow to nearer a square. Floor plans for most condos fall between 1,176 and 1,504 square feet with prices running from $384,750 to $516,000, according to the One Nineteen website launched Nov. 11.

The top floor penthouse has five condos closer to 2,000 square feet with price points either side of $800,000.

In the past, Felker said, downtown condos often served as second homes or “downtown crash pads.”

“We are designing residences for people to own and live downtown,” Felker said. “There are finally reasons you can live downtown. If we want to push the urban lifestyle, we have to make every facet of it very easy. Every unit has a parking space. Every unit has a huge storage unit where you can keep your skis, camping gear and boat.”

The sales office will open on site, 119 S. 10^th St., in January to accept non-binding reservations.

“I believe we have the design, sizes and features that the public will be really excited about,” said Bryant Forrester, the Century 21 Magellan real estate agent representing One Nineteen.

One Nineteen also catches the attention of Karen Sander, executive director of the Downtown Boise Association.

 “I love the diversity of their floor plans,” Sander said. “I think the diversity of project will help bring a diversity to the buyers, too.”

One Nineteen is Felker’s first Boise project. Sawtooth built the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in Austin, Texas, and San Marcos, Calif., as well as other medical buildings, offices and single-family residences in the San Diego, Denver and Austin areas. Sawtooth developed the Strada Plaza in Ketchum.

Felker plans to start construction on One Nineteen in January, with move-in dates eyeballed for the 2015 holiday season.

One Nineteen is a joint venture between Sawtooth and Prospect Medical Solutions of San Diego. It did not start as a 26-unit urban modern condo project.

Felker came to Boise in summer 2013 and started negotiating to buy the John Alden building at 10^th and Main and the parking lot behind it. He gained ownership at the start of this year.

“Originally, we wanted to convert the John Alden building into residences, but the building required too many changes,” he said. “It was just not financially feasible. We nearly walked away from the deal until we realized the value of the property.”

The developers shifted attention to the John Alden’s parking lot, where One Nineteen will arise. Once One Nineteen construction is well underway, Felker does plan to renovate John Alden starting in mid-2015. He anticipates street-level retail and three floors of offices.

“Colliers is bringing folks to the table,” Felker said about the local commercial real estate firm, which has interested tenants.