Stakeholders laud downtown Boise recovery, successes despite unpredictability

Real estate, retail and tourism: these three industries were in the spotlight of Downtown Boise’s annual State of the City address Sept. 8. Highlights from the organization’s 2021 report included: “Prime street-level retail spaces are in high demand and spaces that are easy to re-tenant are quickly back-filled;” there was a 16% increase in out-of-state visitors last year, and 27 new businesses opened in the area in 2021. So, what does this mean going forward?

Downtown Boise representatives, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, a leader with presenting sponsor Alaska Airlines and five retail stakeholders all shared some ideas. Sophie Sestero, incoming board president for Downtown Boise, and Executive Director Jenn Hensely also shared news and success stories from the organization itself. 

Downtown as an active, yet unpredictable, space 

Downtown Boise leadership generated an air of amusement and excitement — in part through fun photos and Bingo — around not only the city’s accomplishments over the past year, but what the future could hold as well. Collaborative, changing, resilient and vibrant were all used to describe efforts aimed at bolstering area business patronage. The Downtown Boise organization alone had something going on 145 days in 2021, or over a third of the year.  

“Our city, our downtown in particular has thrived because so many of us have come together (and) pivoted in the moment of pandemic, putting people first…We rallied around each other. And then when things improved,” McLean said. “What we have today is resilience that I truly believe we would see if we all did what Boise is always doing.” 

Additional stats from last year included: 

• Commercial vacancy rates are currently hovering between 3-4% vacancy, which is a healthy vacancy 
• Downtown Boise has roughly 2.1 million square feet of retail inventory as of July 2022 
• For tourism: unique visitors were up 43%; average number of trips is up 12.5% and there was a 4.5% increase in repeat visitors; however, the average length of stay decreased by 23.5% 
• At the end of 2021, over 2,000 rental units were in development or construction in the area, which now has an estimated population of 10,141 — a 57% increase from 2019 
• Seven visitor-facing businesses were lost in downtown Boise in 2021; however, four businesses expanded  

The entire report can be viewed online. 

Harry Cheema, public affairs manager for Alaska Airlines, described Boise as an important base for the company, and, especially since the early stages of the pandemic, has become one of the worst-kept secrets in the country. 

“With that growth in mind, we are excited to announce that we are beginning the process of working with the Boise Airport to hopefully build out a brand-new concourse through Alaska Airlines…We are now serving 16 nonstop destinations out of Boise, which is more than double any other airline here. So, (we’re) really excited about the growth we’ve been seeing here.” 

“We had an influx of people moving into the into the valley, as well as a resurgence in travel and tourism, which is so important for our economy,” Sestero said. “Not only does that mean that you have to make a reservation on Friday nights — which is totally a good thing for any of our businesses and restaurants — but it also means that Boise is on the map as a destination to visit. Downtown specifically is being lauded for its walkability, its welcoming nature, its inclusivity and all of the exciting things to do down here.” 

“The other point about downtown that I think we’ve all seen this last year,” she added, “is downtown is not static. It is an active space. We think of it as a business corridor, which it absolutely is. But it’s also a neighborhood. It’s a community. It’s a space where people live. It’s a safe haven.” 

“We have seen, highs and lows is the best way to describe it, rushes of excitement about a return to beloved activities and events in downtown, but unpredictable consumer patterns. Tourists galore, but a lack of staffing and record-breaking sales across the past two years, but a slow return to office space. That word unpredictable…that’s the theme of all of this right now,” Hensley said. “We’re hearing the core (of the area) can’t keep up with the demand; they just don’t have staff. We’re hearing the outer edges, it’s unpredictable: Friday night might have a band and it’s real slow; Monday night might be bananas (with) a full crowd of people. The consumer patterns are unpredictable, our business are dealing with it with grace, with incredible service. But this is the reality of right now.” 

What retail stakeholders had to say  

Recovery is definitely the name of the game last year, as Sestero said, while adding there was also a tremendous amount of growth in the retail sector.

A panel of five individuals representing downtown Boise businesses shared their current observations of the downtown retail scene. The panel discussion was moderated by Kelsey Miller, with SHIFT Boutique and KEYSTONE Station, who began the discussion with the question, “Why does retail belong downtown?” 

Drea Hemmer, with Lunatic Fringe, started with: “As we’ve heard today, the energy that really comes into this area is because of an experience, of people wanting to come and be able to purchase things and have (a) relationship between the product and the person selling the product. That sense of relationship builds the community.” 

Miller asked Alex LaFong, with Piece Unique, directly, “What would you say about the perception that retail brick-and-mortar retail is in a decline?” And LaFong said, “I would say it’s opposite. I feel like we are really thriving. That is (because) the people of our community understand the importance of supporting a small, local business and how that in turn goes back into our economy. And I feel like the retailers that we have around us, we all support each other.” 

Matthew Montoya, with Lumos Optical, had similar sentiments around support: “As a woman-owned, Black-owned, queer-owned business, we want to be representative of the diverse community that we see as well as provide a safe, inclusive space…it’s really important to us that we also give back…So I think the draw is part of who we are, how we identify as a business but also the partners that we have in the community, as well as other business owners. We’ve been very supported just in the local business community and that’s been huge for (us) because we’re first-time business owners.” 

When it comes to expanding, vision was a significant for Hemmer: “As we were coming through the pandemic, we were growing at really beautiful increases each month and each year, and we knew we needed to expand. We’d had offers (out of downtown Boise) and talking to our landlord…right away hearing that she had a vision was what made me really connected to why I want to stay in BODO…We’re a destination that people come to.” 

Miller asked Dan Balluff, with City Peanut Shop, what trends he has been observing from the customers. He said: “What I’m seeing is a lot of family, a lot of people cruise down on bicycles, and a lot of activity on Eighth Street; that’s keeping people downtown more and as they wait for reservations, they go wandering around. And so we’ve got not only business travelers that are coming in and spending money, but a lot of repeat visitors. So tourism’s picking up…I noticed (a) decline in (downtown) workers coming in, but that’s kind of made up by the increased tourism.” 

Miller highlighted that small businesses generally donate about 250% more than bigger companies do to local nonprofits. She then asked, “How important is it, as a community member and business owner, to demonstrate your value through partnering and giving to these organizations?” 

Lana Roth, with BANANA INK and Compass Goods, said, “Knowing that people want to help people…that really, speaks so loud…during Christmas, we’re adopting families, and the Idaho Food Bank is rich with food drives…that really is so special because…you’re not surrounded by a big organization; you really feel the impact of when people help people.” 

Editor’s note: This article was updated Sept. 13, 2022 to correct a photo caption.