CVS Pharmacy has not revealed whether it will still build at State and 17th streets. File image.
In a single sentence, the developer of a proposed CVS Pharmacy has withdrawn an appeal of the Boise Planning & Zoning Commission denial of a drive-thru window at a CVS planned for State and 17th streets.
The commission on Dec. 4, after hearing opposition to the CVS from surrounding neighborhoods for five hours, denied a conditional-use permit to allow a drive-thru. The commission cited Blueprint Boise, the city’s comprehensive master plan comprehensive plan, which favors mixed-use development in that area.
Boise attorney Geoffrey Wardle, on behalf of CVS developer T.M. Crowley, filed a Dec. 21 appeal, stating that the denial was “arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion in that it was made without rational basis.”
The appeal was withdrawn Jan. 4.
“We are withdrawing and not proceeding with the appeal of CUP17‐00072,” Wardle wrote to Boise Planning and Development Services.
It is not clear whether CVS will proceed at State and 17th. The Planning & Zoning denial only pertained to a drive-thru. The property is zoned commercial and the existing structures can be demolished and a pharmacy can be built without seeking commission or city council approval.
Wardle declined to elaborate on CVS intentions at State and 17th.
“All I’m at liberty to say is what is in the email,” Wardle said.
Cody Herbster, vice president of real estate at T.M. Crowley, has not responded to phone or email messages.
Boise Planning & Zoning Commission opposes the construction of a CVS Pharmacy at State and 17th streets. File image.
The nation’s largest pharmacy chain saw a late-night wrench thrown into its plans to build a CVS Pharmacy with drive-thru at State and 17th streets west of Boise’s downtown.
After five hours of opposing statements from the neighborhood, the Boise Planning & Zoning Commission at 10:43 p.m. denied a drive-thru window for CVS, a crucial element for the modern pharmacy. The vote was 4 to 1.
The drive-thru and a variance for a side yard setback were the only matters under consideration, but commissioners and the 50-some community members that addressed the commission Dec. 4 clearly signaled that CVS was not welcome at 17th and State.
Commission and community opposition revolved around CVS wanting to remove a 23-unit affordable housing apartment complex, three historic homes and an office building to build a 19,000-square foot pharmacy with 48 parking spaces.
The property is zoned commercial, which allows a pharmacy. A drive-thru is also allowed with a conditional use permit.
But “just because we can build it doesn’t mean we should,” Commissioner Eileen Thornburgh said.
The commission decision can be appealed to the Boise City Council. Cory Webster, vice president of T.M. Crowley & Associates, the Indianapolis developer of hundreds of CVS pharmacies, including three proposed for Boise, declined to comment after the commission meeting as did Geoffrey Wardle, the Boise attorney representing T.M Crowley.
The Planning & Zoning Commission and the city’s Planning and Development Services staff offered contrasting interpretations of Boise city code and zoning regulations.
“There’s no way to kill the project,” City Planning Director Hal Simmons told the Idaho Business Review before the commission meeting.
If T.M Crowley chooses to proceed without the drive-thru, there are no historic protections or demolition restrictions on the property. It’s properly zoned for a pharmacy, said Cody Riddle, manager of current planning at Boise Planning & Development Services.
The Boise Planning Commission and neighborhood speakers were especially alarmed that the Arcade Apartments affordable housing would be torn down to build a CVS Pharmacy. File photo.
The planning commission and the neighborhood speakers relied on Blueprint Boise, the city’s comprehensive master plan, to kill the drive-thru.
They emphasized one criterium listed in the Boise code to evaluate conditional-use permits: “The proposed use is in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan.”
Blueprint Boise identifies 17th and State within the downtown planning area and designates State Street for mixed-use development. The comprehensive plan also seeks alternatives to the automobile.
“Yes, this is zoned commercial C-2,” Commissioner Jennifer Stevens said. “We also have in front of us Blueprint Boise. We have a lot of things in this (CVS proposal) that does not meet that vision.”
Stevens honed in on the loss of a mixed-use lot.
“”We’re talking about taking our four homes on a residential (street) and replacing that with a parking lot,” Stevens said. “The goal is not to create more surface parking lots.”
The public speakers and commission members said they were loathe to lose a mixed-use block to a single use. They also said the CVS plan was a suburban car-centric proposal for an urban district; that three other pharmacies are within three blocks of the CVS site; and that CVS should pick another location.
“This proposal has a dozen things to hate about it and absolutely nothing to like,” said Lori Dicaire, organizer of Save Boise Neighborhoods. “It defies common sense.”
Wardle noted there are seven other drive-thrus on State Street. But those aren’t “identical uses,” Stevens said.
“Not a single one is identical,” said Stevens, adding that the CVS proposal with access from Jefferson (a residential steet), 17th and State streets was unacceptable.
The 23-unit Arcade Apartments affordable housing was also a focal point.
“The demolition of 23 affordable units is a crisis,” said Brittney Scigliano, co-chair of the East End Neighborhood Association.
“To eliminate 23 affordable housing units goes completely against the comprehensive plan,” said Monica Fabbi of the Intermountain Fair Housing Council.
Wardle responded on behalf of T.M Crowley.
“I can assure you no one is going to be forced onto the street,” Wardle said.
Three CVS Pharmacies
T.M. Crowley & Associates has three CVS Pharmacy stores planned for Boise.
The first free-standing CVS in Idaho is expected to start construction in spring or summer at Fairview Avenue and Cole Road, said Cody Webster, T.M. Crowley’s vice president of real estate.
Webster in June filed for a conditional-use permit to build another CVS on Capitol Boulevard at Ann Morrison Drive, now the site of the Fisher Retail Building, which has four tenants and a vacant Pizza Hut. The application was withdrawn in August, said Cody Riddle, manager of current planning at Boise Planning & Development Services.
“We don’t have an active application,” Riddle said.
Webster said the Capitol store is not dead.
“We’re still working through it,” Webster said.
CVS is the nation’s largest pharmacy chain, with stores in 49 states. It arrived in Idaho in April 2016 with two in-store pharmacies in Target stores in Nampa and Twin Falls. This followed the CVS purchase of more than 1,660 Target pharmacies in 2015.
CVS Pharmacy wants to build a store at 17th and State streets. Image from Boise Planning and Development Services.
Neighborhood feedback to a proposed CVS Pharmacy at State and 17th streets has pushed a Nov. 13 Boise Planning & Zoning Commission hearing to Dec. 4, a city official said.
So far, developer T.M. Crowley & Associates of Indianapolis has only applied for a conditional-use permit for a drive-thru window for a CVS Pharmacy at 1624 W. State St. and a waiver to exceed the maximum parking spaces allowed for the property.
But surrounding neighborhoods, especially the North End Neighborhood Association, have protested demolition of existing buildings for a drugstore when three other pharmacies are within a few blocks.
“They have received tons of feedback from a number of folks,” said Cody Riddle, manager of current planning at Boise Planning & Development Services. “They are thinking of some alternative design elements.”
Riddle said commission approval is needed before the CVS project proceeds to the city Design Review Committee, which evaluates project designs on behalf of the Planning & Zoning Commission.
CVS Pharmacy wants to build a store at 17th and State streets. Image from Boise Planning and Development Services.
CVS, the nation’s largest pharmacy chain, walked away from building a store at Capitol Boulevard Ann Morrison Park Drive in August only to take on a likely neighborhood battle at State and 17th streets.
T.M. Crowley & Associates, an Indianapolis-based developer, filed Sept. 26 for a conditional-use permit for a drive-thru window for a CVS Pharmacy at 1624 W. State St. It was the first filing at Boise Planning and Development Services for this project.
CVS proposes a 14,853-square-foot store at the corner of State and 17th, where State Farm agent Jay Stevenor owns an office building. Stevenor declined to comment.
CVS also wants to demolish the two-story Arcade Apartments building, two homes converted into offices and an existing home, according to the PDS filing.
The CVS Pharmacy plan calls for demolishing the Arcade Apartments on State Street near 17th Street. Photo by Teya Vitu.
T.M. Crowley is the developer who is awaiting a building permit to start construction of Idaho’s first free-standing CVS Pharmacy at Fairview Avenue and Cole Road. The State Street pharmacy would be the second free-standing CVS in Idaho.
T.M. Crowley had applied June 27 to build the second store at Capitol Boulevard and Ann Morrison Park, but that application was withdrawn Aug. 16. Tenants in the Fisher Retail Building at that corner in July did not think a move was imminent.
“I still own the building,” building owner Kelly Fisher said at the time. “I don’t have a sell date scheduled. We might stay forever. Who knows?”
CVS does have two pharmacies inside Target stores in Nampa and Twin Falls that opened in April 2016 after CVS purchased more than 1,660 Target pharmacies in 2015.
Cody Herbster, vice president of real estate at T.M. Crowley, did not respond to calls from the Idaho Business Review.
Technically in the West Downtown Neighborhood, CVS’s proposed second freestanding pharmacy in Idaho has the North End Neighborhood Association Facebook page up in arms with more than 45 comments and at least 20 people clicking the “angry” button.
Autumn Street wrote on Facebook: “The absolute last thing anyone needs there is a pharmacy. Within three blocks there are already three others: Albertson’s, Rite Aid, and Customedica.”
CVS Pharmacy proposes building a store where this State Farm office is located on State Street. Photo by Teya Vitu.
Suzanne Troje wrote on Facebook: “Those are some cool buildings being taking out for a cookie cutter.”
In an e-mail to the Idaho Business Review, North End Neighborhood Association board member Stephen R. Miller wrote: “The problem is this: The site CVS has chosen requires the demolition of five buildings, four of which are historic-eligible, meaning that they are more than 50 years old. The project would largely replace these fine-scaled buildings with nearly a block of parking. This tears at the fabric of the neighborhood and, if the permits are granted, it is almost certain that other chains will feel emboldened to seek similar demolitions in the neighborhood.”
That block has no local historic district designation and the city of Boise has not surveyed the properties for historic designation, said Sarah Schafer, Boise’s design review and historic preservation manager.
“The neighborhoods are working with city staff on a conservation overlay zone for that area,” Schafer said.
The drive-thru window designation will be considered Nov. 13 by the Boise Planning & Zoning Commission.
“We plan to fight to retain our neighborhood’s character,” Miller wrote.
The Capitol Boulevard strip center with Textbook Exchange, Nutrishop, Subway and Tree City Juice and Smoothie Cafe could get demolished to build a CVS Pharmacy. Photo by Teya Vitu.
A CVS Pharmacy developer is proposing to demolish the Fisher Retail Building strip center across from Boise State University with Tree City Juice and Smoothie Café, Subway, Nutrishop and Textbook Exchange.
Tenants aren’t convinced yet but T.M. Crowley & Associates, an Indianapolis-based developer, said the strip center will go if the city approval process proceeds as desired.
“It will be demolished,” confirmed Cody Herbster, vice president of real estate at T.M. Crowley, which also intends to build a CVS Pharmacy at Fairview Avenue and Cole Road.
T.M. Crowley wants to build a one-story, 13,111-square-foot CVS Pharmacy at 1265 S. Capitol Blvd. at Ann Morrison Park Drive/University Boulevard.
The plan also calls for demolishing the vacant former Pizza Hut at the rear of the 1.78-acre property, according to a conditional-use permit application for a drive-thru filed at Boise Planning and Development Services.
The city approval process is at a very preliminary stage.
“It’s pretty fluid at this point,” Herbster said. “There are tenants to take care of. We don’t have a start date.”
Four student housing complexes with a combined 541 units and 1,050 beds opened in 2015 within a couple blocks of CVS’s chosen site. No drugstore serves the immediate area or nearby sections of downtown.
“It’s a void for our services, not only downtown Boise but also the student population,” Herbster said.
The strip center’s developer and owner, Kelly Fisher of Pocatello, said he has a confidentiality agreement with T.M. Crowley that prevents him from discussing the terms of an agreement with T.M. Crowley.
“I still own the building,” Fisher said. “I don’t have a sell date scheduled. We might stay forever. Who knows? If we ever sell the building, we’re going to relocate (the Textbook Exchange).”
Fisher built the 5,975-square-foot Fisher Retail Building in 2009 to house the family’s Textbook Exchange bookstore, which followed a Textbook Exchange his three sons opened in Pocatello in 2001.
The Textbook Exchange on Capitol opened in early 2010 and Tree City Juice and Smoothie Café followed in June 2010. Subway arrived in February 2011. Textbook Exchange reduced its size from 2,966 square feet to 1,801 square feet to create space for Nutrishop, which arrived in June 2014.
“Nothing seems set in stone yet,” Nutrishop owners Tim and Vicki Jolicoeur said in an email about their intentions. “We are business as usual. We are in a holding pattern at the moment to see how and when the chips fall.”
Subway also gave no indication of potentially having to leave.
“At this point, we are happy to be there and happy to stay there,” Subway co-owner Stacy Noakes said. “We have a long-term lease. We’re content.”
Tree City Juice owner Roy Atkinson did not respond to a call from the Idaho Business Review.
T.M. Crowley is in the permitting stage to build Idaho’s first free-standing CVS Pharmacy at Fairview Avenue and Cole Road, which is targeted for a fall 2018 opening, though a construction start date has not been set, Herbster said.
The Fairview and Capitol Boulevard pharmacies would be the first two free-standing CVS stores in Idaho for the nation’s largest pharmacy chain.
CVS only arrived in Idaho in April 2016 with two in-store pharmacies in Target stores in Nampa and Twin Falls. This followed the CVS purchase of more than 1,660 Target pharmacies in 2015.
CVS has nearly 9,700 stores in 49 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Wyoming is the only state now without a CVS, according to the CVS website. T.M. Crowley is the largest developer of CVS pharmacies, with more than 500.
Herbster indicated more CVS pharmacies are likely for Idaho but he declined to name any other locations.
“We want to invest in the city and the state,” Herbster said.
Demolition is proposed for the strip center at Capitol Boulevard and Anne Morrison Park Drive to make way for a CVS Pharmacy. Photo by Teya Vitu.
A CVS Pharmacy developer proposes demolishing the strip center across from Boise State University with Tree City Juice and Smoothie Café, Subway, Nutrishop and Textbook Exchange.
T.M. Crowley & Associates of Indianapolis wants to build a one-story, 13,111-square-foot CVS Pharmacy at 1265 S. Capitol Boulevard at Ann Morrison Park Drive/University Boulevard.
The plan also calls for demolishing the vacant former Pizza Hut at the rear of the 1.78-acre property, according to a conditional-use permit application for a drive-thru filed at Boise Planning and Development Services.
T.M. Crowley is the same developer in the permitting stage to build Idaho’s first free-standing CVS Pharmacy at Fairview Avenue and Cole Road. The Capitol Boulevard pharmacy would be the second free-standing CVS in Idaho.
CVS is the nation’s largest pharmacy chain but only arrived in Idaho in April 2016 with two in-store pharmacies in Target stores in Nampa and Twin Falls. This followed the CVS purchase of more than 1,660 Target pharmacies in 2015.
CVS has nearly 9,700 stores in 49 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Wyoming is the only state without a CVS, according to the CVS website.
T.M. Crowley is the largest developer of CVS pharmacies, with more than 500 CVS stores built. Cody Herbster, vice president of real estate at T.M. Crowley & Associates, was not immediately available for comment.
In April, Herbster indicated more CVS pharmacies are likely for Idaho.
“We’re actively looking,” Herbster said in April.
Kimley-Horn, a Raleigh, N.C. design consulting firm, is collaborating with T.M. Crowley and conducted a neighborhood meeting June 21 at which only one neighbor appeared and was in support of the project, according to the Kimley-Horn.
CVS Pharmacy will build its first Idaho free-standing store at Fairview Avenue and Cole Road. Image from Boise Planning and Development Services.
The nation’s largest pharmacy chain intends to build its first freestanding Idaho store at the corner of Fairview Avenue and Cole Road in Boise.
CVS Pharmacy plans to build a 13,111-square-foot store at the Westgate Shopping Center, according to plans filed at Boise Planning and Development Services.
CVS has more than 9,600 stores in 49 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Wyoming is the only U.S. state without a CVS, according to the CVS website.
The first two CVS pharmacies in Idaho opened in April 2016 inside the Target stores in Nampa and Twin Falls. CVS purchased more than 1,660 Target pharmacies in 2015.
More CVS pharmacies are likely for Idaho.
“We’re actively looking,” said Cody Herbster, vice president of real estate at T.M. Crowley & Associates, an Indianapolis-based developer that is the largest developer of CVS stores with more than 500 CVS stores built.
CVS declined to answer any questions about the planned Boise store.
“Right now, we don’t have any new announcements to make about new locations in Boise,” said Stephanie Cunha, public relations manager at CVS Health, the parent company of CVS Pharmacy. “We only announce or confirm new store locations if there is a signed agreement in place for a site.”
Herbster did not wish to discuss the details of TM Crowley’s deal with CVS for Boise, but he said construction at Westgate ideally would start in spring 2018 with an opening four to six months later.
Kimley-Horn, a Raleigh, N.C. design consulting firm, collaborated with TM Crowley in its submission to Boise Planning and Development Services on behalf of TM Crowley. Kimley-Horn said the CVS would go on the site of the former Zions Bank branch that closed Dec. 30.
Zions acquired the 1961 building in December 2001 from Wells Fargo Bank. CVS will also demolish a portion of the former Hasting’s Entertainment space, closed in spring 2016, and a Bail Out Bail Bonds building constructed in 1954. Westgate was built in 1959, according to Ada County Assessor records.
In all, TM Crowley will demolish about 14,200 square feet among the three buildings, according to the Kimley-Horn filing.
CVS enters a Treasure Valley market with 23 Walgreens stores, nine Rite-Aid stores and several other independent pharmacies or in-store pharmacies at Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Walmart and Target. In Boise proper, Walgreens has eight pharmacies and Rite-Aid six, according to their websites.
CVS so far has a negligible presence in Idaho, but the company has 25 stores in Utah, 18 in Oregon, 40 in Washington, 16 in Montana and 101 in Nevada.
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